Often, before installing Smart devices to turn your home into a Smart Home, you may start with Smart Lighting. And Smart Lighting, in turn, depends on Smart Light Switches. They allow you to control lights in your home. What’s more, using Smart Light Switches helps you to significantly save energy.
There are several types of Smart Lighting that are also worth trying. But with Smart Light Switches you can control the atmosphere and visibility in your home much better in most cases. Moreover, there’s a way to control your Smart Lighting using Alexa, Siri, or another voice assistant. Well, here’s more about Smart Light Switch and what you should know before installing it.
What kind of smart lighting to choose
The first thing you can do is make sure you’re purchasing the right type of Smart Lighting for your home. Today, we have the three most popular types available. You can find them at almost every major appliance or home improvement store.
Smart Bulbs
Many people use Smart Bulbs such as Philips Hue. It can be controlled just with a smartphone. It’s much easier since you don’t have to get up off the couch to turn off or dim the lights while watching TV. You can also change the color of the lights (if you have an RGB bulb, of course).
This type of Smart Lighting is good for a single room. By installing them in every room of your house, you’ll have difficulty controlling them.
Smart Outlets
Besides that, there are also Smart Outlets. You can also turn the lights on and off using your smartphone. Smart Outlets have a Wi-Fi chip that allows them to communicate directly with your router and Wi-Fi network. Some Smart Outlets also allow you to monitor your energy consumption.
Smart Light Switches
The installation of Smart Light Switches is a more time-consuming process. They need to be specially integrated into the structure of the house. Nevertheless, you will end up with a switch that adjusts the brightness automatically or manually. The advantage is that you can synchronize lighting throughout the house.
In any case, all types of Smart Lighting can be combined. You don’t have to choose just one. After all, it all depends on your needs.
How much will you pay for the Smart Light Switches?
It probably won’t surprise you that Smart Light Switches aren’t cheap. Especially if you plan to install them and synchronize them throughout the house, it can cost you a pretty penny.
In my opinion, Smart Light Switches get boring sooner or later. I installed such a switch in my bedroom. And after a while, I still started to use only one light mode, which I need for reading. Exactly the same lighting I could achieve with a regular lamp. In addition, you can now buy a Smart Lamp on which you can also adjust the brightness and even the color scheme (warm, cold).
One Smart Light Switch will cost you the price for the number of regular switches, which will be enough for the whole house. In that case, the best option would be to combine. For example, you can install a Smart Light Switch in your bedroom to do a dim night light creating a romantic atmosphere. And in the kitchen or hallway, you can install a regular switch, since these places often need stable bright lighting.
Can you control the light with a voice assistant?
Some smart switches can interact with voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri. This can be even more convenient than looking for and reaching for your smartphone and opening the right app to turn off or change light settings. After all, you can just say, “Turn on the bedroom light”.
In addition, you can schedule when the lights should be on and when they should be off, depending on your daily routine. And when you leave the house, you won’t have to walk around the house and flick every light switch to turn off all the lights. Just say to your trusty voice assistant, “Hey, Alexa, can you please turn off all the lights?” The key word, of course, is “please”. Let’s not forget to be polite.
How to check the compatibility of the Smart Light Switch
Finally, as with any switch, make sure your Smart Light Switch is compatible with the bulbs you use. Some companies even offer special tools that allow you to check the compatibility of your bulbs with smart switches.
You should also be aware that it’s not advisable to combine two smart technologies at once, such as Smart Bulbs and Smart Light Switches. Such a combination in the best case simply won’t work, and in the worst case can fail.
Taking the time to choose the most appropriate strategy for installing Smart Home lighting is worthwhile. Once you understand what you want to achieve from Smart Lighting and how to integrate it with your existing installation, you’ll soon notice a dramatic jump in the convenience of your lighting while simultaneously saving money on your monthly energy bills.
