Smart Light Bulbs and Apps to Make Your Home Energy-Efficient

Smart home automation is a technology that has taken years to grow and develop, and now it’s ready for every homeowner. Smart home technology enables you to operate your home’s thermostat, appliances, and control lights with your phone.

Using apps on your smartphone, you can make your house run more energy-efficient, and perhaps the best part is that you can do it remotely.

But controlling lights with your phone and other smart home solutions require a little more than just downloading an app. Whether you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, here are the steps and hardware you’ll need to make your home more energy efficient.

How to Control Lights with an Android or iPhone - The Software

When it comes to connectivity for controlling lights with an Android or iPhone, there are two factors that come into play - your home’s connection to the internet, and downloading the right app.

Home automation lighting systems require an internet connection, and while there’s a few different ways to establish that connection, each has its pros and cons.

There are Wi Fi smart lighting systems, which enable you to operate the lights remotely, but won’t work unless your internet connection is established. If your internet goes down, so too will your ability to control the lights.

Blue-tooth based systems are very popular, as they require BLE-enabled smartphones for operation. They operate remotely, and require a hub that’s typically connected to your home’s router.

Likewise for ZigBee and Z Wave technology, as they will also require a hub. This technology is established through a WiFi connection, and the hub’s connectivity to the internet is required for operation.

How to Control Lights with an iPhone or Android - The Apps

The software and the apps that are available to control your lights with an iPhone or Android are the same. The top choices for the lighting component of your smart home system are as follows:

Smart Life - Smart Life is probably the most popular and widely used app to control lights from your iPhone or Android. It works with just about any software from any manufacturer.

Philips Hue - Philips Hue is another app that will control lights with your phone, but it is exclusive to Philips Hue smart lights and accessories. It enables cool features, such as brightness, color, and schedules.

Hue Disco - Since Smart Life will take care of controlling lights with your phone in a pragmatic way, you should also be aware that there are some fun apps out there too. The Hue Disco app connects your lights to your music, and turns any room of your house into a club style dance floor.

While these apps will do a fantastic job of controlling lights from your phone, they will not control other components of your smart house. Multi-tasking smart home apps will not only control your lighting, but will also control thermostats, appliances, and other smart systems in your home.

Smart Plugs

Smart home automation requires a number of components, and once you have your smart lighting system and software, and the right app on your iPhone or Android, it’s time to review other components that round off your smart home lighting system.

Investing in smart light bulbs for every single light socket in your home may become more work and cost more money than you intended. A nice component that makes it unnecessary to even change the light bulb is a smart plug.

The best smart plugs will enable everything from a bedside light to a lamp in the office to become controllable from your phone. They plug right into an electrical socket and connect to your phone via WiFi.

Smart Outlets

Another component for smart home automation that are not light bulbs are smart outlets. Smart outlets replace your current, generic outlets and add several pieces of functionality.

Smart outlets connect to your iPhone or Android, and enable you to set schedules. They also have another great feature, as they allow you to control each electrical socket independently.

Staying Safe Because of Smart Lights

Making your home more energy efficient is one fantastic use of controlling lights from your phone. But automated lighting systems have another benefit that brings peace of mind - security.

It’s a practice that goes back generations, but how many times have you left the lights on before you left your home for a vacation? It’s such a common action for people to take that outside lights that are on during the daytime make homes targets for burglaries and break ins.

Timers on outside lights have long been available, but using your phone to control your lights while not at home is a new ability for homeowners.

Smart lights enable you to set schedules for individual lights, and turn them on or off remotely and randomly, which gives anyone watching the impression that you are actually home.

Security and energy efficiency are common reasons that people are beginning to embrace controlling lights from their phones. But it’s also kind of fun, and when you combine that with peace of mind, it’s a no-brainer to install a smart home lighting system.