Smart lighting has a number of practical uses, but one of the best reasons to invest is the way it can help create the perfect look and feel for a range of different moods and activities. Here are some examples of how I use smart lights to create the right feel at the right time.
1 Waking Up in the Morning
As a writer who works from home, I’m extremely fortunate that alarm clocks do not play a frequent role in my life! But on the occasions when I do need to wake at a particular time, then I prefer gentler ways of easing me into the day.
If it will be daylight when I need to wake, then I set my smart blinds to open just enough to let in a bit of daylight, followed by opening fully once it is time to actually get out of bed. If it’ll be dark, I instead use smart lights to do the same job. One timed automation switches them to dim color lighting simulating sunrise colors, and a second one sets them to white and turns up the brightness when the moment cannot be put off any longer.
Many smart light apps also have sunrise simulation scenes that start dim and red, then work their way through various tinges of pink, orange and yellow. For some people, this makes for a very gentle introduction to the day.
2 Getting Into the Zone When Working
Ben Lovejoy / How-To Geek
I prefer to avoid very bright lights. In the days when I worked in a corporate office, I always hated the bright overhead fluorescent strip lights that all companies seem to use.
But I do find it helps my concentration to have “daylight white” lighting that’s turned up to a reasonable level of brightness. That’s why I have a timed automation which sets both my ceiling light and desk striplights to a cool white color when it’s time to start work.
If I’m using my computer for more leisure-oriented pursuits like my personal blog then I prefer warmer lighting, so have a separate scene which provides dimmer lighting more skewed to yellow-ish tones.
3 Relaxing on the Sofa
In the living room, I generally use either warm white lighting or fun colors to help me relax. While most people find warmer whites to be relaxing, tastes vary when it comes to colors. Personally I tend to find blue, purple or pink lighting creates a pleasant sense of well-being—which is why it is often used on airliners at night, especially in premium cabins.
Since I’m also fortunate enough to have a lovely view of London, color lighting also tends to be less reflective. This leads to me using sunset hues during sunset, while I find blue works well once it’s fully dark.
4 A Warmer Feel in Winter
Ben Lovejoy / How-To Geek
The human brain is a fascinating device, not least for the ability of one sense to influence another. It’s long been known that if you use lighting with similar colors to those seen in fire, people will actually feel physically warmer. This is an effect I use on cold winter nights, using orange lighting to create a sense of warmth which feels almost literal.
Again, many lighting apps will allow you to select scenes which more directly mimic fire, with flickering yellow and orange hues. Personally I prefer to stick to a less distracting static color.
5 Lighting Can Energize and Calm Me
On the topic of the psychological effects of color, different colors can also be used to energize or calm. ​Reds tend to make people feel more energetic, while greens are more likely to create feelings of calm through a sensation of being in nature.
Effects can depend on the individual, however, so I always recommend experimenting with different hues to see how each makes you feel. The good news is that once you’ve invested in a set of color-changing lights, you’re free to try out as many hues and effects as you like.
6 Add Visuals to Music
Ben Lovejoy / How-To Geek
There are apps like Hue Disco which can sync your smart lights to your music. They pulse the lights to the beat, and also flow through a series of colors to try to create a nightclub-like atmosphere.
This can be a lot of fun for parties, and even those times when you’re on your own but just want to feel fully immersed in the music. It’s not something I use every day, but it’s a nice trick to pull out of the bag every now and then.
7 Perfect Movie Night Lighting
If you’re watching a movie, then at a minimum you’re likely to want to dim the lights to maximize the impact of the lighting in the movie. Many find that blue or purple lighting works well.
If you want to get more sophisticated, the Philips Hue Sync Box paired to a Smart TV Light Strip will detect the on-screen colors in a scene and then replicate those on the lighting attached to the back of your TV. This isn’t an inexpensive setup, but it creates an amazingly immersive three-dimensional sensation.
8 Optimize Your Space for Entertaining
Ben Lovejoy / How-To Geek
Unless you’re having an actual party, you may not want to go full-on disco lighting when entertaining, but smart lighting can help create an interesting ambience. For example, my kitchen is an alcove off the living room and dining room, so when having a dinner party I’ll often use conventional dim lighting for the dining room but set the kitchen lighting to something more interesting.
I’ve been using smart lighting for a decade now so it’s old news to me, but it’s amazing how much delight less techy people will express when exposed to this kind of lighting effect for the first time. Smart lights can also make for the easiest form of holiday decorations!
9 Winding Down at Night
Some people use smart lighting apps with sunset simulations to help wind down at the end of the day. Personally, I just tend to further dim the lighting to help the transition to a sleepier state.
If you use HomeKit then the Adaptive Lighting feature automatically adjusts the color temperature of your smart lights to match the hour of the day, so that you get warmer colors during the evening.
These are just examples of how I personally use color smart lights to help create the right ambience for a range of activities, but with 16 million colors offered by most color smart lights on the market there’s really no limit to what you can do.
I highly recommend experimenting to see how different colors make you feel (though you may find that some negotiation or compromise is required with other family or household members).
