Does Smart Lighting Use More Electricity?
Smart lighting is a convenient and affordable way to optimize your home lighting. Have you ever dreamed of such a house where you can control the lighting with just your voice command or lights turned on automatically with the sensation of your motion?
If yes, then go one step ahead of your dream and set up smart lighting in your home.
Smart lights are gaining more popularity because you have much control over the colors, and brightness and create different lighting effects.
However, there is a misconception among people that smart lights use more electricity. Although energy prices are increasing and is difficult to afford lighting technology that consumes a lot of power. But is it true that Smart lights use more electricity?
Smart lights are the advanced LEDs that can be controlled remotely. LEDs are the most efficient lighting technology that consumes less power than other traditional lights. But when you upgrade your lighting system towards smart lighting then the extra features need more power to operate.
Smart lights need internet access all the time to receive the commands and process them according to them. So, it requires a constant connection with WIFI and power both, to function properly. But the amount of electricity used is not more than enough than traditional lights. That means if you replace your existing lighting with smart lights then it will not increase your electricity bills.
Here, we have a complete guide for you about smart lighting that can fix all your confusion and answer your queries.
What Is Smart Lighting?
Smart Lighting is an advancement in lighting technology. Smart lights usually contain LEDs within a microprocessor chip that allows them to communicate wirelessly.
The word “smart” indicates that you can easily control them via smartphones or voice assistants ( Google Home or Echo ) when connected to a WIFI network or Bluetooth.
Most of you will think that you can only turn them ON and OFF remotely, but this is not enough for smart lights to do. With smart lights, you have much control over colors, brightness, and creating customized lighting scenes. Such lights enable users to control the lighting with a single tap or voice command.
Furthermore, smart lighting is cost-effective and energy-efficient. It also provides security benefits such as when you come home late at night, it will automatically turn ON the lights as soon it detects your motion. Also, it will turn ON the lights when someone tries to enter your home.
Smart lights have some special features that make them special among other lighting technologies. Such as they have smart switches, smart sensors, and control interface apps, that make them unique and reduce the effort of users.
How Do Smart Lights Work?
Smart bulbs contain LEDs inside them that generate light energy. LEDs are used because they are energy efficient consume less power and waste minimal energy in producing heat. smart lights have a built-in microprocessor that receives the command, processes it, and controls all the functions of bulbs according to it.
Smart lights are called smart because they completely rely on a wireless connection. For regular lights, you need manual operation. If you want to turn the bulb ON or OFF, you need to go toward the wall switch and turn it ON or OFF. With regular lights, you have more problems when you are away from home and don’t remember to turn OFF the lights.
Smart lights have eliminated many of your worries. If you are out of a home or even from a city, you can wirelessly control your lights via smartphone. People prefer smart lights over regular lights due to efficiency, longevity, and security.
Smart lights are available in both varieties, Full spectrum of color and Dimmable white bulbs. Both varieties allow users to create lighting effects according to mood and requirements. You can easily change the color of light, and adjust the brightness levels according to the requirements of your surroundings.
Moreover, you can create different lighting scenes for parties with your smart lights. Smart lights are of different types such as smart bulbs, strip lights, downlights, etc. You can buy the right type of smart light according to the requirements.
Do Smart Lights Use a Lot of Power?
Many people think smart lights guzzle up electricity just like a thirsty camel. Is it true?
Do you also think smart lights use more power than traditional lights?
The functions of smart lights are different from regular lights that’s why their power consumption is also different from them.
If we talk about regular lights, they don’t require any wireless network to communicate. You control them through switches and sometimes through a remote. So, they don’t require any extra power for proper functioning. You can use LED lighting systems in your homes because they are more energy efficient and consume less power which can reduce your electricity bills.
On the other hand, smart lights also contain LEDs that consume 75-85% less energy than traditional bulbs but they have some advanced features that need a little bit extra power.
If smart lights are not in use, they remain in standby mode so that they can receive a command, that’s why they always require power.
Moreover, smart lights have wireless communication modules, microcontrollers, and motion sensors that need more power to operate. But you have much control over the brightness and color adjustment. You can customize the setting to control the amount of energy used. Such as, when not enough brightness is needed you can reduce the brightness levels to save energy.
In the above discussion, you must have known that smart lights require more power to operate than LED lights only. Also, now you have an idea why smart lighting uses more power. But you need to know as we upgrade our system, new features require some more power than existing ones.
Indeed, smart lighting consumes more power than regular LED lights but not much more. The power consumption is approximately equal to the traditional lights that consume more power than LEDs. Also, the energy used depends upon the number of smart bulbs used in homes.
Does Smart Lighting Save Money?
When it comes to money, many people prefer the things that are cheap to buy. They never think about their lifetime or maintenance.
Smart lighting requires a higher investment than traditional bulbs because they are a little bit expensive to buy. And require an initial investment to set up a smart home. So, many people skip smart lighting because they look more expensive than traditional lights.
Here is the solution to all your queries. Once you set up your home with smart lighting, you don’t need any replacement or maintenance after that. If you move towards traditional lights, although they are cheap to buy, you will need frequent replacements due to their short lifespan. Moreover, they will increase your electricity bill due to their lower efficiency.
You can save money and time both with smart lights.
But how?
Let’s discuss how you can save money with smart lights.
- Smart lights have LEDs that are most energy efficient and reduce your electricity bills.
- You don’t need to replace any component over time and it requires no or very low maintenance.
- Their lifespan is 15 times longer than traditional lights.
- To save electricity, you can turn them OFF while not in use.
- You can schedule to save energy.
- Motion sensors also help to save energy as they detect the motion and turn the lights ON and OFF according to them.
How Much Power Does a Smart Bulb Use on Standby?
Smart bulbs are devices that use power in standby mode, called Vampire devices. Here a question arises why do smart lights use power in standby mode? And how much power do they use?
Smart lights use power on standby to stay connected with the device to receive commands.
Traditional bulbs rely on physical switches that don’t use any extra power. But in the case of smart lights, if you give a command “turn the lights on” or you want the sensor to detect your motion and turn ON the lights automatically, then it’s obvious that the smart bulb must be connected to the power and internet to respond accordingly.
For that purpose, they need a small amount of power for connectivity. If you are worried that if smart lights use power on standby it will probably increase your electricity bill, you don’t need to worry about it. Smart bulbs use approximately 0.2W-1W in standby which doesn’t affect your bill much more.
Furthermore, the amount of energy used in standby depends on the type, model, and manufacturer of smart lights. While buying you can check the amount of power used in standby mode.
Are Smart Lights More Expensive to Run?
No, it’s not more expensive to run. It requires only an initial investment.
Do Smart Lights Use a Lot of Power?
No, smart lights do not use a lot of power. They only require a little more power than regular LEDs for advanced functioning.
Does Smart Lighting Save Money?
Smart lights have a longer lifespan than traditional lights and require less maintenance after installation. So, they can save a lot of money.
Does a Smart Bulb Use Electricity When Off?
Smart bulbs require a constant WIFI connection to get ready to receive a command and process the functions of bulbs. So they need electricity even when they are off.
Do Smart Bulbs Use Less Energy when Dimmed?
When we increase the brightness of the bulb it requires more energy to produce the bright light. When we lower the brightness it uses less energy.
Is Smart Light a Good Idea?
Smart lights can save you time and money. Also, it’s the best lighting option to enhance the security of a house.
