How Lighting Automation Works & the Benefits of Using It
Lighting automation is an extremely broad term that is able to cover everything from a single control for one area of a room, used with a home theater for example, up to entire whole-house systems utilizing interior and exterior lighting effects. Systems can be stand-alone systems, needing no external tie-ins, or they can be tied to the security system or the entire home automation system.
In many cases, particularly newer home construction, lighting automation is featured as a default part of the security system. The residential lighting automation market itself is extremely diverse and spreads over the entire spectrum of housing, from modest and cozy apartments where it is used to control spending and keep bills down, to large multi-million dollar estates where it is leveraged on a large scale both inside and outside the home for security and property maintenance purposes.
Lighting automation is not limited to any one particular lighting type, either. It can be used to great effect with any combination of lighting types, from fluorescent to incandescent, halogen, and even state-of-the-art energy-efficient and high-powered LED lighting. It can be scaled to any size, from a single shelf to tens of thousands of square feet of interior space.
For a long time, lighting automation was considered a rather exclusive luxury item but the recent popularity explosion in the internet of things has changed that. Now lighting automation equipment is relatively affordable and even people on tighter budgets can begin to make use of the benefits of lighting automation.
How Does Lighting Automation Work?
The most popular and common type of lighting automation incorporates what is referred to as “smart light bulbs”. These smart bulbs can be used in any existing lighting socket, and have integrated circuits that are able to communicate either with a central hub or with your home network and personal digital assistants.
In the case of legacy lights that do not have the internal workings for automation, like fluorescents or halogen work lights, they can be automated with special power outlets. These plug into your existing outlet and provide the ability to interface with automation systems. These can be used with other electrical items that would not normally be compatible with smart systems as well, allowing an even greater degree of customization with your lighting automation system.
In the case of wider home automation, lighting automation can be added to further enhance your home automation experience in general. It can be used to augment digital video recording, as well as remote video monitoring.
Benefits of Using Lighting Automation
Many people might hear about lighting automation and wonder why they would ever need or use it in their lives. To lots of people, lighting automation may be an entirely new concept, and it can seem like an incredibly complex way to manage the lighting in their home. But once you take a deeper look at the benefits that it can provide when used either alone or integrated with your existing security system.
First of all, and probably most obviously, lighting automation is incredibly convenient. Think for a moment of all of the individual lights in your home, and all of the switches that you are constantly flipping to turn off lights that were left on for some reason. One benefit to lighting automation is that you have the control for your home, often interior and exterior, at your fingertips.
Automating your lighting can also help you do more with it. Many smart bulbs feature an array of LEDs so you can pick from millions of colors to showcase, and in some cases even create themes and lighting effects that can highlight your style even more. Many people leverage lighting automation to manage ambiance for gatherings, parties, and home theater effects. You can set the mood with any number of color or dimming effects, depending on the equipment you decide on.
Another significant benefit is safety. You can automate your lighting with any number of different automation techniques to ensure that your property and path are well-lit for easy navigation. This is another use that can be extended outdoors as well as indoors. The walkway between your driveway and front door can light up as soon as you step out of your car, the front porch lights brightening as you approach. Inclement weather, hands full with groceries, there are countless situations where having lights turn on and off automatically for you can help keep you safe.
Many of the lighting automation equipment available will allow you to not only schedule your lighting to turn on and off exactly when you need it, but this feature can be extended to utilize your personal digital assistants like Google Assistant or Alexa. Depending on the lighting you choose and your home system, you may be able to simply speak your lights on and off at will. This is ideal when combined with the themes you can build with the assistants, so you can not only have the lights dim and change color, but a music cue can come on, and your streaming service can start. The only limit, truly, is your imagination.
Companies That Can Help with Your Lighting Automation Needs
Lighting automation is one of the most useful and outright coolest technologies to emerge from the boom of the internet of things. Many people are looking to add automated lighting either to their home in general, or to their existing security system or home automation system, but it can be a bit complex for the uninitiated.
On the other hand, by leveraging one of the leading DFW security companies to help you out with your lighting needs, you can get great advice and professional guidance. The knowledge professionals have can be priceless. As such, using an expert that can help you utilize lighting and security features to best protect your home is one of the best and most effective ways to ensure your home is well-secure at all times of day.
If you are ready to experience the peace-of-mind that a state-of-the-art home security system can provide, then look no further. Reach out to industry-leading security professionals and be on the path to a safer, more protected home in no time at all.
