It’s that time of year when we wrap gifts, kiss under mistletoe and complain every time we have to crawl behind the Christmas tree to turn the lights on and off every day.
No more.
With the ease and affordability of smart lights and plugs, there’s no reason any of us should have to inconvenience ourselves in such a way ever again.
I just installed a smart plug for my Christmas tree lights and am thrilled. The iHome iSP6X smart plug costs less than $20 and took me less than five minutes to set up (including downloading the app). Now I can turn my lights on and off with my phone or simply by asking Siri to do it for me.
Smart plugs are a great way to dip your toe in the waters of smart homes. These plug directly in to your existing electrical outlets and makes them smart by connecting to your home WiFi. Then nearly anything you plug into it can be turned on and off with your phone, tablet or voice assistant.
There are a lot of options, though, so make sure you choose the one that’s best for what you need. Plugs range from about $60 at the high end for multiple outlets, USB connections and voice control, down to around $10 for very basic functionality. You can even go all-out and buy a whole power strip with smart capabilities. You’ll need to decide if setting schedules is important to you since not every smart plug allows that functionality.
Imagine your coffee maker turning on at the same time every morning, or setting music to turn on at different times when you’re on vacation to make it seem like someone is home. Setting schedules on smart plugs can be useful for all sorts of scenarios.
Finally, when choosing a smart plug, keep in line with whichever tech sphere you’ve chosen to live in. If you’re an Apple fan, make sure you buy plugs that support HomeKit so you can control it with Siri. The same goes for those using Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s voice assistant.
Another easy way to get started in the smart home department is by using smart lights. Light bulbs, light strips and even light panels for walls can all be controlled with your phone, tablet or voice. Philips Hue has really been on the forefront of this technology and offers some fun options. On the basic end, a single Hue White bulb costs $14.99 and gives you the ability to control it with an app or voice using Bluetooth. But I put a $49.99 Hue White and color ambiance bulb into the lamp in my hallway and am amazed at how many options it has. You can choose to have the light appear bright, as a nightlight, dimmed or set for reading. The app also offers dozens of preset color choices like Spring Lake or Tropical Twilight. This one lightbulb has 16 million color choices. These newest bulbs use Bluetooth, but others require a hub called the Hue Bridge for $59.99 to create custom light scenes, so choose wisely.
Hue lightbulbs pair directly with Alexa or Google Assistant and have a fun feature called Hue Sync for a full entertainment experience. You’ll need a Hue Bridge v2, the Philips Hue app, the Hue Sync app and at least one Hue lightbulb. You can set this up so that the smart lights change color, flash and turn on and off in reaction to music, a movie or a game. It’s like putting on a stadium rock concert in your very own home.
And for all you hipsters out there, Philips also now has vintage-stye filament bulbs for light fixtures that feature exposed bulbs.
So don’t be afraid to take some baby steps into the smart home scene. Smart plugs and lights are an easy, affordable way to get started. This technology can make your home more fun, more relaxing and even safer while you’re away from it.