Smart Lighting Essentials for Every Home

When you can’t add more windows, add more lights- lighting is key for health and wellbeing. And as the days get shorter, lack of light can affect your mood. But don’t fear the darkness! 

Smart lighting is more than smart bulbs and switches. It is an essential part of creating and maintaining the perfect ambiance in your home. You have the flexibility to customize your space, be more energy efficient, and even save money, by making the switch to smart lighting.

To get started, let’s understand the options you have when creating implementing smart lighting through your home: 

• Smart bulbs: They install like traditional light bulbs, are cost effective, energy efficient, and often come in different color options.
• Smart switches: These typically replace a traditional light switch and use your home’s existing wiring. 
• Smart plugs: The easiest and most economic friendly way to deploy smart lighting throughout your home.

Now that we’ve got that covered, here’s some of the essential things to consider when opting in for smart lighting. 

You need a way to control your lighting...

Any home with smart lighting, needs a central way to control them all. The traditional on/off light switch does only that- turns your lights on and off. Plus, you can only control them using touch. With smart lights, you have multiple ways: 

• Touch: Using a smart lighting and home control system, like Brilliant, makes it easy to intuitively interact with and visually see the smart lighting within your home. You can see if you left a light on upstairs and turn it off from the central hub. You can dim the living room lights or even change their color all by interacting via touch. 
  
• Voice: Using only your voice, you’re able to manage your smart lighting if it is Alexa, HomeKit, or Google Assistant enabled. 
• Automation: With automated lighting, your home will adjust to the needs of the environment. Whether you’re getting home late and don’t want to enter a dark home or are out of town and want to make it appear someone is home, automating your lighting is a smart lighting no brainer.

White lighting isn’t your only option... 

Some of our favorite smart bulbs from Philips Hue and LIFX allow you to not only change the brightness of your lights, but also the color. Here's how colored smart lighting can influence your mood and how you can make it work in your home:

• White light can make you feel more energized and positive. This type of lighting is great for an office or anytime you want to be alert.
• Yellow light gets a bad wrap. But when consciously used, it can be used to create a warm and intimate environment that makes you feel relaxed.
• Red lighting is far from traditional, but it can help you to fall asleep and wake up easier. When you use a red light bulb and automate it with your morning or evening routine, you can experience deeper, more restful sleep. 

Dim the lights...

Areas in your home that are often communal or transformative need lighting that is too. By installing a dimmable light bulb like an LED light with a dimmable light switch like Lutron, Leviton, or a smart dimmer switch such as our own, you are able to adjust the brightness to fit your mood. 

Plug it in...

Floor lamps, desk lights, and night lights are just as important as your wiring lighting. When you connect a stand alone light to a smart plug like Wemo or our own Smart Plug, you gain even more control over your home’s lighting, energy, and ambiance. Not only are they easy to “install”, they’re inexpensive. 

Smart lighting isn’t just “cool”- it’s a necessity. It allows you to be connected to your home no matter where you are, be more eco-friendly, and even lower electricity costs. If you’re still waiting to make the switch, we’re here to help.

Email support@brilliant.tech for all of your smart home and lighting questions.