Smart light bulbs
Customise lighting to respond to voice commands and suit your vision needs.
Summary
A smart light bulb is a light bulb capable of connecting to the internet, which allows you to customise and control your lights remotely. They come in many different sizes and shapes, so they can be used on almost any lamp or light fixture both indoors and outdoors. Smart light bulbs can be useful for people with vision loss as they can allow you to control the light in a room with your voice commands.
What is a smart light bulb?
A smart light bulb looks like a regular light bulb, but it can be controlled through a smartphone or tablet, as well as a voice assistant device like Alexa or a Google Home. Using your device, you can customise the brightness and colour of the light for optimal visibility specific to you. Smart light bulbs also allow you to schedule times for your lights to turn on and off automatically, so you can integrate them into your daily routine.
How do smart light bulbs work?
Smart light bulbs are internet-capable, meaning they connect to your wi-fi network. They can be purchased at many major retailers, such as Officeworks, Bunnings, Target, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Big W, and Woolworths, as well as online. You will need to have wi-fi in your home to use smart light bulbs with your phone or other devices. Your light bulb will typically connect to your smartphone or tablet through an app, which can be used to connect the light bulb to the internet and any voice assistant devices you would like to control it through. Once connected with a voice assistant, you can control the lights in your room hands-free, which can make things more accessible. Try some prompts like “Turn off the kitchen light” or “Make the living room lamp brighter”.
Installing a smart light bulb
Source a smart light bulb compatible with your light. Once you have a smart light bulb in the right size and socket type for your light, connect the smart light bulb to your smartphone or tablet following the specific instructions for the brand you have. Here are some general steps which apply to many different models.
- Screw or install your smart light bulb into the desired lighting fixture.
- Download the app connected to your light bulb brand from the App Store or Google Play.
- Connect your smart light bulb to your wi-fi network on the app. Each brand will have different instructions for how to do this.
- Add your smart light bulb as a device on your voice assistant. This will likely be done on a separate app attached to your voice assistant, such as the Amazon Alexa app or Google Home app. Make sure to give your light bulb a unique name, such as “Kitchen Light” or “Bedroom Lamp” so you can differentiate between lights when talking to your voice assistant.
If you are having trouble following the instructions for your specific brand of smart light bulb, there are lots of video tutorials available online which can walk you through the process in more detail. Try searching for “How to set up” followed by your light bulb brand and model into Google or YouTube.
Good to know:
The lamp or light needs to always have power available since smart bulbs are turned ‘off’ through software, not by cutting power completely. If you flip the physical light switch off, the bulb loses power and won’t respond to app or voice controls.
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