Make Lighting Control Shine Brighter

One of the most popular ways to upgrade a home to smart technology is with a lighting control system. Recent surveys of homeowners either renovating or building a house show that smart lighting features are of high interest along with intelligent climate and security systems. Smart lighting offers tangible benefits in energy efficiency as well as convenience and luxury.

While lighting control can provide greater convenience with remote control of lights from a device like a smartphone, adding automation in concert with other smart devices multiplies the benefits in energy conservation, security, and luxury.

Let’s look at five ways smart home automation works with a lighting control system to make your Huntsville home safer, more comfortable, and more economical.

SEE MORE: Modernize Your House With These Smart Home Upgrades

Light a Path

Smart lighting can make it easier to navigate a dark house. If you typically arrive through your garage and walk into your kitchen, the lights can be triggered when you disarm the alarm system. They could also be triggered the moment you click to open your garage door. If you prefer a more manual approach, a button on a keypad by an entryway can light one or two paths that have been previously set up. The intensity of the lights can even be varied by the season to take full advantage of natural light.

Other smart pathway lighting ideas might include dimly lighting a path from a bedroom to a bathroom for bedtime, or a way to the kitchen for a late drink or snack. If you live in a very dark neighborhood, you could light a path to your walkway from the street to the front door to make it safer for visitors.

Set the Scene for the Show

If you are going to sit down to a movie in the family room, why not dim the lights to a comfortable level for watching – or all black if you want to, with a strategically lit path to the kitchen and nearest bathroom. For more casual TV watching, the room can be lit somewhere in-between full and total darkness. The best part is you can coordinate the lighting with control of your AV equipment. One button can set the lights, turn on the audio system, and set the TV to the right input and content source.

Make the Best Use of Natural Light

Natural light can vary greatly from one day to the next, and from season to season. With lighting control, you can use a sensor that detects light and even UV rays. The sensor can inform your system so it can turn inside lights on and off and vary their intensity. You can save money on energy and be a good steward of the environment. What’s more, lighting control can be automated with smart thermostats and motorized shades. In the middle of a hot Alabama summer, your coordinated system can block out summer heat, use lights wisely, and manage your thermostat to balance comfort and efficiency.

Make It Look Like You’re Home When You’re Not

Today’s home automation systems can actually learn your usage patterns for lighting. When you are away from home, you can set a scene that mimics the way you turn lights on and off throughout the day and night. The result is a house that looks occupied. Your outside lights can go on and off at the right time, and the house is lit up in the evening but not all night long. With some home automation systems, the lights can be coordinated with AV systems to give your house a very lived-in look.

Use Motion Detection

Lighting control can employ motion controls that are integrated with keypads to detect when a room is occupied. It can turn on a light when you walk into the room and turn it off automatically if it’s unoccupied for some time. Naturally, with home automation, you can enable and disable this feature for when it makes sense. Motion detection is also perfect for pantries, garages, and closets where it is often easy to forget to turn off a light.

Want to learn more about what a lighting control system can do for you? Call us at (256) 882-5081, contact us, or just click below to connect immediately to one of our lighting experts. We look forward to working with you.