How to Enhance Your Home With Lighting
Back in the "old days", all you could do to turn on a light was flip a switch or turn the dimmer knob.
Well, this is 2019 and times are changing. Now you can just tell the lights to come on, like on Star Trek. (Before you know it, we'll be able to tell our microwaves to heat up our Earl Grey tea.)
Smart lighting is becoming more a part of our lives, as it's increasingly more affordable. It's a household features that will let us use lighting to alter our moods, protect ourselves, and save a ton of energy and money.
Lighting Our Homes With a Purpose
Today's lighting designs are more about being a partner in your lifestyle than just turning on the lights. All of the lighting in your home can be on a single system that can be programmed in zones, each with it's own mood. All of these zones can be controlled by wall units, a master panel, or an app.
So in addition to “Cooking” and “Romance” zones, you might have buttons for:
- Outdoor Entertaining – patio and walkway lights illuminate.
- Coming Home – triggered by a timer or a smart phone, the porch, entry hall, and kitchen lights come on.
- Nighty-Night – lights in kids’ rooms slowly fade out as they fall asleep.
- Vacation – lights turn on and off in random patterns.
- Panic Mode – all lights in the house flash on and off.
All you need to do at the end of a long day is just call up an app, or talk to your smart home speaker, and change the mood. You don't even have to lift a finger.
Easing the Fear of Lighting Technology
"Oh no, not another hi-tech gadget in my life", some may say. Don't worry, smart zone lighting is easy to install. If you hire a pro, your home can be retrofitted in about a half day for around $1500.
You’ll get an easy-to-understand central control unit that “talks” with new switches, light fixtures, and bulbs that are specially made to receive wireless signals. You decide on your zones and, once everything’s set up, have the light throughout your house change intensity and color on command.
DIYers Can Zone Out, Too
Relatively low-cost mini-systems are coming to market that’ll let you install your own zones, even if your geekability quotient is near zero.
The Hue is a $199 do-it-yourself starter kit from electronic manufacturer Philips. It includes a wireless hub that plugs into your home router, and three LED bulbs that respond to wireless signals.
Once the hub and bulbs are installed, you control everything from your smartphone, setting up zones (called “scenes” by Hue), and choosing color combos from millions of possible hues. You can even add tricks, such as having your lights flash when one of your tweets is re-tweeted.
If you get hooked on your Hue, you can expand — additional bulbs are $60 each. And because it’s linked to your internet router, your hub can be accessed from virtually anywhere using your smart phone, tablet, or laptop. Working late? Delay your “Coming Home” mode for an hour — and save energy.
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