Smart Lighting is a Smart Home Essential

What is Smart Lighting?

It’s not a fancy bulb or an app on your phone; although, those can certainly be part of it! It’s the intertwining of the lighting in your home, the multiple functions you can create with them, and the ways in which you can control it all.

Using keypads, voice assistants, an app, touchscreens, or a remote, you’re able to dim lights or change colors and hues in any (and every) room, turn individual fixtures or groups of lights on and off, and set a specific mood.

With just one action, set an entire scene that dims the kitchen lights to a certain percentage while the speakers start a playlist and the front door locks. The smartest thing about smart lighting is that it’s more than just lighting.

DID YOU KNOW?

There are two main ways smart lighting can be installed:

• The first is called “Centralized Lighting” which is used for homes in the new-build process or going through major renovations. This option actually connects the lights to a central location, similar to a breaker box, which is hardwired and connects to the smart home “brain” or controller.
  
  
• The second is called “Wireless Lighting” and is mainly used for retro-fitting. This option uses the same wires that run to your current lighting switches, but the regular switches are replaced by a smart switch or keypad and then communicate wirelessly to the “brain” or controller.

What Can Smart Lighting Do?

Conveniently placed lighting keypads allow you to turn off every light on your way out the door with one tap. As you arrive home, your garage door can trigger the entryway lights to lead your way into the house.

Motion detectors brighten the hallway lights during the evening and throughout the night, making it easier to move about without disturbing the rest of the household.

Smart lighting simplifies your daily routine—and even tasks that only happen every now and again—in an intuitive way easy enough for the whole family to use and enjoy. 

What Does Smart Lighting Look Like?

Switches, dimmers, and customizable keypads (check out colors and finishes here) match your decor and blend in seamlessly to your home; no unsightly or boring switches plastered your wall creating “wall acne.”

No longer will you need to fiddle with switches until you find the right one. Instead of a bank of four—or more!—switches on your walls, one sleek customizable keypad can take care of multiple lights in multiple rooms, or even set an entire scene with preset lighting, music, temperature control, and door locks.



How Do I Use Smart Lighting?

Smart lighting wouldn’t be very smart if sleek switches and keypads were the only way you could control it, right?

With Control4 Smart Lighting, you’re also able to use an app on your phone, tabletop or in-wall touchscreens, voice assistants like Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Josh, and even a TV remote to control your lighting throughout the entire house.

When your hands are full while you’re working in the kitchen, just ask Alexa or Google to turn up the lights for you. When you’re cozied up on the couch, use the remote to dim the lights for the movie.

When you’re out on the patio enjoying the evening, use the mobile app to turn on the ambiance of the outside lights. And of course, as you’re headed up the stairs to catch some Zzzz’s, use the lighting switches and keypads to put the whole house to bed.