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Light up Dark Corners Depending on how your home is situated, you may have blind spots that are exempt from standard front and back porch illumination. Placing smart lighting along the sides or lower level of the house can give you peace of mind. You can program devices to stay on at night or receive alerts when they sense motion. Some outdoor smart light models look like standard motion- activated flood lights, while others have a camera built in. Regardless, they all offer information sent directly to your phone so you’re aware of what’s going on in the dark corners of your property. This additional lighting is also helpful when it’s time to haul the garbage receptacles to the curb in the early morning or after dark, when the dog goes out at night, or if your parking area needs additional brightness. SeeWhat’s Happening Not only does a smart lighting device add convenience for the otherwise dark locations, but a camera feature also adds security. Smart lighting with a camera
home. You can also do a late-night check in from your phone to see how many lights the kids left on following the post- dinner kitchen raid, and turn them off from bed.
allows you to control when and how your camera and your lighting function. With online storage, you can keep video running all the time or store video when the camera senses motion. You can also decide how sensitive you want the camera’s motion sensor to be, targeting cars, animals, or human activity. Using the phone app, you can check the view through the camera anytime, especially when you receive an activity alert.
In addition, since most smart lighting offers motion detection, lights may only be on when there is movement inside or outside the house, resulting in a lot less energy consumption from lights on all day and night. Dimmers on a switch or bulb offer additional energy savings. Lower the lights at dinner time, during date night, or while the TV is on to add ambience and reduce energy usage, and control it all with your smart device.
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Cost Savings
Inside or outside smart lighting can save you money on your power bill in the long run. The systems are more expensive initially, but since they rely on CFL or LED bulbs, they offer significantly improved efficiency over incandescent bulbs. This can provide 70-90% more energy savings than traditional bulbs. In addition, LED bulbs last thousands of hours longer, saving you the hassle and cost of changing them. Since smart lighting can be programmed and controlled remotely, you’ll also save money by turning out the lights when they’re not needed. For example, you can program lights to come on shortly before you wake in the morning but remain off during daylight hours when no one is
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