Smart home automation has grown quite popular over the past few years, and people are starting to realize that it's not just a passing gimmick or fad. In fact, there are some intensely practical applications for it.
Smart home automation can save energy and money, improve sanitation, simplify your life, and of course, increase home security. And speaking of security, did you know that a few LED bulbs could be the difference between a home robbery and peace of mind? Sounds weird, but it's true.
Smart LED bulbs are a safe investment for those who are thinking of diving into smart home culture. Not only are they versatile, but they can keep your home protected in ways you haven't considered. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Learned Lighting Patterns
There's a new product on the market called the BeON Smart Bulb, which is a standalone LED bulb that comes with several smart features. By standalone, we mean that it doesn't need a smart hub in order to work (unlike some other smart lighting solutions).
One of the more noteworthy features of the BeON Smart Bulb is its built-in sense of memory. It's always active - even when the bulb isn't on - and it constantly keeps track of your lighting behavior. If you're away for work every day between 9am and 5pm, it'll learn that.
This comes in handy when you're away from home for days at a time. For example, let's say you're taking a vacation to Europe for two weeks. During that time, you can tell the BeON Smart Bulb to replay your lighting behavior, which can help deter burglars from realizing that your home is empty.
One immediate thought is that this inevitably wastes a lot of electricity, but remember, the BeON Smart Bulb is an LED light source. Fluorescent bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, but LED bulbs are more efficient than fluorescent bulbs. Energy-wise, these are cheap!
2. Emergency Backup Lighting
The BeON Smart Bulb has another feature that indirectly improves the security within your home -- it comes with a built-in battery that provides power when your home doesn't have any flowing electricity. This is priceless during storms, blackouts, and other disasters.
That isn't to say that you shouldn't prepare an emergency disaster kit with portable headlamps, flashlights, and hand crank generators. You absolutely should! But the added comfort of having your home lights double as emergency backups shouldn't be underestimated.
Plus, for your convenience, the battery within a BeON Smart Bulb automatically recharges whenever the electricity returns. No replacements necessary. No manual recharging necessary. It handles it all for you, so you have one less thing to worry about.
3. No Stumbling In the Dark
Most light bulbs operate on a binary basis - they're either on or off with nothing in between. Some lights can be dimmed to a value between on and off, but all of these lights have one thing in common: you have to physically touch them to adjust them.
The danger is that after you turn off the light, you have to stumble through darkness to get where you're going. This isn't such a big deal if there's a straight open line between the light switch and your bed, but navigating a pitch black living room can result in stubbed toes and broken bones.
Thankfully, the BeON Smart Bulb has a feature where it stays dim for a few seconds when you turn it off, giving you enough time to get away before it turns completely dark. As of now, this feature is unique to BeON.
But most other smart bulbs support two more features that can improve home safety. First, the ability to turn lights on or off remotely from your smartphone, and second, the ability to detect when you come home and automatically turn the lights on.
4. Passive Threat Detection
One final feature worth highlighting in the BeON Smart Bulb is its built-in microphone that can be trained to detect your home smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and doorbells. When these are detected, the lights will automatically turn on.
We recommend combining the BeON Smart Bulb with one of these smart home detectors. If you're going to smarten up your home, you might as well go all the way, right?
Another option, if you don't want to get the BeON Smart Bulb for some reason, is to get a smart home hub that supports various sensor types and automated lighting - such as the SmartThings Hub. When combined, you can be instantly notified whenever there's suspicious activity around your house.
For example, the SmartThings Motion Sensor can alert you when someone or something enters your property while the SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor can trigger when a window is tampered with. But rather than relying on a loud alarm, you can just rig it up to a SmartThings Outlet instead.
Better Security Is Worth the Price
All that being said, smart bulbs can be really useful even if you ignore all of the potential security benefits. If you're looking for a well-known product to try, consider the Philips Hue lighting system or one of these alternatives to the Philips Hue.
And if smart lighting seems expensive to you, read our article on the true cost of a smart home. Long story short: even though individual pieces might seem pricier than necessary, the value that you get is well worth it. Here are a few smart home features worth paying for.
Then again, if you're a bit tight on money, you can always start with these affordable smart home features instead.
How many of these security benefits did you know already? Are there any others that we missed? Show us how creative you are and share with us in the comments below!