Smart Lighting, Smarter Living: Top Benefits to Know
Home lighting design has come a long way, from basic light bulb covers in each room to an approach that combines style and functionality. This change has paved the way for smart lighting systems, a technology that’s grown increasingly popular. These come with a host of benefits designed to make your life easier—let’s explore them in this article.
What Is Smart Lighting?
Smart lighting refers to advanced lighting systems that can be controlled and automated through various devices such as smartphones, tablets, voice assistants, or sensors. These systems allow users to adjust the brightness, color, and scheduling of their lights remotely.
Smart lighting is often integrated into home automation systems, enabling seamless control of multiple connected devices and creating a more efficient and customizable living environment. Nowadays, the use of smart lighting solutions is at its peak, providing convenience, energy efficiency, and enhanced security for different settings.
How Does Smart Lighting Work?
Smart lighting uses wireless technology that connects your LED lights to a hub or other devices, enabling you to control the lights remotely from a smartphone, smart speaker, or other devices.
These are some of its characteristics:
Connectivity
Smart lighting devices, including light bulbs, switches, or control panels, connect to a network through wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee. This enables them to communicate with various devices such as a voice assistant, smart home system or your cell phone.
Not all smart lighting devices connect through the same technology; they must be compatible to work.
Control Remotely via Various Devices
Smart lights can be controlled using mobile apps or voice assistants. Each smart lighting system has a dedicated app (like our Leona® Smart App) to turn them on or off, adjust their brightness, change their color, or set schedules, among others.
You can also control the lights using simple voice commands with assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
Automation and Sensors
Smart lighting allows automation through programming or sensors. Scheduling allows you to set specific times for your lights, such as turning them on at dusk or off when you go to sleep.
There are also motion or ambient light sensors, which activate the lights when they detect activity or adjust their intensity according to the surrounding brightness, making your life easier.
Integration with Other Home Automation Systems
Smart lighting easily integrates with other smart home devices, such as security cameras, thermostats, or motorized curtains through platforms such as Google Home or Apple Home Kit. This allows you to create automated scenarios. For example, when activating "Theater Mode," the lights dim while the sound system and TV are on.
What Are The Benefits of Using Smart Lighting?
Cost and Energy Savings
Who doesn't like saving money? Lighting consumption in homes and commercial spaces represents between 5% and 15% of total energy use, but this can be significantly reduced with smart products like motion sensors. They ensure the lights turn on when someone enters the room and switch them off when it's empty—making life easier for forgetful family members.
In offices, you can synchronize the lighting system with the staff's digital calendars and automate the lights according to the times and locations of the meetings so that they turn on and off when the meeting starts and ends.
Adapt Lighting to Your Needs and Natural Light Conditions
Imagine you are working in your studio, and natural sunlight is coming through the window. You don't need electric light yet, but it starts to get dark, and, little by little, there is less visibility—until you have to stop working to turn the lights on.
With smart systems, you can schedule power on and off times and choose a light hue that suits your work, such as neutral or cool white.
This can also be helpful in bedrooms, as some shades of white light can affect sleep and may be the reason you are not resting well. A smart lighting system can be programmed to dim the lights gradually at night, especially 30 minutes before bed. In the morning, gradually increase their intensity 30 minutes after waking up to start the day without feeling sleepy.
Impact on the Mood of Rooms and People
Light's color and intensity can also change how we feel and perceive a room. Smart lighting can help you make your spaces more dynamic, adjusting the temperature, color, and intensity to reflect what you want to convey.
For example, we recommend using cool white lights for your children to focus on their homework, warm lights for family dinners, and dimmed lighting for a cozy gathering at home with friends.
If you have RGB or RGBW lights, you can add a touch of color and enjoy festive atmospheres.
Security
Investing in a smart lighting system will improve your home's security. For example, if you are away from home, you can configure the lighting to behave like someone is turning lights on and off in certain rooms. This way, potential trespassers will believe someone’s inside.
Likewise, motion-activated lights inside and outside can alert people that they can't enter without being detected by your security systems. You can also link the lights to other devices like cameras or alarms, so you’ll always know who’s at your door.
Enjoy Smart Lighting Today
Your smart lighting system can be as simple or as intricate as you want or need it. At Flexfire LEDs, we offer a wide variety of LED lights and smart controllers to automate your home lighting. Visit our site or contact one of our expert advisors; we’re ready to help you kickstart your smart lighting automation project.
