Smart lighting can light up your life. Too cheesy? I meant that literally. Smart lighting is awesome – you can either get ‘white only’ bulbs that can be smartly dimmed and turned on/off, or you can buy color bulbs which can be set to millions of colors. Fancy a home disco? Smart lighting is where it’s at.
Smart light switches seem a bit of a contradiction when you first think about them, because an electrical switch has two states: on or off. But yet, any smart devices must always be ‘on’ in order for it to be smartly controlled. So how does a smart light switch stay ‘aware’ (and ultimately powered on) … Read more
Smart switches can sometimes be better to purchase than smart bulbs, but when Lutron Caseta switches sell for up to $60 each, it makes some people ask why smart switches are “so expensive“? And if you can get two smart RGB bulbs for $60, why pay $60 for just a smart switch? Whilst there are … Read more
Whenever I see newcomers to smart homes ask what the best smart bulb to buy is, I often see one or two replies saying “Noooo, smart bulbs are POINTLESS!! Just get smart switches instead!!“. And then they say nothing else to back up this view point. Mkay… that’s helpful! In reality, there can be some … Read more
Philips Hue’s range of smart bulbs is set apart from many other smart bulbs because Hue requires a separate Hub (also called a Bridge), and the bulbs communicate over something called ‘ZigBee’ to the Hue Hub. Equally some newer Hue bulbs can work over Bluetooth, linking with the Hue Bluetooth app on your smartphone. But … Read more
LIFX bulbs are at the more premium end of the market (just like Philips Hue), both in terms of build quality and also their price. However whilst Philips Hue bulbs usually require a separate Hue Bridge, LIFX bulbs don’t require any extra devices: they work out the box, via WiFi. This is great because you … Read more
An enclosed light is a housing which is completely sealed off, such that any light must shine out of the partially see-through exterior surface (usually glass or translucent plastic). Enclosed light fixtures are good where you want light to shine mainly downwards, without any ‘being wasted’ out of the side or top – bathrooms and … Read more
People sometimes think that in order to have a fully smart lighting system, you need to buy smart lights and also smart bulbs. But this isn’t always correct. In-fact it’s sometimes better to either have smart lights, or to have smart bulbs – not both. Having just smart switches means that you still get lots … Read more
Philips Hue bulbs work really well in general, and are quiet to the point that you can only heard a noise if you put your ear right up next to the bulb. However sometimes they can make an annoying buzzing sound, so I wanted to cover why this (sometimes) can happen, and how to solve … Read more
I recently started to switch over to smart lighting in my house, and overall I really like the integration with Alexa. After all, being able to control your lights using voice commands to your Echo is much more convenient than pulling out your mobile device and launching the philips Hue lights app. However, I have … Read more
So you’ve decided to switch to smart lighting? Congratulations, I recently made the switch and I’m glad that I did. Having said that, there are some possible points of confusion with the setup process. For example, you might have the newer Bluetooth bulbs, but if you also have a Hue Bridge, should you use this … Read more