5 Reasons Why Smart Lighting Is a Must for the Modern Home

While there are many functions you can make “smart” in today’s homes, perhaps the one you can appreciate most is smart lighting. It can streamline your daily life, help you save on energy bills and be greener, and add convenience and safety to your Haddonfield, NJ home. What’s not to like? Read on to learn more about what smart lighting can do and why it’s a smart choice for your home. 

SEE ALSO: 7 Reasons Not to DIY Your Smart Home

What is Smart Lighting? 

There are smart bulbs, switches, and app-controlled lights, but that's just one element of smart lighting. Smart lighting is about how you can control multiple lights at once, change their characteristics instantly, and coordinate them with other smart aspects of your home. 

There are two main ways to do this. Centralized lighting (sometimes called panelized) is used in new construction and major renovations to wire all the lighting to a central panel, allowing for very sophisticated control options for lighting throughout your property. For retrofits and minimally invasive installations, we use wireless lighting. This involves replacing current regular lighting switches with smart ones that communicate wirelessly with a central controller, also allowing for your lighting to work in unison with easy control. 

Control Many Lights at Once

Smart lighting lets you use one button to set a whole group of lights to specific settings. For example, create an "Away" setting to adjust indoor (and outdoor) lights for safety and convenience. Program an "Entertaining" scene to dim your lights in various areas for a warm atmosphere for dinner or cocktails. Forget about messing with multiple lights and dimmers to get the lighting just right. You can have as many custom scenes as you want available with just a touch. 

Many Means of Control

Smart lighting does give you the convenience of control through an app, but that’s just the start. Elegant, programmable, backlit wall keypads put smart lighting access where you need it in any room. Need lights to activate automatically? Use schedules for “set and forget” control of lights like outdoor lights, turning on and off precisely at sunset and sunrise or whenever you want. To save energy or just have lights on when you’re in a room, occupancy sensors can detect your presence and turn lights on or off. 

Increase Safety and Peace of Mind

Everyone knows well-lit places are safer and less-desirable targets for intruders. With smart lights, you can set how your lights go on and off for safety without leaving them on all day. Use schedules—even randomized ones— to use lights to simulate occupancy when you’re away. After dark, turn on lights for safer outdoor navigation and visibility. Turn them all off when day time returns without thinking about it. 

Green and Efficient

Many lights don’t need to shine at full brightness all the time. One of the beauties of smart lighting is the way it gives you precise dimming capabilities. You can save energy and increase comfort with lighting that’s just right all the time. During the day, set your kitchen lighting to 50 or 70%, augmenting natural daylight. Do it with the touch of a button rather than manipulating multiple dimmers. 

Home Automation Integration

Smart lighting is easily integrated with other smart home functions. Coordinate your lights with temperature controls, entertainment, and more to create comfortable, inviting environments for any occasion or activity. 

Whitaker Technologies is your local audio expert serving Greater Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore areas. We provide AV and technology design and installation services for residences, commercial spaces, and houses of worship. 

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