When we think of smart devices, one of the first products that usually comes to mind is some type of smart lighting. As the U.S. leads the way for smart home adoption, which is predicted to be 24.5 million homes by 2020, lighting tends to be one of the first smart home products that homeowners buy. Generic, yellowish-white bulbs simply don’t cut it anymore. We want colors, we want to save energy, and we want to be able to change ambiances as quickly and easily as possible.
Converting to smart lighting is incredibly easy and makes a noticeable difference in the look at feel of your home.
The first time I entered an apartment that had smart lighting I was blown away at both how much this not so subtle lighting difference made in helping to compliment each activity (I quickly learned dinnertime lighting could be substantially different from movie watching lighting), and how easy the lighting was to control.
What is Smart Lighting?
Smart lighting is lighting that you are able to control from your phone or tablet. Also, smart lighting is designed for energy efficiency and usually has settings that are aesthetically pleasing or practical in application.
Why You Need It
Using smart lighting not only saves energy, it also provides comfort and convenience, such as being able to turn on and off your lights from miles away or when falling asleep in bed, by simply using your smart phone. Whether you want to live eco-friendly, want the best mood settings for your home, want added security, or are a bit lazy to get out of bed to turn off the lights, smart lighting is for you.
Related: Best Smart Switches & Plugs – 2018
Installation & Ease of Use
Smart lighting is designed for DIY setup and most systems come with detailed instructions on how to install and start using your devices. If you’ve never changed a light bulb before you may need a little assistance, but for most people setting up smart lighting shouldn’t be difficult. Expect initial setup time to be minimal, however the time it takes you to customize the lighting to your liking will vary based upon how much customization you want.
Cost
Most smart lighting devices may cost slighting more than their standard lighting counterparts up front. However, you’ll save money over time with the major energy savings and longevity these devices provide. Also be sure to save your receipts, as using smart lighting can give you a tax deduction.
Ready to upgrade the lighting in your life to achieve more aesthetically pleasing settings along with lower energy bills? Read on to find a selection of the best types of smart lighting for every area of your home.
Best Smart Lighting – 2018
Here’s the best options for smart lighting that can change the atmosphere of your home.
1. Create the perfect ambiance in your home with smart bulbs
Smart bulbs allow you to set the right vibe and make sure your home is aesthetically-pleasing for every occasion.
Can you go through your day without proper lighting? It’s not easy. Instead of settling for traditional lighting, which allows you to fill the room with only one shade of white all day, everyday, you can switch to smart bulbs which let you control the lighting of individual bulbs or groups of them directly from your mobile device. With these bulbs you’ll never have to worry about forgetting to turn off your lights when you leave your home, and even better you can automate them to turn on and off with your daily schedule. Turn lights on from the comfort of your bed, or shut them off as you drive away from your house. Best of all they consume significantly less energy than generic light bulbs, allowing you to both help out the environment and cut down on your energy costs at the same time.
Related: Best Smart Light Bulbs – 2018
Key benefits:
- Bulbs use 80% less power than traditional light bulbs with an estimated annual energy cost of only $1.45
- Bulbs last over 22 years based on use estimates of 3 hours of usage per day
- Easily automate lighting to complement your daily schedule
What Users Are Saying
Reviewers are pleased with the easy installation and the ability to control each individual light purchased through a mobile device. Some reviewers note that these bulbs are larger than standard light bulbs and that can cause a problem with smaller lighting fixtures.
Why You Should Get It
Are you just starting to convert to smart devices? Maybe you’ve invested in LED lights but aren’t fully satisfied with them. Whether a novice to smart devices or a full out enthusiast, these GE smart lights make an excellent addition to virtually any home.
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Looking for other smart bulb options? Check out these excellent alternatives below:
2. Decorate your home using color with smart lightstrips
Smart lightstrips allow you to add creative touches around your home, adding color to the floor, ceiling, and other nooks and crannies.
Ceiling mantels and the spaces beneath large pieces of furniture, cabinets, and other space-creating areas are often under used as places from which you can add your own personal decorative touches. These spaces can simply look empty and can give a cold feeling to your home without something there. That’s where lightstrips come in. Colorful light strips can add just the right amount of that extra something that makes your home feel warm and inviting. Try placing them under a bar area or under cabinets in your kitchen and adjust the color to your liking. With a hue starter kit or compatible bridge you can control lighting from anywhere, including dimming and color changes.
Key benefits:
- Extend one lightstrip up to 33 feet by adding LightStrip Plus extensions all while maintaining full color consistency
- Setup light effects to sync with music or TV sounds to enhance your movie or gaming experience
- Lights can be setup anywhere, including behind, below, or above furniture and home fixtures
What Users Are Saying
Amazon reviewers comment that these second generation light strips are much brighter than the first generation and more fully encompass all possible color options. Others note that they bought multiple sets. Maybe you’ll want to deck out your home too.
Why You Should Get It
If you’re home has architectural features you want to highlight, or you’re simply looking for a way to add more vibrancy to your home, these smart lightstrips provide the perfect solution. In particular, if you’re looking to spruce up a kitchen, bar area, or media room, these lightstrips can do just that.
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Looking for additional strip lighting options? Explore these other smart lightstips below.
3. This Wi-Fi Hue pendant light adds more color
Instead of manually replacing each bulb in your home, you can flawlessly control the lighting in any room by investing in a smart pendant light.
Replacing every bulb in your home is time consuming, especially if you haven’t yet jumped on board to smart lighting. As an alternative, you can start with this smart pendant light and see how much smart lighting makes a difference in your life. This smart pendant gives you complete control over the lighting, allowing you to go from cool to warm white light simply by using an iOS, Android, or Kindle smart device. Because it’s a smart controlled device you can operate it from anywhere, meaning no more worrying about forgetting to turn off the lights when you leave your home.
Alternatively, you can use the remote access feature to turn the light on at night to make it look like someone is home if you are out late or out of town. For in house use, take advantage of the timer option, which essentially acts as an alarm clock. Set the lights to gradually brighten overtime creating a peaceful, sunrise-like wake-up call for yourself. Like many Phillip Hue products, this pendant light comes with four preset light recipes that you can personalize to your liking and the option to choose a color from a favorite picture, allowing you customize your home just the way you like to.
Key benefits:
- Wide range of white light that can be changed from warm to cool white (2200K – 2700K)
- Enjoy remote access and get total control over lighting directly from your phone or tablet
- Four preset Light Recipes let you change the lighting for specific needs
What Users Are Saying
Amazon reviewers enjoy the night and day settings that can be set to their individual schedules. Some reviewers state that the construction of the device could be better, such as the plastic being used where glass may have worked better.
Why You Should Get It
If you’re not ready to re-do your entire home with individual bulbs, this smart pendant light is a suitable alternative. Additionally, if you’re already an active Phillip Hue consumer, this pendant light acts as a nice addition to your set of existing smart lighting.
4. Set the lighting over any table with this smart lamp
Use the smart lamp to help you get work done without straining your eyes, or simply use the lamp to set an artistic touch to your home.
Sitting at a desk with mediocre lighting for extended periods of time isn’t just stressful on your eyes, it can also diminish your work efficiency and quality. But even if you don’t sit at a home desk all day, proper lighting impacts your lifestyle more than you may think. Having optimal lighting around your house can help create a quality environment for you and your family. Beyond just a comforting effect, a smart table lamp can change the way you live your life everyday.
This smart lamp allows you to set alarms and timers that you can use as reminders or as updates as to when you receive messages, social media notifications, and other forms of communication. Brilliantly designed, the lamp features two light sources, one uplight and one downlight, that allow you to create the perfect balance of colors and functionality. This table lamp features the usual Phillip Hues capabilities, including light recipes and photo to color-setting functionality, as well as the ability to connect up to 50 Hue products using a Philips Hue bridge.
Key benefits:
- Do more than turn on and off lights: Set timers, set alarms, connect to a variety of apps, match the color to colors from a picture, and dim the light
- Two independent light sources (one uplight and one downlight) allow you to set the perfect mood lighting
- Control from your iOS, Android, and Kindle smart devices and enjoy remote access
What Users Are Saying
Reviewers rave about the high quality lighting this smart lamp provides, finding the lighting to be not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing as well. Some reviewers note the price is a little high, but the majority are satisfied paying a high price for a premium product.
Why You Should Get It
If you have a home desk that gets a lot of use, this product is a must. It’s not only a work essential, it’s an entire room essential to brilliantly create mood lighting thanks to the dual uplight and downlight light sources.
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5. Enjoy beautiful lighting from below with a smart floor lighting
Get soft, calming lighting from below using a smart floor light.
Enjoy the benefits of upwards lighting with a smart floor light. Ground lighting, or indirect ambient lighting, often comes off as softer and creates a more calming effect in any room. This smart floor light shines bright for approximately 18 years, and like many Phillip Hue products, can be controlled directly from your smart device, such as a smartphone or tablet. Also take advantage of remote access, allowing you to control the lighting from anywhere. The lamp comes complete with a remote control with a color wheel, allowing you to select from millions of color options. Go a step further and sync this light to music, providing a fully immersive multimedia experience. All Friends of Hues products feature precise dimming capabilities, timers and alarms, and geofencing abilities. This specific product also features a unique color changing mode to provide a unique, color-changing experience.
Key benefits:
- Enjoy 80 percent energy savings and a long life of 18 years (or 20,000 hours)
- The diffused light effect allows various different colors of the lamp to blend naturally into your home decor
- Choose from millions of colors and store your favorite colors for easy recall
What Users Are Saying
Amazon reviewers comment on how this smart floor light adds the perfect accents to dark corners or other often ignored areas of the home. Others note how vibrant and vivid the lighting is, which seems to be an unexpected surprise to many reviewers.
Why You Should Get It
If you have large rooms with dark corners, or dimly lit rooms you want to keep dim but add a little more light to, this floor light is the perfect addition to your current lighting setup. Use one light per room, or completely change the atmosphere of any room by adding soft, relaxing light to an entire room using multiple smart floor lights.
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6. Smart lighting can be outdoors, too
Outdoor lighting can be expensive, but with a smart outdoor lighting system you’ll conserve both money and energy.
Outdoor lighting, that which we often leave on all evening, can get expensive. But with smart lighting you can cut back on costs while also enjoying mood-setting colors to any outdoor setting. The OSRAM LIGHTIFY Smart Connected Lighting LED Gardenspot Mini RGB outdoor lighting features an efficient design that consumes minimal power, putting money back in your pocket. These lights can be placed in a variety of outdoor areas, including gardens, walkways, pools, and patios, and add distinctive color accents that last up to 25,000 hours. This set features nine included lights that extend across 14 feet, but can also be expanded to 28 feet with the Gardenspot Mini (sold separately).
Easily mount the lights in the ground or attach them to any wall or doorway. The lights feature thousands of color options, for which you can dim to adjust brightness and set schedules that fit with your lifestyle. Control all lighting features and set preferences directly though your phone or tablet, such as setting lights to turn off each morning at sunrise. Features can be controlled using the WeMo App, and custom settings can be created using IFTTT (If This Then That).
Key benefits:
- Lights cut down on energy usage and have a lifetime of up to 25,000 hours
- Lights can be planted in the ground or mounted to outdoor walls and walkways
- Set timers to automatically have lights turn off at sunrise
What Users Are Saying
Reviewers write of their enjoyment of being able to control the colors of these lights, along with their brightness with such ease and flexibility. Others mention how the addition of color to their outdoor setups have transformed not only how these areas look, but also how often these areas are used.
Why You Should Get It
If you spend a good amount of time in your outdoor spaces, these lights are a no-brainer. These lights are ideal for any consumer who are looking to cut down on the costs of outdoor lighting, as well as those who often entertain in their outdoor areas.
7. Host a full immersive party with these smart party lights
Set a mesmerizing atmosphere using one color or keep your guest entertained when you change colors with smart party lights.
Make entertaining more exciting with these vibrant party smart lights. We’ve all been to parties where the lighting makes guests, including ourselves, uncomfortable. Bright shining lights can be distracting and unflattering, while low, extremely dim light can be off-putting. Ensure your guests are fully satisfied with your home’s ambiance when you decorate with these brilliant party lights.
Not only do the light strips offer over 16 million color options, all which are dimmable, but also have music syncing abilities. Set the lights to sync with your smartphone or to any other music from external sources. The lights are fully app (Bluetooth) controlled, meaning you don’t need a base station or Internet connection. The app works with iPhone, iPad, iWatch, Android or Amazon Fire Phones and tablets, and connects up to 50 Bluetooth led strips or/and bulbs, giving you a range of options from which to set your preferences. Specialized features also include the ability to schedule actions, such as turning lights on or off, using the timer feature and a built-in memory allowing you to save your favorite color settings.
Key benefits:
- Over 16 million dimmable color options
- Timer and memory capabilities allow you to personalize the lights to your needs
- Audio syncing function lets you pair the lights to your smartphone music or other external sounds
What Users Are Saying
Amazon reviewers comment on how nicely the app works with this lighting set, allowing them to seamlessly control everything desired. Others note the mood-lighting feature which lets you choose color-changing pre-programmed color modes such as sunrise, romantic, and party.
Why You Should Get It
If you’re all about creating the perfect ambiance for your guests, these smart party lights will do the trick. And if you’re looking for a way to impress your friends, the music-syncing functionality is sure to turn a few heads.
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There’s no question smart lighting is the way of the future. With so many additional features, such as timer controls and the ability to sync to music, it’s hard to deny this form of lighting won’t be standard across households in America in the next decade. Whether you start with a single smart bulb or dive right in and retrofit your home with all smart lighting products, you can still be an early adopter by installing smart lighting today. Remember, most of these smart lighting devices synchronize with each other, and with other smart products, which allows those who have already invested in alternative smart home devices to further make their home more intelligent.
Now that you’ve been introduced to smart lighting what are you thoughts? And are there any features or benefits we left out? Let us know in your comments!
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