When you think about upgrading the lighting in your home to smart lights, there is one thing that is on your mind, how much will it cost? That is for good reason because smart lights are considerably more expensive than traditional lights and LED lights.
The overall cost will vary depending on what bulbs you decide to put in your home, also whether or not you need a home automation hub to run those bulbs. The average cost is generally $750 or more on your initial investment.
We will go over what smart lights are and how they work. Then we will go over some reasons why you should consider putting smart lights in your home. Smart lights can be a great addition to your home and the start of full home automation.
What Are Smart Lights
Smart lights are LED lights that have software in them to help you control them through apps and smart home devices. These lights can be controlled remotely and will automate all your lighting functions.
With Smart lights, you can set timers on the lights and control dimming from an app or an automation hub. You can also set mood lighting with different colors to help you set the mood for any event.
Smart light gives you more control of your lighting and can help you control what lights go on and when. This can directly translate to your overall power costs because the lights can be put on timers to make sure they are not used when they don’t need to be.
How Do They Work
The LED lamp has an integrated circuitry that allows them to be controlled wirelessly. However, each light can pose a different issue when connecting for operation.
In most cases, you can connect your light to an application that can run on your smartphone or tablet. Although some other light fixtures will require a home automation hub to function correctly.
The home automation hubs can be an additional cost of $50.00 and up, but if your lighting needs one, then it is something that you have to factor into the cost. However, if you are looking to automate your home in the future entirely, then you will need an automation hub anyway.
How Much Do Smart Lights Cost
Smart lights can vary in price greatly and run anywhere from $20.00 a bulb and up. This can mean that it can cost a lot more than you would think to automate your home lighting. However, because these lights are LED, the life span can considerably out way the initial lighting costs.
Traditional lights only cost about $1.00, but are they have one function and will not last nearly as long as a smart LED light. Comparison cost to a traditional light should not weigh into your decision when changing to smart lighting.
However, when you are converting your home to smart lighting set up, you may want to consider doing part of the lighting smart and other components in only LEDs. This could give you flexibility on your budget and will still make your home more energy-efficient.
Converting your lights in your home will depend on how many lights you have or how many lights you are switching. So, if you are switching ten lights in your home could be $200.00 or more depending on what type of smart lights being used and if you need a home automation hub.
Although by spending the money on the investment of smart lights, you will also gain that back in savings. The average LED light has a life span of 25,000 hours, and compared to traditional lights; you can save hundreds of dollars over the life of the light.
With smart lights, you can save even more because you can control when the light is on and off and make sure that they are off when they need to be. For example, if you are out of town for a week and you want to leave a light on in the home.
With a traditional or LED light, you would have to flick the switch, and that light would stay on for the duration of your trip. This means that it would be on for 168 hours over those seven days. Although this does not seem like much for the life of an LED light, if you travel a lot, then you have to multiply that for all the time you are away from home.
With a smart LED light, you can turn them on and off from your phone and also set timers for these lights to control when they are on. The light won’t make a difference being on during the day because it would not make sense for it to be.
So, if you only leave it on at night for 10 hours, you have more then cut the time of that light in half. Not only saving on your power bill but also extending the life of your bulb.
Taking this even further so you are not putting all the load on one bulb, you can have lights go on and off at random times. Doing this will enable you to pass the burden onto other bulbs and only put minimum hours on each bulb.
What Are The Best Brands For Smart Lights?
There are more than a few different brands of lights, and each one gives you different options that you will either like or dislike. Let’s go over a few brands and the features they provide you.
Phillips Hue
Phillips hue offers a wide range of products that start at $19.99 and can get up to $49.99. These products, at their most cost-effective, only provide a soft white light, but the more expensive option gives you a wide range of colors to set the tone for any event that you are having.
The Bluetooth for your smartphone will only allow you to control up to ten lights from the app. If you what to control more than that, then you will need to invest in the bridge that they offer, which can control up to 50 lights.
The Hue Bridge not only allows you to set up over ten lights on it, but it also allows you to set up other smart home functions and control them from the app. The hue can also be set up with voice control so you can manage your lighting just by telling it what to do.
The hue is $59.99, although it does give you more control of your lighting and give you more flexibility with your lighting set up. It will also allow you to start the full home automation if that is your overall goal.
Lifx
Lifx offers a little higher-end product and has been recognized as one of the leaders in the industry. However, these products range from $29.99 up to 59.99 for a single bulb. They do offer some neat bundles that can be used in the bedroom or your entertainment area.
They also offer strips of lights, which is a cool feature to give you a different look and a lot more mood when you want it. Unlike some other brands, Lifx does not need an automation hub to control their lights, and you can manage your lights with their app.
The app is very intuitive and gives you a lot of different options that make smart lighting by Lifx shine. You can also tether the lights to any of the smart automation hubs with full functionality, which can give you a lot more flexibility.
If looking to upgrade your lighting to smart lighting, then Lifx might be worth the extra money for all the options that you get. The bundles are really impressive, and those light strips can be a game-changer.
Eufy
This is a great option to keep costs down as the bulb only costs $19.99 and is fully integrable with Amazon and Google’s assistant. This bulb also offers a range of color tones to help set the mood.
Even though it is the most cost-effective of the bulbs, it will also be supported by the Eufy Home app, which will allow you to control the bulb from your smart device. Eufy also offers a wide variety of home automation products that could make integrating this bulb into a bigger picture easier.
This cost-effective bulb can turn your home into a smart lighting home with a smaller upfront cost, which can be a huge plus.
Nanoleaf
Although they don’t offer light bulbs, they offer a really cool modular lighting system that you can set up to your taste. This is a very innovative product but provides a different way to look at lighting.
Fun designs from Nanoleaf can take your lighting to the next level and give you some designs that you never thought were possible. It is a fun way to think about how lighting could be set up, and with panels as well as squares, you have a lot more options.
The innovation of this design shows you where smart lighting is going and how much fun you can have setting a mood in your home.
Many products can help fit in your budget, but in the end, you want to make sure they offer the features that you want. Although some features might sound incredible, but you need to decide if the added cost is worth it.
Benefits Of Smart Lights
There are some significant benefits to spend the money and upgrade your lighting to smart lighting. Let’s look at some of the great stuff that you can expect from smart lighting and why you should consider moving your lights to a smart system.
Automation
You can turn off lights and change the mood from the comfort of your bed or your favorite spot on the couch. With automation, you can set up your lights in groups or individually and set them up with timers, so they come on when you want them to.
You can even set your lights to give you cues on what time it is. If you lose track of time and need a hint when it’s time for bed, then set them up to dim when you should be turning in.
Energy Efficient
Smart lights give you different ways to be energy efficient in your home. With the LEDs drawing a lot less power and being able to control your lights when you’re not home, you will be able to make sure you aren’t wasting any energy.
Added Security
When you can set up timers on lights and change them to different rooms, you can give the illusion that someone is home. This can be a huge detractor for anyone looking to break into your home.
There are a lot of benefits to upgrading your lighting to smart lighting, and you should consider them very carefully. In the end, it is a great way to make your home more fun to live in and have some great features.
Final Thoughts On Smart Lights
The overall cost of your lighting set up depends on a lot of factors, but when all is said and done, you are looking at $750 and up to upgrade your home. This is always dependent on how many lights you decide that you want to upgrade.
Deciding on the equipment will drastically change the cost of your lighting setup. If you are concerned about price but want all the savings that LEDs give you, it may be wise to do a combination of smart LEDs and regular LEDs.
Smart lighting is something that you have to look at as an investment and use the features that make that investment work even better for you. However, you should check out all your options and really consider what is important to you. Upgrading your lighting can be the first step in making your home a smart home.
The best part about any smart lighting is that if you have a system like Alexa, you can connect it to that hub. This means lighting can be changed in one simple command away.