Smart lights are awesome! And they're now more accessible and affordable than ever before. Our bulbs work just by connecting to your wifi - you don't need any other equipment to get started (this makes them cheaper and easier to set up). They work really well with a voice assistant (like Alexa, Google Assistant, and even Siri) too. Here are our favourite things you can do with smart lights:
- Turn the lights on at sunset. Set your lights to come on just as it's getting dark. This feels like your house can read your mind! Never get up to turn on the lights again.
- Set a "Good night" command. The last person to bed at night can tell your voice assistant "Good night", and this can make sure all the lights are off, and if you want, set some dimmed night lights.
- Make sure all the lights are off at night, even if you're away. This is great for security, and works in conjunction with the automatic sunset lights. Simply set up a routine that turns off all your lights at a set time. If you have any night lights set, you can also create a routine to turn them off at sunrise.
- Putting kids to bed (or getting them up). If your kids are anything like ours, getting them to bed can be a challenge. But you can make bedtime fun by giving their lights a set routine for bedtime. For example, you can have all the lights in the house turn blue when it's time for the kids to go to bed, but leave the light normal in their rooms, so they can read for a while. Then you can have the light gradually get dimmer over half an hour. This actually helps create a sleepy feeling and help them to drop off! Then, the lights can go out automatically at the desired time.
- Use "modes" to set the mood. You can create a few different lighting setups to create different moods. For example, we have a "movie mode" and a "dinner mode" for our lights. It's a great way of changing a bunch of lights with just one command. You can automate them too.
- Make a Rainbow. This is a big hit with the kids. Set up a routine so when you say "Make a rainbow", the lights all change to different colours. It's also useful to set them all to change back after a short time too...
At Smartlights.kiwi, we have searched for the right wifi bulbs: great functions, solid quality, and superb value. We're constantly on the lookout for new bulbs to add to our range and other things that make a smart home easy!