Light Up Your Home With Smart LED Bulbs September 21, 2016 00:00
If you were looking for a way to upgrade your home’s decor with lighting in the early 2000s, your options would have been limited to Christmas lights and dimmer switches. And if you’d ever installed a dimmer switch, you probably would’ve opted for Christmas lights.
With the development of smart lighting, though, an entire world of options has been opened up to those who either couldn't afford it or didn't have the technical know-how.
We've compiled a list of game-changing smart lighting techniques to make sure you get the most out of your bulbs, and all the rooms in your home.
Relax with dimmable lighting
If you’ve ever come home from a stressful day at the office, you understand the urge to turn down the lights and veg on the couch to recoup. Recent studies show that there’s a reason for that.
As it turns out, we’re naturally more relaxed in dimmer lighting. And with dimmable LED lights, you can use every lamp, sconce and chandelier to create an environment of pure relaxation.
What’s more, you can even set your home’s lighting on a schedule to dim at a certain time of the day. Then, take it one step further by outfitting your home with sensor-containing smart bulbs and all you’ll have to do is walk through the door and your home is perfectly lit, making your time to unwind just a bit more carefree.
Make your rooms look bigger
It’s an age-old trick of interior decorators -- utilizing light in certain areas of your living space can give the appearance of a roomier abode.
To maximize the effect, you need to spread out the light. Instead of installing harsh, shadow-creating overhead lights, try using a few lamps or pendant lights around the room. When done correctly, you’ll create a more evenly-lit area with less space-consuming dark patches.
Another trick that’s gaining some popularity is overhead cabinet lighting. Overhead cabinet lighting helps create space in the same way as before: by reducing dark patches, just in harder to reach places. And the results are pretty impressive.
Use smart LED bulbs to create accent lighting
One indicator of a well-thought-out interior design is the presence of accent lighting. This decorating device draws the eye to a certain aspect of the room. It could be a statue, a picture, a plant – whatever it is you want to draw attention to. And by doing so, you give your room character.
Smart bulbs are especially useful in creating accent lighting because every bulb in your house can double as a fully customizable accent light. Adjust the brightness of a dimmable bulb and you can make that portrait pop. Plus, if you’re whole home is dimmable, you can adjust what part is accented at a whim.
What’s more, you can use sensors and scheduling features to gradually illuminate and dim to correspond with the ambient light to, for example, bring your favorite painting to life as the sun sets.
Create a party pad with speaker bulbs
It might be hard to believe, but lighting companies like Flux Smart are now putting out smart bulbs with built-in speakers. And even more surprising? The quality of their sound
They can pick up the jams from any smart device and make sure the party goes on, no matter what room you’re in. Some even will double as a colorful strobe light, pulsing reds, blues, and greens to every beat of your favorite song!
Optimize your bedroom for healthy sleeping
More and more people are starting to realize the impact lighting has on your daily health. From the discovery of sleep affective disorder to the effects of various colors on our moods, light plays a bigger part in our day-to-day routine than most realize.
If you’re like a lot of people and have a hard time waking up in the morning, you might benefit the most from dawn simulation. Our bodies are constantly adjusting chemicals and hormones that encourage us to either sleep or wake up, and a lot of how it decides what to do is based on the amount of light your body receives.
With dawn simulation, a feature becoming more and more prevalent in smart lighting, you’ll be gently roused from your slumber by a gradually brightening light. No more being ripped from your dreams by that terrible shrill buzzing day in and day out, and no more falling asleep at your desk because of it.
Match your room's function
There are three categories that every type of lighting falls under: task, ambient, and accent. We’ve already talked about how accent lighting can draw your eye to a certain part of the room, but where do the other two come in?
Ambient light is produced for the general purpose of seeing what you’re surrounded by. If you walk down any given hallway, chances are you’re stepping through ambient light.
Task lighting, on the other hand, is devoted to helping you finish a task. The kitchen, for instance, is usually full of task lighting because of all the delicate and precise maneuvers that are performed there.
Smart lighting helps you bring your desired lighting type to any space in the home, and helps you better support its purpose. Whereas bright lights underneath your kitchen cabinets might make it easier to chop up some veggies, a soft dimmer light might be more appropriate while conversing with guests over the dining room table. No matter what you decide, you’re in control.
Create a brilliant bathroom
If you’ve ever slammed your knee into a corner while wandering through a pitch black room towards the bathroom, then you’ve probably thought, “there has got to be a better way." Thanks to smart lighting, now there is.
Many smart bulbs are now outfitted with motion sensors, which means the next time you wake up in the middle of the night, you'll be guided to restroom rather than fumbling around in the dark.
What's more, studies have shown that bright light exposure in the morning helps you stay more alert throughout the day, while dimmer lighting before bed ensures a better night’s sleep. And what better place to put these tricks to use than where we spend a fair chunk of time in both the waking hours and right before bed?
Smart lighting takes away the need for entirely different lights and lets you adjust the brightness of your bathroom to your desire, to start and end your day the right way.
Tell us your smart lighting design ideas and tips!
How have you used smart lighting to spruce up your home’s décor? Which technique has been the most effective for you? Let us know in the comments, then try using these tips with the Flux Smart WiFi LED and Flux Smart Bluetooth LED Lightbulb!