By 2030, it is expected that the worldwide smart home market would be worth more than £430 billion. The adoption of smarter technologies by homeowners and architects alike has made it all but certain.
If you’re seeking to update your outside area, now is the ideal moment to start making the transition to a more intelligent future. Smart outdoor lighting is a crucial component of any dream home. Outdoor lighting is sometimes disregarded, but if you’ve decked out your entire home with innovative features while completely ignoring the garden, you’re missing out on significant chances to enhance the style and innovation of your home.
Smart outdoor lights: what are they
Intelligent controls for garden or building exterior lighting are made possible by smart outdoor lighting solutions. Motion sensors, wall panels, mobile phones, handheld devices, and even voice commands can be used to control lights. To get the ideal illumination of your garden and outdoor space, choose from a variety of bulbs, light panels, LED strips, and more.
Any specification you want can be fitted for smart outdoor lighting. Choose the types of lights you want to add to your outdoor area, and then decide where they should be placed. A specialized installer can assist in creating a lighting solution that properly satisfies your requirements and enhances the aesthetic of your garden.
What is the Process of Smart Outdoor Lighting
In order to function skilfully without requiring human intervention, entry level smart outdoor lighting requires Wi-Fi or a proprietary wireless link to connect back to a central processing hub. After being professionally installed, lights can be programmed to turn on and off at specific times depending on schedules or motion sensing.
Installing the lights you desire and then wiring everything back to the control system to apply the intelligence to a standard installation is advised for a more durable solution with a wider selection of styles, colours, and fittings. If you currently have outdoor lighting, we can retrofit wireless solutions to add smart controls to your existing lights without replacing or adding new lights or bulbs.
So how do these lights get turned on? Actually, it’s fairly easy. The main advantage of smart outdoor lighting is that it eliminates the need for large, densely wired, or ugly outside switches. Lights can be turned on intelligently in a variety of ways, such as via motion sensors, timers, darkness sensors, or even a wall-mounted smart panel. The ability to dim and vary the colour of fixtures to create a mood in your garden or on the exterior of your building is the main advantage.
Additionally, smart lighting options help to cut down on energy waste. Human error is eliminated when automated switch-off and emergency all-off buttons are absent, ensuring that no bulbs are left on unnecessarily. Lights are a simple solution with a significant influence when it comes to increasing the sustainability of our houses. How frequently have you fallen asleep with your porch light on? Your lights can be connected to a control system after they have been installed. These systems give you a variety of options for modifying and adjusting the indoor and outdoor lighting. By using a remote control or smart device, you can change the hue (colour) or brightness of your bulbs.
What characteristics do smart lighting control systems have
- Limitless Style & Look Possibilities — Using a lighting control system rather than investing in smart light fixtures gives you an unlimited selection of fixtures to match any home’s style and improve the design of your building.
- Convenience – Installing smart lights on your home’s exterior can help homeowners by simplifying routine duties. Schedule your exterior lighting so that it turns on when you get home from work and turns off once you leave for work. Your lights can be turned on when you need them and off when you don’t with the help of a clever solution.
- A central control panel or linked devices like your phone if you’re away from home let you adjust the colour, brightness, and hue of your lights with smart lighting solutions. This is a useful resource for arranging themed events like a barbecue or garden party. This is such an easy but efficient approach to change your space for various occasions.
Which Intelligent Outdoor Lighting Should I Pick
There are “smart lights”-branded bulbs and fixtures on the market, but these may limit your options. Any type of lighting, including LED lighting, can be elevated by a smart lighting control solution, enabling you to manage your lights using a smart system. This is so that everything is hooked back to the central control panel, which houses the intelligent control, rather than the fitting itself.
When used in a retrofit application using wireless dimmer modules or, preferably, while the electrical cabling is being built, a lighting control system can make your current lights “smart.” To provide you greater flexibility in adjusting the colour of the light fittings to match the time of day, the ambiance you wish to create, and the setting, we recommend DALI compliant light fixtures.
The appeal of smart technology is the ability to tailor a solution to your wants and house. A skilled installer will make sure to use cutting-edge technology, so you may create a smart solution without being constrained by it.
Integrating smart outdoor lighting
- Outdoor Sound — To improve the film experience, include smart outdoor lights into your garden home theatre. Connect your lights to your smart cinema sound system, so it responds to the sounds of the film (find out how to build the perfect outdoor home cinema). Similar to this, you can connect your smart sound system to your outdoor lighting so that it pulses in rhythm with the music, which may significantly improve the ambiance at a garden party.
- Home control systems — If your lighting is connected to your home control system, you may use a single app to control your heating, lighting, music, and video as well as your security. It will enable you to do things like only turn on the outdoor lights to illuminate the landscape when you’re at home to appreciate it because they are integrated into this ecosystem. All of your exterior lights turn off when you set the alarm or press the “goodnight” button. Your outdoor lights may switch on to welcome you home when your phone’s geolocation detects that you are inside or close to the house.
- Automated Gates — When you approach the property, the walks and driveway are organically illuminated when you connect smart outdoor lighting to your home security gate. This will prevent you from stumbling home at night and navigating the dark.
- Smart outdoor lighting can be integrated with your home’s intruder alarm to illuminate all exterior spaces in the event that your alarm is activated. If there are any CCTV cameras present (and they are not night-vision or infrared cameras), this will provide them a clear image, possibly preventing the crime from continuing.
Considerations
Using outdoor lighting products that are off the shelf will only leave you disappointed. Technical flaws in these solutions will inevitably result in issues that frustrate you and put the onus on you to fix them. Not to mention that your options are constrained, and unless you purchased them all from the same manufacturer, they could not work together.
With a professional solution, you can take use of your new, upgraded outside space without having to deal with unforeseen maintenance.
With a variety of energy-saving alternatives available, smart outside lighting can also lessen your home’s carbon footprint. This is a simple action you can take to make a difference. Future homes will be smart, therefore it’s critical to consider these factors before installing new technology.
The possibilities for smart technology in your outdoor space go far beyond smart outdoor lighting. While lighting is a useful addition to your garden area, getting the most out of it requires integrating it with other clever outdoor ideas.