If you're looking for a way to improve your home security, you should consider installing a smart lighting system. There are many benefits to smart home technology, and smart lighting systems can turn a simple light bulb into a high-tech perimeter warning. Smart lights outshine non-smart fixes like timers because they’re vastly easier to control, and they allow you to set them to better mimic the way a home’s occupants actually use lights (instead of on a predictable schedule). Once installed, smart lighting devices sync with your smartphone so that you can control them remotely, put them on a schedule, or randomize them. Learn how smart lighting improves security in your home and keeps you safe.
What if you could unlock your front door, turn on the lights and disarm your security system before you even actually inside the house? Geofencing can use your geographic location to trigger lights through with a smart lighting system.
You can connect your smart devices to a geofencing system to perform the small tasks that you would normally do yourself automatically. With smart lighting, this means you can set your smart bulbs to turn on automatically when you're pulling into your driveway. Although smart lights are just one of the ways you can use geofencing in your home security system.
One of the many benefits with smart lighting is that you can group multiple lights together. You can group them however you like. Maybe by floor or by room.
For example, if your living room has four lights, you can group all for of them and with the tap of a button turn all of them off, on, dim them or even change the color at the same time.
There are multiple ways to group lights and if you use a smart switch you don't even need to buy smart light bulbs. Making the process far less expensive. Although you can't change the color or make bigger groups.
With smart lights you can do it via a smart hub, a Google Home, an Alexa device and control them via an app or even your voice.
Another feature of smart light bulbs is that you can schedule when they turn on of off. Some even let you choose the brightness and the color, making it even more customizable.
For example, you can improve your mornings or make falling asleep easier by putting your lights in sunrise and sunset mode. The lights gradually get brighter in the morning, gently waking you up, or get darker at night, protecting you form the negative effects light, especially blue light, can have on your sleep cycle.
The possibilities are endless, you can set different schedules to scare off burglars, set your lights to dim when you get home from work, or even set reminders with different light colors.
A lighting control system gives you the ability to control all of your lights together from anywhere. You have complete control if you'd like bright lights when reading a book and dim lights when watching a movie. Your choice.
You can control the lights in each room and in your entire home. Have all the lights turn off automatically when it's bedtime, eliminating the need to turn them off manually room by room.
It's also a good option if you're at all concerned with energy efficiency. Since you can make sure that your lights are only on when it's needed it lowers unnecessary energy consumption, smart lighting allows you to save energy and save money at the same time.
Since they can keep to your regular schedule, when you're away from home a light can turn on at the times it normally would, giving the appearance from the outside of regular activity within the house.
Some also come with emergency power sources, meaning that if there was a blackout, you wouldn't be left in the dark. This can be an invaluable source of comfort in case of an emergency, and can also deter burglars who may want to take advantage of a blackout.
Smart light bulbs can also be linked to other home security devices such as security cameras or a fire or carbon monoxide detector so that the lights turn on automatically when you're in danger. This feature in particular could save your life.
Smart lights can be activated using the voice through either Apple's Sir, Amazon's Alexa or Google's Google Home. These platforms listen to voice commands, send them to a server to be translated and then perform the required action.
Once you've installed and set up your lights, all you need to do is activate them using one of the common trigger phrases, the name of the platform you're using. Simply ask your home assistant to turn off or on the lights, or change the color, whatever you may want to do. Of course, this is just one of the many actions a home assistant can perform.
If you're developing a smart home you have to choose a design for your smart lights. If you prefer to follow current norms, you could have a wall switch. This means that though your lights are smart, you can switch them off and on the way you usually would.
Or you could decide to have no wall switches and instead control your lighting using a smartphone, voice control or a mobile switch that you are able to move around as needed.
Ultimately, you can make your life easier and enhance your home security by making your home smarter. It can be a day to day luxury to not even have to think about your lights, but, even more importantly, it can also make your home a safer place for you and your family.
