People have become more and more aware of smart home technology over the past few years, with the release of devices like Amazon Echo and Phillips Hue lighting. But these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to smart home functionality.
For lighting systems in particular, there are far more benefits than many people realise. However there are still those who don’t see the point of these systems.
Critics of smart lighting systems usually lean on the same couple of points:
- Unnecessary and overly complicated – There are fewer things that are simpler to use in the home than the traditional light switch, surely smart home lighting unnecessarily complicates this? However, while it is true that light switches are simple to use, they also come without all of the additional functionality that smart lighting systems bring.
- Expensive – All homes are already fitted with lighting systems and besides electricity, the only cost is the occasional light bulb replacement, surely smart home lighting is really expensive? Although the initial upfront cost is more than traditional lighting, you can actually expect to reduce your lighting costs by being more energy efficient.
Smart Home Lighting Benefits
There are a number of key benefits to smart lighting systems including:
- Operate remotely – Connecting your lighting systems to the internet means that you can control it remotely. This is useful while you’re at home as you can turn off lights that you left on in another room, or turn on lights to give the appearance that the property is occupied.
- Increased security – The ability to turn lights on while you’re away is just one aspect of the increased security that comes from smart home lighting. You can also set internal lights to come on if sensors are triggered outside, or set timers so that different configurations of lights come on at different times of day.
- Voice / gesture activation – New user interfaces such as Amazon’s Alexa voice control are becoming more popular, and smart lighting systems can take advantage of this. You can change lighting configurations while you’ve got your hands full doing something else, or without leaving the comfort of your armchair.
- Create the perfect mood – Having preconfigured lighting scenarios means you can quickly set the lights to create the perfect mood whatever the situation.
- Integrate with other systems – By syncing your lighting system with your central controller, you can integrate with various other smart home systems around the building. For instance, you can program lights to come on gradually when you’re alarm goes off in the morning.
- Energy efficiency – Better control of your lights and integration with other systems means that you can make sure they are turned off when not being used (either manually, or automatically using sensors). This ensures that lights are not being used unnecessarily and is more energy efficient.
When you look at these benefits vs. the perceived negatives of smart home lighting, it is easy to see why they are growing so quickly in popularity.
Learn from the smart lighting experts…
At Hadley AV we stay at the cutting edge of smart home lighting, working directly with manufacturers and distributors to get visibility of the latest developments.
If you’re interested in installing smart home lighting and would like some advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch and speak to one of our experts.