How smart lighting systems can make life easier
There are many ways a smart home lighting system can make every day easier. Smart lights can help you wake up naturally by turning up slowly. They can help you when your hands are full by saving you reaching for the switch. They can even add some colour to kids' teatime with a colour-changing bulb. Let’s take a closer look:
Wake up without an alarm
One of the things you can do with smart lights – like Hive Lights – is to set them so they automatically turn on when it’s time to get up.
That way, instead of the alarm on your phone, you can emerge from sleep gradually and naturally – without being shocked into action, even on a weekday. Even if it’s still dark outside, turning the lights on sends signals to your brain that it’s time to rise and shine. Just the thing for your circadian rhythms (your natural sleep cycle).
Turn your lights on by getting out of bed
Turning your lights on is hardly a big chore every morning. But on a cold winter’s morning every little helps. Connect your bedroom or landing lights to a motion sensor and… Ping!... the moment you step out of your room, your lights go on and you’re into the day.
Lights off as you shut the door
You can use sensors to turn lights out too. If you’re rushing out the door to take the kids to school, a window or door sensor can turn all your lights off in one go when you close the front door. Leaving you one less thing to worry about.
Work well from home
One of the clever things you can do with a ‘tuneable’ smart light – like the Hive Light Cool to Warm White – is change the tone of the bulb (it’s really easy, in Hive’s case it’s just a quick swipe of the app on your smartphone). If you’re working you can make your light a crisp white to help your concentration. Then, when you’re done, just turn it down to a warmer tone for the evening.
Control your lighting from anywhere
Obviously one of the big benefits of smart lighting is the fact you can control them on your smartphone when you’re away from home. It’s a money saver, as you can turn off your lights remotely if you’ve left them on. It’s good for peace of mind too, as you can turn lights on when you’re away so it looks like you’re there. Just check in the app from wherever you are. Then turn them out with a tap.
Extra peace of mind with Mimic Mode
Mimic Mode is a useful feature that Hive provides with their smart lights - for even more peace of mind when you’re away. Turn it on via your Hive app and it will switch your smart lights on and off in a random pattern over the course of the day. This will make it look even more like someone’s at home.
Lights dimmed for dinner
Smart lights used to only come in classic lightbulbs, but now you can also get smart spotlights like our dimmable smart GU10 bulbs - which are great for the kitchen. They’re really easy to use (just replace your old spotlights with smart ones) and they’re tuneable too. So keep them bright white to see what’s cooking, then turn them down to a warmer tone to keep things nice and relaxed when you’re eating.
Control your lights with your voice
Smart lights work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and they’re really easy to connect up. So any time of the day you can turn the lights up or down just by using your voice. Even better, it means anyone in the family can do it too, even if they don’t have the Hive app.
Bedtime lighting to help you sleep
It might surprise you, but a color changing light bulb can actually help you sleep better. Red increases melatonin, which makes you feel drowsy. So when bedtime comes round, put the phone away (blue light is bad!), turn the lamp light red and open up a book. Read a chapter or two, switch out the light and drift away… ready to start another day.
Take a look at Hive Lights for more on the benefits of smart lighting.
