The importance of lights and lightning is not taken seriously in our daily lives. Without them, millions of humans would not have been able to do a zillion things that we can do now. I use them all the time for an array of essential tasks so choosing the perfect lights becomes necessary.
Smart outdoor lights are a revolution in outdoor lighting and home automation sphere. Outdoor lights that can be controlled from far away distances and can be switched on or off at the click of a button are a welcome technological advancement.
What are smart outdoor lights and how to buy a perfect one for yourself has been extensively explained below:-
What are smart outdoor lights and their types?
New smart home automation products are being released all the time with smart outdoor lights being a significant component. Smart outdoor lights are the lights that just don’t cast a glow to our outdoor settings but also come with smart features like a speaker, microphone, video camera, etc.
You can control them with a remote control or an app on your smartphone. These lights generally have high-tech security features by which you can view a visitor to your home and pass him/her a message even when you are not present there.
There are even smart outdoor lights that have solar lights capabilities and allow for you to light up the outdoor by solar energy. The different type of smart outdoor lights or gadgets that you can buy are: –
Smart Porch Lights
Smart porch lights or smart wall lanterns are indeed one of the most used and required smart outdoor lights. Smart porch lights come with several features like 720P HD video camera, smart technology to stream live, real-time notifications and much more.
These lights allow you to see who is at your door any moment and also supports a conversation using a live 2-way intercom. More features like an alarm button for keeping away thieves and intruders, easy connectivity with any smart device, etc., make these lights ideal for an aged person or someone who is disabled.
People who are alone and go to work also prefer these for the security and other benefits.
Smart Path Lighting
These lights are the one to pick when you have an outdoor path or garden. These offer a vast array of colors and options to aid you in getting any desired color or settings like dusk or dawn.
Some like the Philips Hue Calla lights offer about 16 million colors along with it so that you can experiment and pick the varieties that you like. These outdoor lights can also be set-up the DIY way as they offer ease of usage and installing.
Smart Flood Lights
Smart flood lights are perfect when you have to keep a wide area lightened up. These usually cast a very narrow beam of light that isn’t much wide. These lights generally have a doorbell camera, built-in speaker, intercom and microphones, etc.
The camera also can record clearly in nights and can alert you in case of any mischief. These smart outdoor lights are great if you are someone who travels a lot and still wants to ensure optimal security while away.
Smart Spot Lights
You must have seen the big spotlights in stadiums, smart spotlights are the smart version to them. They come in an array of sizes and can be used to make any part of your house look vibrant and professional.
Smart outdoor spotlights can help you to provide lighting to trees or bushes outside your house and add a vibe to your entrance. As is evident these smart outdoor lights can be handled remotely through remote control or smartphone app along with coming with a bunch of security features.
Smart Light Switches
These are technically not lighting, but instead of upgrading all of your outdoor lights, you can quickly change the switch to a smart light switch.
This, in turn, makes your outdoor lights smart too and allows for seamless connectivity to smart home automation systems. They don’t even require a hub to function with the lights and are extremely easy to install.
How to choose the perfect smart outdoor lights?
There are a vast number of smart outdoor lights out there so selecting one can be a bit overwhelming. Thus, there are some factors that you should look for when you are trying to choose a perfect one for your yard.
1. Reliability
This is where brand reliability comes into play. While it might seem like a smart move to buy smart outdoor lights from a cheap brand, this actually can hurt if the lights don’t last long or have issues with brightness.
Selection of the smart outdoor lights should be with the reliability of the brand and product in mind.
2. Reviews
Some smart outdoor lights have a good reputation and reviews out there, and those must be the ones you should choose from. While the features stated about any smart outdoor lights might be impressive, customer reviews and feedback help you in checking their effectiveness.
3. Colour Rendering Index (CRI)
The color rendering index score is an evaluation of the accuracy of reflection of colors by the lights. A higher score proves a more concise reflection is being produced by the light.
There is a term ‘spectral quality’ on which these scores are devised. Any CRI score above 80 proves that the smart outdoor light has a good reflection.
4. Purpose
The importance of this can’t be stressed enough. The goal for which you are buying smart outdoor lights is essential and must be considered right from the start.
Your outdoor lights selection should depend on the situation you are looking to buy smart outdoor lights. Smart spotlights for a vibrant garden or smart path lights for a clear path, you have to choose what suits the best for you.
5. Brightness
A fact that needs to be said out is that more brightness is not always right. You should not follow ‘the brighter, the better’ but look for smart outdoor lights suitable to your specific situations.
The lumens and stuff can confuse you but remember 800 lumens is pretty standard for stable lightning.
Best smart outdoor lights
Now that you know all about smart outdoor lights and how to choose one for yourself, the list of the best smart outdoor lights out there is on a rundown below: –
1. Philips Hue Inara
Philips already has a strong reputation and years of industry expertise in the electrical appliances industry and their smart outdoor lights Philip Hue Inara (link to Amazon) delivers precisely in the way you expect from such a premium manufacturer.
The compatibility is exceptional with the smart gadget as it can efficiently and seamlessly connect with the voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Apple Home Kit, and Google Home. Also, it works effectively with Nest and Samsung SmartThings systems as well.
The white bulb in this outdoor lighting system has geo-fencing capabilities, i.e., it can detect and lighten up whenever you reach home or go away. Another USP of this smart outdoor light is that you can easily connect other Philips smart outdoor lights to the hub and create a vivid lightning extravaganza.
2. Smart Light with Wi-Fi By TP
The TP-Link is a smart outdoor bulb (link to Amazon) that can be accessed and controlled easily by a personal device. The smart lights set comes in a three pack that allows you to cover all the front and back portions of your outdoors.
The light bulbs have an array of features like multicolor setting, energy monitoring, tuning whiteness and much more. All of them can be easily connected and controlled through the free app on your smartphone or through your voice via Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
The light bulb also allows for timers, countdown and schedule settings for a convenient experience. This smart gadget is a high-tech upgrade to your outdoors.
3. Sunco Flood Lights
The best smart outdoor floodlights (link to Amazon) in the market right now are these from Sunco. They can brighten up any outdoor spaces and enhance the visibility to even vast distances due to the strong emitting power.
The smart flood lights emit 1050 Lumens of brightness which is nearly the same as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. It is also available in three color variants that you can switch at the ease of a button. The color temperatures available are Daylight (5000k), cool white (4000 k) and soft white (2700 k).
The lights also come with an option to dim and are also energy-conservative to an extreme level. These floodlights are perfect for a high amount of lightning at very low electricity consumption.
4. Maximus Video Security Camera & Outdoor Light
The Maximus Video Security Camera and Outdoor Light (link to Amazon) from Kuna is outright a security heavyweight. Not compromising with looks too though as it has been designed as futuristic and sleek lighting.
The security features include a 720P HD camera that can shoot clear videos in even low light, smart technology that allows for real-time live streaming the video from your home to your phone.
You get real-time notifications whenever there is motion or a visitor at your door. You can not only view the person at your door, but you can also communicate and converse through a 2-way intercom.
It also includes an alarm button aspect which makes it convenient in dealing with intruders. All in all, a hi-tech security smart outdoor light best describes this one.
5. Philips LED Dusk to Dawn Bulb
Bulbs like these are a boon for anyone hoping to spend minimal time switching on or off the outdoor lights every day.
These bulbs come with a variety of sensors in their arsenals to turn on the light at night whenever a movement triggers them. This Philips Dusk to Dawn Bulb (link to Amazon) also emits a soft white light that is aesthetically pleasing and bright enough for using outdoors.
The bulb is also Energy Star certified which means that is has been designed to be energy-conservative. Thus, this saves a lot of your electricity bills in the long run. With a 25,000-hour lifetime, this smart outdoor light is the best dusk to dawn smart bulbs anyone can buy.
6. SkyGenuis 25W LED Corn Light Bulb
The SkyGenuis LED light bulb (link to Amazon) is an outdoor LED bulb that provides a 360* lightning experience. The bulb has the shape of a circle that allows for great lightning in all the directions.
This light bulb works great outdoors as it can illuminate all around the area at nights. It is available in a range of Lumens, i.e., luminous capabilities but the 2,500 lumens one is quite the best bet.
It provides brightness equal to 200 W incandescent bulb but only needs less than 1/10 of the energy consumed by the incandescent bulb.
The bulb also has several smart features along with being designed to fit any standard light socket for convenience. SkyGenuis Corn light bulb is quite the right choice if you want to get a 360* lightning at minimal costing.
7. Sengled Element Classic Smart LED Light bulbs with Hub
This four-pack plus hub (link to Amzon) is all you need to start your smart home automation lightning aspect.
The hub that comes along with this smart outdoor light can handle up to 64 smart bulbs at a time. Simultaneously you can switch on or off to so many bulbs just by the app or the voice assistant programs.
The smart bulbs also get connected with the hub seamlessly and offer a bright illumination wherever installed. The hub makes sure there is no wire or other cluttering while the A-19 style bulbs are easy to install with every home fixture.
Conclusion
So, this was all about smart outdoor lightning and how and which one to buy. The factors to keep in mind are essential in selecting the perfect smart outdoor lights for your needs. The best outdoor-suited smart lights have been covered comprehensively to allow for complete know-how.
Smart home automation is undoubtedly the future of housing now, and smart lighting systems are going to be an integral part of it. Getting some smart outdoor lights might be the best move for your home and its environment.
