Some features, like home security and smart thermostats, provide immediate and obvious value to homeowners, but what about smart lighting?

It saves energy

Have you ever come home after a long day at work? Or perhaps you’ve been running errands only to find all the lights are on in your house. If you cringe at the thought of wasting electricity, smart lighting can help. It also helps if you forget to turn off the lights.

For one thing, smart lighting uses LED bulbs, which offer significant energy savings. According to energy.gov, an LED bulb uses 75% less energy than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs. This is better for the environment and your wallet.

In addition to saving energy, you can control smart lighting from anywhere from your smartphone. Forgot to turn off the lights? In bed for the night and don’t want to trek through the house flipping off lights? No big deal. Just log into your smartphone app and turn them off.

It can set the mood

Harsh overhead lighting can be a real buzzkill. It’s disruptive when you’re trying to enjoy a romantic dinner. It’s also distracting when just relaxing with a movie after a long day. You can use adjustable lighting controlled from your phone. This lets you set a softer mood. It creates a more relaxed atmosphere for whatever you have in store.

Smart lighting is also fun lighting. Some smart lights can support colored bulbs. These are perfect for showing your festive side during Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays.

It provides security

One of the biggest indicators to would-be burglars that no one is home is a dark house. Leaving the lights on all day and night doesn’t help either. It is a good indication that someone isn’t home. After all, who leaves all the lights on when they sleep?

Smart lighting can be an effective part of a home security system. With smart lighting, you can set custom lighting rules that provided added security when you’re away from home. For example, you can create a room group. This could be like downstairs lights or bedroom lights. Then, set a rule to turn them on and off at various times. This looks more natural to an outside observer rather than keeping the same lights on 24/7.

You can also set custom rules to control lights in certain rooms. This allows you to turn them on and off at different times while you travel. This gives the appearance that you’re home without having to worry.

You can control it with your voice.

If you have a voice-activated speaker like Google Home or Amazon Alexa, you can turn your Philips Hue lights on and off with your voice. Ensure the speaker is within range.

So if you’re already curled up in bed and don’t feel like getting out to turn off the lights, or if you come home to a dark house with an armful of groceries (or kids!) you can simply tell Google Assistant or Alexa to turn the lights on or off for you.

You’ll save money over time.

Smart lighting uses LED bulbs. These bulbs use significantly less energy. They don’t need to be replaced as often. This can help you save money over time.

Your savings will vary based on several factors. Consider this example. You have 20 60-watt incandescent bulbs in your home. You leave them on for an average of 8 hours a day. If you replace them with 20 LED smart bulbs, you’ll save $321 per year, according to this calculator.

Besides saving energy and money, smart bulbs also last longer. Incandescent or halogen bulbs last around a year, while LED lights last 10 years on average. While they tend to cost more upfront, you’ll end up replacing them far less than you would incandescent bulbs.