On the surface, smart lighting systems might seem like a superficial upgrade. Is it that hard to flip a light switch? But coming to grips with the full breadth of benefits they provide can be challenging. That is, until you’ve enjoyed them. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of their pleasing glow, we’ve rounded up the top five reasons you’ll never want to live in a house without them installed.
First and foremost, smart lights let you illuminate your whole home simultaneously. Being able to basically snap your fingers and go from on to off across every room at once saves a lot of cumulative switch flipping. Going to bed is equally easy. Every light can stay on while you’re snuggled up nice and toasty in bed.
Fiddling with the app might seem like just as much work as flipping a physical switch, but there are other options. These bulbs sport voice activation with the full range of virtual assistants. You can set automatic schedules that can match your lights with sunrise and sunset, for example. Geofencing helps a bunch, too. Your lights can automatically turn off when you leave the house, and turn on when you get home. With minimal initial setup, your lights can operate on cruise control.
If your home is still running on traditional incandescent light bulbs, and you’re going to upgrade to LEDs anyway, you might as well splurge and get in on some of those added conveniences. Smart lights don’t just save power by sheer virtue of being LEDs, either.
By being able to automate and remotely control which lights are on, you can ensure that you’re only using lights when and where they’re needed. This can further cut electrical usage that’s already quite low from being an LED. Ultimately, this saves money on your electrical bill and helps the environment by minimizing reliance on a grid.
Behold the rainbow and rejoice! Okay, it might seem a little silly, especially when you go for the most ostentatious colors right off the bat. Those colors are indeed exciting and will probably be fun for a little while to the kids in the house, but there’s a more subtle side to it.
During normal everyday activity, being able to simply shift lights from cooler to warmer whites can have a palpable effect on how you work. A cozy, warm, dim light is perfect for lounging on the couch and reading a book. If it’s rainy outside and you need to stay awake and focus on work, a cool light can add a surprising edge to your environment.
Entertainment sync is one of the more advanced features you’ll see in smart lighting systems, but it really is something. By monitoring the video signal going to your TV and mapping the colors appearing around the edges, you can associate the smart lights in your room to mirror the dominant colors in that area. This way, if you’re watching a movie and there’s an explosion on the left side of the TV screen, that whole side of the room can light up in yellows and oranges. The level of immersion this creates is like nothing else.
This fun feature is not limited to movies or TV shows either. Spotify can now connect to Hue bulbs, so your music makes your lights pulse with the music. For the times you really want to rock out, this is a fun addition.
Smart lights can actually make your home more secure. You can remotely turn lights off and on, no matter how far away you are, but the real convenience is when you get a smart lighting system that has a dedicated away mode. These will routinely and randomly cycle your lights off and on, so any potential observers would assume there’s some sign of life inside.
Many smart lights can be activated by motion triggers as well. This feature is super important in outdoor lighting and can easily deter anyone trying to sneak in the back door.
These are some of the obvious benefits of smart lighting systems, but there are plenty of hidden gems that smart lights can perform.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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With AI progressing so fast, it's only a matter of time before we start getting AI companions like the ones we used to see in movies like R2-D2, Wall-E, or Baymax. Now, Singapore-based OKA Technology has unveiled Mori, a cute little AI companion that looks less like a conventional home robot and more like someone turned the Pokémon Foongus into a table lamp.
Mori isn't meant to clean your house or control your smart home, but to serve as what OKA calls a "Nature Companion." It uses subtle movements, warm lighting, nature-inspired sounds, and small reactions to make its presence around the house feel calming rather than distracting. Mori can sit quietly while you read, sway along to music, welcome you when you enter a room, or encourage you to slow down for a moment without requiring a screen or a conversation.
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