How To Turn Off All Lights Automatically With Smart Home Automation?

Looking for ways to turn off all your lights automatically at once. Change the color and brightness of lights in your room, matching the vibe and mood of your mind. Or even better, remotely control them to turn on and off from wherever and whenever you want them too.

Well with smart home automation, you can do it all and even more, given how much you are ready and willing to spend and how far are you willing to automate everything in and around your house.

If you are new to home automation and are looking for ways on how to get started. Then I believe you have come to the right place.

Here, I am going to discuss it all, from answering the simple question you see in the heading, to some complex ones like, how many types of home automation are there, which type to go for, whether it is worth it or not to is it at all necessary.

At the end of which, I hope you can make a more wise and sound decision to make the best choice for you and your home.

Types of Smart Home Lighting and Home Automation

Home Automation and Smart Home Lighting pretty much go hand in hand. If you are just starting your journey in automating your house the way it is shown in the movies, then this is exactly where you start.

Having “Smart Home Lighting”installed at your home is probably the very first step to go on automating everything in and around you at your house.

Now, there are easy and cheap ways to do that, as well as there are more difficult and costly ways to do that too. Each of course, depending upon your needs, requirements as well as your budget.

And as you go on reading the following article, it will get clearer and clearer to you which type to opt for and how to go on prepping your home to install this kind of home automation in the most convenient and efficient way possible.

So, coming back to types, there are basically three main types of Smart Home Lighting out there in the market today.

Smart Bulbs
Smart Plugs
Smart Switches

1. Smart Bulbs

If you are looking for something which is absolutely easy to install and weighs less on your purse, then Smart Bulbs are the right choice for you.

Coming with minimal installation requirements as well as costs, all you have to do with these smart bulbs is simply plug them into your home bulb sockets and Voila! You are all good to go.

How Smart Bulbs work

Well, most smart bulbs out there will definitely come with some kind of a smart hum or smart plug of a kind, used to control the bulbs automatically via Wi-Fi or commands over a similar network.

The hubs or similar smart plugs can be plugged into a power supply and can be used as a Wi-Fi bridge or router to control all the bulbs connected to them, either via your Smartphone device or even voice commands like Alexa and Google Home if it supports.

Best Smart Bulb options

Below, I have curated for you, a list of some of the best smart bulb options out there which you can opt for to use and install at your home.

2. Smart Plugs

Now, if you are looking for something more versatile and giving you the liberty to do a little more than just switching your home lights on and off. Then my recommendation to you would be to install Smart Plugs.

Where with smart bulbs, you are only limited to controlling lights at home. Smart Plugs on the other hand, gives you more freedom to control a wide variety of equipment and gadgets by plugging them into such smart plugs plugged into sockets at home.

How Smart Plugs Work

The working principle, even in the case of Smart Plugs, is pretty much the same as that in the case of Smart Bulbs we had seen earlier. They all work mostly on a communication medium such as Wi-Fi or RF controlled by either your smartphone device or voice commands depending upon what models and versions you have opted for and installed.

Best Smart Plug options

Below, we have a list of the top best Smart Plugs out there, which you can easily install at your home on your own without any expertise or so. Simply plug in the device to a power socket and you are good to go.

3. Smart Switches

If you have enough budget and would not mind calling in technicians to wire up a smart switch interface at your home, then you can also opt to install Smart Switches at home. Compared to other smart home devices like smart bulbs and smart plugs, they definitely fall on the more pricey end.

So, unless you want a more premium feel and look at your home while being able to automatically control everything around you. Then skipping on this would not be such a bad idea after all.

How Smart Switches Work?

Well, once again the basic working principle even in the case of Smart Switches is pretty much the same as in the case of the other two alternatives as laid out before. However, here the only difference is that, instead of just plugging in the device, you will actually need to wire them to your lights or plug points as you would more conventionally do in case of a more normal wiring.

Moreover, in the case of Smart Switches there is also no need for any kind of smart hub or plug devices which were pretty essential earlier in the case of smart bulbs or even plugs to some extent.

Best Smart Switch option

Talking about the very best of Smart Switch options out there for the year 2022, we have with us the following list as shown below:

Comparison Chart Of Smart Bulbs, Smart Plugs, & Smart Switches

To make things a little more simple and easy for you, let us next have a look at a comparison chart with the help of which you can easily understand the difference between each type of home automation as well as figure out which architecture suits you and your home best.

Pricing

	Smart Bulbs	Smart Plugs	Smart Switches
Pricing	Low to Medium	Low	High
Installation Difficulty	Easy	Easy	Hard
Versatility	Low	Medium	High
Maintenance Cost	Low	Low	High

NOTE: When it comes to ‘Compatibility’ between the various devices you want to automate inside your house, you must pay close attention to which brand or architecture you are using. It is very important that you research well which smart device is compatible with which hub or smart voice service and so on before going forward with any.

Given that most smart home automation devices are still quite novel and in its early stages, they might not be as cross platform as they claim and only work well with devices from the same brand or similar interface and architectures.

Things to consider Before installing Smart Home Lighting

Before you go on installing smart lighting or smart home automation devices. It is very important that you consider a few things beforehand, just so that you can cut down on any unnecessary expenses and save up on both time and energy as well.

1. Don’t automate everything at once

If you are automating your home for the first time. Then it is a good idea that you take really small steps at a time. It does not matter whether you have a good amount of budget to spend or have limited resources. It is always best to use it cautiously while installing your first set of automated devices at home.

For starters, you can start with the very basic or cheap type of home automation devices like a smart bulb or plug and see how it feels. Also, it is not a good idea to automate all your rooms at once and just stick to a single one at first.

If everything works out well, then you can extend it further to the other rooms as well or opt for some higher end set-ups and devices.

2. Begin with the more cheaper options

To be very honest with you, it is not actually worth it to spend a fortune at the very beginning itself. Instead you should try out the more cheaper models and architecture types, before going all pro.

This way you get a good idea of what your room may be missing or what more to add to get the most optimum and desirable results.

3. Understand your needs, rather than your want’s

This is very important if you are on a tight budget and just cannot manage spending any extra money here and there on experimentation with “what would go and what not”.

Instead of experimenting and deciding on later, what suits your taste and what does not. Carry out a thorough inspection of where it would be the most ideal to install your smart devices, so that you can make the most out of it and it can meet all your needs.

4. Check for any issues with compatibility

This is probably one of the most important and foremost things to do before you progress with buying your smart devices and installing them at home. Since many devices out there still do not support multiple protocols or interfaces.

It is very important that you check for compatibility between one and the other, before you install them together in a single space or room.

5. Go for a good protocol with strong security

Now obviously, you wouldn’t want your home network to be hacked by someone else and used for any malicious events. Right?

Hence, if you want to prevent such kinds of events from ever happening to you, it is a good idea to get a protocol which suits your needs and security purpose as well as set up a more secure and strong hardware firewall for your home automation system.

This way not only will you be able to protect your costly devices from any kind of misuse, but also keep your privacy at home intact as well.

Is Home Automation Worth it?

Undoubtedly, home automation is the next big thing out there. Sooner or later, every home out there will get smart one way or the other. The question is, how ready are you for the change? Either you can wait for the surroundings near you to compel you to upgrade yourself.

Or you can simply start that process on your own by taking small steps at a time. This way not only will you get enough time to cope up with the changes. But, also will be able to figure out just what is right for you and find the most optimum of results.

Moreover, home automation can actually be a great help for you in the time we live today. Being busy coping up with our everyday chores from both office and home.

Many times we often make the most silly of mistakes such as leaving our gas on or heater burning. Things which can prove really dangerous at times even.

Hence, to curb such incidents from happening and save both time and energy, having installed such smart appliances and devices can prove really beneficial and handy.

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How to Turn Off All the Lights Automatically with Smart Home Automation?