Light Up Your Life

The brightest way to start a smart home

Smart lighting is constantly one of the top three improvements people make to their homes

Latest Update 8/1/21

Topics covered
  • Bulbs vs. Switches
  • Hubs vs. WiFi
  • Which lights to start with
Things to consider
  • What are the habits of the home's occupants
  • Are you looking for novelty or convenience
  • How many lights (bulbs and/or circuits) do you want to automate
  • Does your wall box have a neutral (white) wire
Overview
When lighting up your home, we recommend you start with the main lights - overhead lights in high-traffic areas, patio lights, and places where hands-free could be a benefit like hard to reach lamps or where your hands might be busy (kitchen). While it might be really cool to have a light strip light up your bookcase or entertainment center, the real magic comes from combining your lights into an ecosystem where, along with other sensors and scenes, the house can transform in a bigger way.

One of the major considerations is between switches and bulbs, as both can be smartified. If you're replacing in-wall switches, make sure that the wiring is compatible with the switches you select. We generally recommend that switches that can control entire sections of recessed bulbs, fixtures, etc. are the best way to get started. This upgrade doesn't require any change of behavior by the other residents or guests of your home. If you install bulbs, power must always be on for them to respond, and if someone switches off the power, suddenly the automation, and the magic disappears.

Switches don't provide the cooler features like changing temperature based on the time of the day, faking a sunrise, or creating a disco of multi-colored party lights. We generally recommend using bulbs in lamps or any area not controlled by a switch. We do not recommend using smart switches for lamps, as the bulbs can be just as expensive and generally have a better responsiveness.

Make sure to take a look at other products in the ecosystem you choose, such as blinds, fans, or accent lighting. The fewer apps and integrations in an ecosystem, generally the more stable the system.
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Top Choice - Light Switches

Lutron Caseta

Lutron Caseta is the easiest and most stable way to transform your home lighting into something magical. The best part - you don't need to teach anyone something new just to live in your house.
Lutron offers the benefit of a rock-solid proprietary communication frequency for rapid responses and the dimmer works without the need for a neutral wire - a distinguishing feature in this market.

Works with
BUY NoW on amazon
lutron caseta starter kit
Detailed review - Lutron caseta
Lutron Caseta is by far and away the market leader for replacing switches for lights, shades, and fans. Their proprietary wireless frequency ensures that the switches are quick to respond and do not depend on the strength of your existing WiFi network to operate. This does come at the cost of a higher price per switch, but everyone we have installed them for could not be happier, whereas other switches based on WiFi can be a mixed bag. You can get started with a switch and hub, but as you expand, you might consider looking on eBay or other sites for cheaper alternatives when buying in bulk, as these can add up fast!

Lutron dimmers are also the only ones on the market that work without a neutral wire. A lot of houses in North America, especially those built before 1970, didn't run this extra wire through to junction boxes, which renders most switches on the market useless. However, because of this differentiation, a little bit of power has to run through and complete a circuit to power the "smarts" in the switch, and some low-power bulbs may act strangely with this trickle of power. If you experience a problem with your LED bulbs after install, take a look at the Lutron Compatibility Tool to figure out the best solution moving forward.
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Top Choice - Multi-Color Bulb

Philips Hue

If you want color-changing capability, or to automate some lamps, Philips Hue bulbs are a great way to do this. Hue works on the Zigbee protocol which has better reliability, and the setup is dead simple. While there are other bulbs that might be brighter or have more accurate colors, the overall package here is hard to beat.

Works with
buy now on amazon
philips hue starter kit
Detailed review - Philips hue
Philips Hue is a great ecosystem, and at this point it is probably a household name. They were one of the first to market and easily became a leader with their solid performance, in-line pricing, and continuing improvements. Since the first bulbs were launched, more products have joined the ecosystem - including light bars, TV backlighting, and outdoor lighting. Using Hue with a smart home ecosystem, you must have the hub for greater integration, but it is worth it.
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Honorable Mentions

lifx A19 bulbs
Lifx Bulbs
Pioneering the WiFi in a bulb, this premium product offers best-in-class brightness and color accuracy. Lifx even has security conscious bulbs that help extend your camera's night vision range.
Works with
buy now on amazon
koogeek light bulb
Vocolink
Vocolink provides solid performance for the price point, and their ecosystem has additional items that add great functionality.
Works with
buy now on amazon
nano leaf light tiles
Nanoleaf
The light panels, squares, strips and touch panels of Nanoleaf are much more of a statement piece or art. Beware that there is a cord and control unit you will have to run somewhere and hide.
Works with
buy now on amazon