Smart Lighting
The building blocks of the Smart Home
Introduction to Smart Lighting:
Revolutionizing Home Illumination with Smart Lighting.
Technology has transformed the way we illuminate our homes, offering convenience, efficiency, and customization like never before. This innovation integrates advanced features into traditional lighting systems, enabling users to control their lights remotely, set schedules, and personalize ambiance to match their mood or activities.
At the heart of smart lighting are intelligent switches, bulbs, and relays that communicate wirelessly with each other and with compatible devices such as smartphones, tablets, or smart home hubs. These devices leverage connectivity protocols like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee to facilitate seamless communication and control.
Smart switches replace conventional wall switches and enable users to control their lights manually or remotely via smartphone apps or voice commands when integrated with virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. They often offer additional features such as dimming capabilities, scene presets, and energy monitoring.
Smart bulbs, on the other hand, are standalone LED bulbs equipped with built-in communication technology. These bulbs can be controlled individually or grouped together to create customized lighting scenes. They offer a wide range of options including adjustable colour temperature, brightness levels, and even colour-changing capabilities, allowing users to tailor their lighting to suit different tasks or occasions.
In addition to switches and bulbs, smart lighting relays play a crucial role in enhancing the functionality and versatility of smart lighting systems. Smart relays are devices that can control multiple light fixtures or circuits from a single control point, allowing users to centralize control and automate lighting across larger areas or multiple rooms. They enable features like zoning, where different areas of a room or building can be illuminated independently, and scene control, where predefined lighting configurations can be activated with a single command.
Whether it's enhancing home security with automated lighting schedules, creating ambiance for entertaining guests, or simply adjusting lighting preferences without leaving the couch, smart lighting solutions offer unparalleled convenience and flexibility for modern homeowners. With easy installation and integration options, smart lighting, including switches, bulbs, and relays, is not just a trend but a practical upgrade that enhances comfort, convenience, and energy efficiency in today's smart homes.
Smart lighting offers a variety of options to suit different preferences and needs:
Smart Bulbs
Standalone LED bulbs with built-in communication technology. They offer features like adjustable color temperature, brightness levels, and color-changing capabilities. The major issue with using smart bulbs is that if they are used in the main light fixture of a room the light switch needs to stay switched on or the power to the bulb is lost and you will not be able to control it until the the light switch is turned on again. There are ways around this like wiring the light switch to always be on but this is not ideal .
Smart bulbs are great for ambient or secondary lighting sources like table lamps or display cabinets as power to these tend to be left on.
Smart Switches and Dimmers
If you are competent with home electrics then there is an option to replace traditional wall switches with smart switches and enable manual or remote control of lights via smartphone apps or voice commands or from smart home control platforms such as home assistant. These often include additional features like dimming capabilities, scene presets, and energy monitoring.
Be sure that the light switch you chose matches your home wiring. Most will require a neutral wire to function however switches that do not require a neutral wire are becoming more common.
Smart Plugs
Smart Plugs are a great way to quickly and easily make dumb devices smart. these devices include secondary or ambient lighting. This plug-in device allows for sockers to be converted in to smart controlled outlets and allows for smart control of non smart devices such as lamps and other accent lighting features.
These devices are the most simple way to add smart functionality to a room without needing knowledge of electrics or breaking the bank. These are one of the cheapest smart home devices you can buy.
Smart Relays
Smart relays allow for traditional light switches to still be used. This is great for houses that have unique light switches that the owner wishes to keep or switches that are matching with the decor of the room.
Lighting relays are installed behind the current light switch so the back box needs to have enough room to house the relay, this can be an issue for some installations.
Be sure that the relay you chose matches your home wiring. Most relays will require a neutral wire to function.
Several brands offer smart lighting solutions, each with its own range of products and features. Some popular brands in the smart lighting industry include:
Sonoff:
Sonoff specializes in affordable smart home devices, including smart lighting solutions such as smart bulbs, switches, and dimmers. Their products are known for their simplicity, easy installation, and compatibility with popular smart home platforms.
Products:
Smart LED Bulb -2 pack
Zigbee smart plug - requires zigbee hub
Wifi smart relay
Zigbee smart relay
Wifi Wall switch
Wifi wall switch with LED ambient lighting
LED Light strip - great for ambient lighting
Zigbee Hub - required for zigbee devices
Aqara:
Aqara offers a range of smart lighting products including bulbs, switches, sensors, and controllers. Their products are designed to work seamlessly with their Aqara Hub, providing users with advanced automation and control options for their smart lighting setup. Note that all aqara devices require one of their hubs to function. The E1 hub is listed below.
Products:
Smart Wall Switch - No Neutral required
Smart Relay - no neutral required
Smart Hub E1
Energenie:
Energenie offers smart lighting products including bulbs, switches, and adapters that are designed to be energy-efficient and easy to install. Their products are compatible with popular smart home platforms and offer features like scheduling, dimming, and remote control. The Energenie hub is required in order to use these devices.
Products:
Smart Plugs - 3 pack
Smart Light Switch - White finish
Smart Light Switch - Steel finish
Smart Hub with 3 smart plugs
Smart multi socket extension lead
2-gang Smart Light Switch - Chrome Finish
2-gang Smart Light Switch - Steel Finish
2 way Smart Light Switch - Great for stairs
Smart Double Wall Socket - white Finish
Smart Double Wall Socket - Steel Finish
Smart Double Wall Socket - Chrome Finish
Smart Double Wall Socket for shallow back boxes
Nanoleaf:
Nanoleaf is known for their unique and customizable smart lighting panels that can be arranged in various patterns to create personalized lighting designs. Their panels offer features like color changing, rhythm synchronization with music, and integration with smart home platforms.
Products:
Hexagon Starter Kit
Triangle Starter Kit
Square Starter Kit
Smart Bulb -B22 - Pack of 3
Sengled:
Sengled offers a variety of smart lighting products including bulbs, switches, and accessories. Their products feature options like adjustable color temperature, motion sensing, and integration with voice assistants and smart home platforms.
Products:
Smart Plug
Single Smart Multiclour Bulb - E27
Single Smart Multicolour Bulb - B22
Dimmable Soft White Starter Pack - 2 E27 Bulbs and Hub
Dimmable Soft White Starter Pack - 2 B22 Bulbs and Hub
IKEA TRÅDFRI:
IKEA's TRÅDFRI smart lighting range includes bulbs, motion sensors, dimmers, and gateway hubs for controlling and automating lighting in the home. Their products are known for their affordability and compatibility with the IKEA Home Smart app and other smart home platforms. All their smart devices can be purchased from their stores or from their own website. Amazon also has them listed. The Ikea smart hub is required to control these devices in an integrated way however they can be controlled directory from the Ikea remotes without the hub if needed.
Products:
E14 Smart Bulb - 2 Pack
E14 Smart Candle bulb - 2 pack
E27 Smart Bulb - 2 pack
E27 Smart Filament bulb - 2 pack
B22 Smart Bulb - 4 Pack
GU10 Smart Bulb - 4 pack
Smart Plug - Single
Smart Plug - 4 Pack
Smart Hub
Ecobee:
Primarily known for their smart thermostats, Ecobee also offers smart light switches that integrate with their smart thermostat and room sensors to provide advanced occupancy-based lighting control and energy savings. These brands represent just a selection of the many options available in the smart lighting market, each offering unique features and compatibility with different smart home platforms.
These brands expand the options available for smart lighting solutions, catering to various preferences and needs in the smart home market.
There are also several brands out there that miss the mark in terms of Smart Lighting:
Philips Hue - Although Their products are known for their reliability their products are wildly expensive for what many consider to be mediocre performance. Although Philips hue products are reliable their LED strips are some of the dimmest on the market with a lower than average colour saturation. The Smart bulbs are comparable to their led strips in terms of performance, with the brightness and saturation being lower than average. For the price customers pay for their products there would be a much high expectation for the products to be the best in terms of performance, not just reliability,
Lifx - At one time Lifx could have been considered to be one of the better manufactures of smart lighting however the company went into administration several years ago and although their products seem to be available around the internet many users of Lifx have had issues being able to make warranty claims for faulty products.