Towards a Smarter Home: How Do Smart Bulbs Work?

Did you know a 9W LED bulb can last 15-20 years? In comparison, a standard 60W incandescent bulb only lasts a year.

As for energy cost, a 9W LED bulb costs about $1.08 per year compared to the incandescent bulb’s $7.23 per year. That might not sound like a lot, but imagine how quickly the bills stack when you have multiple lights to maintain in a single home or business space.

With this in mind, the automated home is also coming to a rising trend as well. What better way to help you with energy efficiency and further home customization than to use smart bulbs.

How do smart bulbs work? Let’s explore that today.

1. What Are Smart Bulbs?

Smart Light Bulbs comprises of Internet-accessible LED light bulbs. This online feature enables remote customization and control. It’s one of the rather successful products that pave the way to the Internet of Things.

With its integration of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and similar connection systems, it becomes possible to control them through the use of a mobile app or a home/building automation hub. Through this, individual bulbs can receive different settings to change their output on the fly.

Each year, manufacturers and vendors add more features to smart bulbs as the competition gets tighter. For instance, you can now find smart bulbs that come with built-in cameras and built-in speakers. Some may even come with motion-detection capabilities.

2. How Do Smart Bulbs Work?

For smart bulbs to work, they need a device to coordinate their functions. In this case, they need either a smartphone, a tablet, or a home automation hub.

They use wireless communication standards such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Thus, these smart bulbs connect to an app installed on your device or automaton hub.

Many brands allow integration with existing smart home devices and systems, thus providing ease in control and modification.

Also, many people investing in smart home technology make use of hubs or home automation systems like Nest or Wink. Some even use voice-activated systems. These systems include Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit.

3. Smart Bulb Features

What features do smart bulbs offer compared to conventional light bulbs?

Smart bulbs use LED for its components. It’s for this reason that they make an excellent option for you and the environment. But they also offer more features aside from energy efficiency, such as the following:

Dimmer

Smart bulbs provide a feature that allows you to adjust the intensity and brightness of the light emitted.

Keep in mind you can achieve this with conventional lights. However, it necessitates the use of dimmer switches. These are a bit clumsy to use and difficult to properly install.

With smart bulbs, you don’t need dimmer switches. With the use of the app, you can achieve the specific brightness that suits your needs at the time.

There is one thing to take note, however. You need the right type of dimmable bulb. Look for one that doesn’t hum, buzz, or flicker.

Remote Control

Ever seen a bulb with a remote control? Smart bulbs do!

However, they don’t come with a separate, physical remote. Instead, you can remotely access the bulb’s settings through the use of an app.

These include scheduling features, which is the case for the Belkin WeMo LED and GE Link Bulbs. With it, you can control the lights even when you’re not at home. This is a perfect security feature that makes your home look occupied while you are away on vacation, which is a good means of deterring break-ins.

Another good use of these remote settings is that you can also find a way to save up on power. Ensuring you can come home to a lit house without leaving them on. With a hub to sync all the bulbs together, you can control them with only one app.

Color Change

Aside from brightness control, smart bulbs are also capable of changing color. This furthers the idea of setting the mood to a room.

For instance, the Flux Smart LED Light Bulb can produce over 16 million colors. Changing a color is as simple as tapping a selection on the bulb’s app.

You can set up cool light to help you focus at work. Or you can set it to warm light for a more relaxing feel, helpful in providing you a better chance at sleeping soundly in the evening.

Color changes also aid in matching festivities and themes within the area as well.

Built-In Speakers

As mentioned, some smart bulbs also come with built-in speakers.

This is a welcome addition to your entertainment system. Not only do you get to hear music from the smart bulbs, but some variants of these would also have the lights match the mood with pulsating lights and matching color changes.

There are also other smart bulbs that would focus on providing better sound quality. Whichever you choose for your home, having built-in speakers on smart bulbs may prove to be a welcome addition.

Can Help With Sleep

Smart bulbs can also help you sleep better.

Certain light temperatures can help in regulating natural melatonin production in the body. Keep in mind, melatonin levels aid you in sleeping. During the day, the body produces less melatonin. At night, it increases melatonin production to help you sleep.

Certain light hues would hamper melatonin production. This makes it harder to sleep at night. This tends to be the case with blue light.

With warmer colors, you can sleep well without interrupting your natural circadian rhythm.

Try Out Smart Bulbs Today!

How do smart bulbs work? Hopefully, with this guide we’ve shed some light and encouraged you to give them a try.

After all, smart bulbs are a great addition to your home. With their range of features, you can control both the mood and the style that your lighting provides.

They also work in sync with other smart appliances when powered by your home automation system. The ease of control can provide you the convenience that you need.

We offer a wide variety of lighting solutions that you can use for your home. Shop with us now to get started.