A guide to energy efficient, money saving smart lighting

This energy efficient lighting solution not only reduces home carbon dioxide emissions but can also help save you money. And if you're considering illuminating your home with smart lighting we're here to help.

This guide to smart lighting will help you understand the benefits of smart lighting and the different types of smart lighting for any room in your home.

What is smart lighting?

So, what is a smart light bulb? Simply put, it's a bulb that you can control from an app on your phone or tablet that lets you change both the brightness of the bulb and the colour of the bulb.

In other words, it's goodbye light switches, hello smart lighting. As well as connecting to the app, smart lighting can also connect to a smart home assistant, giving you the freedom to control your lights with your voice.

What are the benefits of smart lighting?

Ease of use and convenience are both huge advantages of smart lighting. On cold nights, there's no need to get out of bed to turn out the light - simply do so using your phone, or ask your smart home assistant to do it for you. “Hey Google, turn off the living room lights”. You won’t need to move an inch. Plus, if you're away from home on holiday but want to give the impression that someone is in the house, you can turn the lights on and off remotely.

Other benefits of smart lighting include:

Switch-free: As well as offering a contact-free way of lighting a room, smart lighting allows you to dim the lights to your chosen level without the need for - and cost of - a dimmer switch.

Energy efficiency: Smart bulbs don't generate as much heat as traditional incandescent bulbs and therefore use less energy. They also last about 25 times longer than traditional bulbs.

Greater control: There's no 'one-brightness-suits-all' when it comes to smart lighting. Each smart bulb works independently so you can create the desired ambience in different areas of the same room.

Set the mood: Traditional bulbs are either on or off. Smart bulbs can be adjusted to create the perfect warm or cool ambience, and even change colour to help set the mood for any occasion.

Enjoy better sleep: Light is a key factor in sleep patterns. Smart bulbs give you the freedom to help your biological clock wind down for the day and awaken by matching the brightness with the time of day.

How smart lighting can save you money

Traditional bulbs aren't energy efficient. It's estimated that only 5% of the electricity converts to light and 90% is given off as heat. So it's no wonder that:

• 20,000 hours of lighting with traditional bulbs costs £25.80 compared to £5.40 with a smart bulb
• Switching to LED smart bulbs can reduce your energy bills by £35 each year
• Over the course of its lifetime, a smart bulb can save about £180

Smart lighting puts you in control of your home lighting. Having the ability to turn off lights remotely means you could cut down on wasted electricity and you can create lighting schedules based on the time of year so you're only using lights when you need them.

Smart lighting products: A closer look at Philips Hue

No matter what room you're looking to illuminate with smart lighting there's a Philips Hue product to suit you. No plugs? No problem. Use a portable, rechargeable solution. Want to add an ambient glow to kitchen cupboards or bookcases? Check out the flexible strip lighting. Let's take a look at some of the range.

There's a reason why the Philips Hue Mini Starter Kit is known as the smartest bulb in the room. It includes everything you need to add ambient colour to any room.

There are no less than 50,000 shades or warm to cool light to choose from, plus over 16 million colours. So whether you are working, partying, or enjoying quality me-time at home, you can transform the ambience to match your mood and even sync the smart bulbs with your TV, music, or gaming.

It's easy to control everything using the Philips Hue app, so whether you're at home or on holiday, you're just a few taps away from switching lights on and off.

The Philips Hue Go Connected Portable Light with Bluetooth is a great option for rooms without power sockets as it's wireless, portable, and rechargeable for up to three hours.

Controlled via the Philips Hue app, you can choose from seven different light effects ranging from functional warm white light to cool energising daylight. There's also the option to create natural dynamic effects to set the mood, such as Cosy Candle, Sunday Coffee, and (our favourite) Enchanted Forest.

Oh, and did we mention there are 16 million colours to choose from at the touch of a button?

An alternative to the smart bulb is the Philips Hue LED Lightstrip Plus base V4 2 metre Bluetooth. This flexible indoor strip lighting can be bent, cut, and shaped to fit the space in your home.

Whether you want to add ambient lighting to a cove, hallway, or stairs, the Philips Lightstrip has light coverage over its entire length and is bright enough to be both decorative and a functional light source.

As for smart bulbs, the Philips Hue Bluetooth White Ambiance GU10 Twin Pack and Philips Hue White Twin Pack Bluetooth can be used straight out of the box using the app and let you enhance your home with your desired lighting.