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Your Light Switches Should Be Smarter Than Your Light Bulbs
Installing a ‘smart’ light switch instead of smart light bulbs saved me hundreds of dollars, and made it easier to control my connected home
The connected home market isn’t always obvious in how it benefits you, but I think lighting is one of the places it makes sense — if it’s done right.
I began installing “smart” bulbs in my home when I lived in Europe, slowly upgrading as I replaced burned-out lights. I admit to becoming something of an obsessive: I worked to add perfect lighting for each room, setting the bulbs to automatically turn on at the right time, and barked at Google Assistant to throw on mood lighting.
But when I recently moved to North America, there was a problem: None of my old bulbs worked. The voltage here is different, so I needed to start all over again.
Buying smart light bulbs is a significant investment. The most recognizable brand is Philips Hue, which makes LED bulbs that can be controlled via your phone and are generally priced at a eye-watering $49 per bulb. IKEA sells a cheaper, compatible bulb called TRÅDFRI for $29, but that will still make a dent in your wallet if you want to wire up your entire home.
Smart light bulbs can make life a little easier. They allow dimming even if there’s no dimmer installed on the wall, or a splash of light from an LED strip in a dark corner. Installing them allows you to control the environment in your home even if you don’t own it, and added functionality like the ability to sync with your TV to trigger “movie mode” is genuinely useful.
But, at $50 a bulb, I wondered, did I really need to replace every single lightbulb to make my home smart? Thankfully I found a better way: adding the “smart” to light switches instead. A single, internet-enabled light switch can control an entire room’s light bulbs, and if your existing lights are dimmable bulbs, it’s a great way to make your home smart on the cheap.
