Using Smart Lighting to Enhance Every Activity at Home

This post is the final chapter of this month’s blog series on lighting control and automation. So far, we’ve covered system choices in automated lighting and the many versatile (and fun) ways to control your lights. In this post, we’ll take lighting automation to the next level – how to customize your lighting to enhance just about everything you do at home.  

A good lighting control system is much more than turning lights on and off with a smartphone or voice control. While all that's convenient, it's when your lights can set just the right scene for what you want to do that you start leveraging the power of home lighting automation. And beyond the light, it’s how your lighting works with the rest of your smart home to keep you comfortable and safe.

Ready to learn more? Let Show & Tell AV, your local Control4 dealer and home technology expert in Salt Lake City, be your guide to the benefits of smart lighting control. 

Setting the Scene with Lighting

We’ve discussed lighting scenes before, but it's worth reiterating what they are. Without sophisticated lighting control, your lighting is controlled by normal switches and dimmers. In a large house with lots of built-in lighting, that can be a lot of switches. You may want to set the stage for entertaining friends, and just turning on all the lights is not going to set the mood. You may have to adjust individual lights and dimmers just so for the effect you want.

With lighting control, you can set the levels for all those lights – and then memorize them forever in your system with the touch of a button. Beyond the entertainment scene, you can set one for cooking, family dinners, reading in the family room in your favorite chair, watching TV or movies, or anything else in any room with the right setup in your Control4 smart system. At bedtime, one command can turn all lights off in main areas, dim some hallways and bathroom lights for any nighttime visits, and set your security alarm all in one move. 

Then there’s the automation that you don’t have to activate or think about. Set your landscape and entry lighting to turn on 15 minutes after dusk and 10 minutes after sunrise. Light your pool, spa, backyard water features and garden from 8 PM till 2 AM or whatever schedule fits your needs. Unlike traditional timers, a Control4 system controlling your lighting is flexible and scalable, giving you the ability to add or remove lights in your curated scene when you want.

SEE ALSO: Getting Started with Home Lighting Control and Automation

Smarter  Security with Lighting

A well-lit property is less likely to be targeted, but even so, your Control4-powered smart lighting can go further working with other systems. If an intruder enters your home, motion sensors or smart cameras can trigger your system into action. Your lights can all turn on in the room with motion, a warning can blare over your sound system that the intruder has been detected, your alarm can sound, and cameras can capture images of the perpetrator. For less threatening situations, sensors can detect motion in your front or backyard and activate spotlights that you might not otherwise want to have on all night, and you can get a notification over a smart speaker or your smartphone that there is someone on the property.

Do you worry when you leave your home for a long vacation? With Control4 automation, your property can look to be occupied. Control4 systems have a feature called "Mockupancy," which learns your habits for using lights, audio and video systems, and motorized shades and drapes. When the system detects that you're not home, it operates lights, window coverings, and sound and TVs in a natural randomized way similar to the patterns of when you are home. It can keep anyone watching your property guessing whether there's someone home. It's another way your smart lighting – cleverly integrated with other smart home functionality – makes your life less stressful and easier. 

Saving Energy

Smart lighting makes it easy to be green. The aforementioned timers can turn on lights when needed and off when not. You can employ occupancy sensors that keep lights on only when a room is occupied. If your family is notorious for leaving bathroom lights blazing, a sensor can switch them off after several minutes if no one is there. You can use the same strategy all over the house where it makes sense for you. Lighting control’s ability to dim multiple lighting loads at once also saves energy, as you only use the full brightness of some lights when needed. Your lighting scene can set the levels automatically, and you save on energy without effort. 

Show & Tell AV creates custom smart lighting solutions with industry-leading systems from Control4 and Lutron. Let us show you all the ways smart lighting can elevate your home. Contact us here or use the live chat box below to quickly connect with one of our lighting experts. We look forward to working with you.