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Smart LED lighting is taking the interior (and exterior) design world by storm. More and more households, restaurants, and office spaces are becoming smarter every day thanks to new and affordable connectivity technology. For the readers that are still having trouble deciding whether to switch to a smart lighting solutions, we’ve created a list of some major benefits.
It’s true: LED bulbs are massively more efficient than old school light bulbs. Combine that with clever smart solutions that make sure your lights are never turned on while you’re not at home, and you’re looking to save a lot of electricity. And wireless dimming your LED’s, one of the features of smart lighting, will decrease the energy consumption even further. Your LED bulbs will pay for themselves in no time! But isn’t LED lighting a very cool type of light? Well, it used to be, but not anymore!
With clever new lighting technology it’s possible to create very warm colours and moods. Just check out our Filament bulb technology. It’s even possible to choose from completely different colours to change the vibe in a room with the press of a button. But what is quality light, and how do we measure it? Excellent question. The answer may be a bit complex, but we’ll try to ease you into it. The quality of lighting is measured with the Colour Rendering Index (CRI), which is a number on a scale of 0 to 100. Zero CRI means there’s almost no added visible colour to the light. A value of 100 means the colour resembles the natural lighting produced by daylight. Innr lights have CRI values ranging between 80 and 95, meaning they’re high quality lighting with a warm sunny glow.
You’ll never have to get up and press a light switch ever again. Simply control your smart LEDs with your smartphone or a remote control. It’s even possible to use voice control to activate any light you want.
How does a light bulb scare away an intruder? Most burglars that were caught have admitted they were looking for homes where the lights had been turned off for a certain amount of time, indicating the resident was away on holiday. With a smart lighting system you can set timers to trigger your lights to turn on and off, even when you’re not home. This will confuse potential burglars (and neighbours). Scroll down if you want to know how to set up these timers using the Innr app.
Indirect light, for example on the wall, ceiling or the curtains, makes the room optically larger.
That’s right: you don’t need a genius technician to install a smart LED. You’re smart enough to do it yourself. We’ve created a short introduction on how to start your own smart lighting
solution in your home:
First, choose the room you want to make smarter. We recommend the living room since that’s usually where people spend most of their time, and because it’s used for lots of different activities. Of course, which room you choose is totally up to you. After picking a room, figure out what the main function of the room is. This is what we’ll use as a starting point. Are you mostly here to relax, do you study here, or do you welcome your guests in here? Let’s say you mostly use this room to relax. In that case, you won’t need a lot of high-intensity lights. If you use the room to study, make sure to take into account that you might need the high-intensity lights. With the Innr app you can make a bright room dark, but it’s impossible to brighten a room that doesn’t have enough lights in them. Next up is checking what you want to accentuate in the room. A few spots on a curtain can make a small room seem bigger, but adding a spot to accentuate a small bookshelf can make it feel cozy and small.
Finally, you want to find out whether you want to accentuate something. Most rooms have a centerpiece like a fireplace, a television set, or a bookshelf. To explain a few of the basic Innr
concepts we’ll use this next example to show you what a few small lights and a LED strip can do to accentuate a centerpiece bookcase.
What you’ll need
Figure out which shelves you want to highlight. The Smart Pucks can accentuate specific decorative pieces, while the Flex LED strip provides an overall ambient light around the bookcase.
Connect the Bridge to the home WiFi network and use the Innr app to create a separate room named ‘bookshelf’.
Use the Innr app to find the lights you’re planning to mount in the bookshelf.
Test the light of the Flex LED strip and then mount it on the bookshelf. Make sure to mount it somewhere out of sight, for example above eye level, but at the bottom of a shelf. If you’re happy with its position, connect the strip to the control box and adapter, but don’t mount it yet.
Test the light of the Smart Pucks by holding them in different positions in the bookshelf. Try if the light works best coming from above, below, or from the sides. A general rule of thumb is to use two Pucks on the bottom of the top shelf, aiming downwards. Place them there, but don’t mount them yet.
Turn on all lights and have a seat in the room. Double check if you’re happy with the lighting and don’t forget to check it from different positions. If you’re 100% certain they’re in the perfect position, then you can start mounting them.
Cut the Flex Strip to the perfect size and use the included tape to mount them. Mount the Pucks their corresponding tape as well.
Now the fun begins. Start using the Innr app to play with different lighting settings. Create multiple scenes for different occasions.
You can do this by following the next steps:
Keep in mind that only one scene can be active per room. Of course, this was only just the centerpiece. You can apply the same techniques to make the entire room smart. For more inspiration on how to make your living room smarter, check this article about the endless possibilities of smart lighting. The last thing we want to mention in this article is how to make your home safer using the same smart lighting we just installed.
In the above guide we told you how to set up a smart lighting system for when you’re at home. Lights turning on and off are a good sign that you’re home, scaring off burglars. But what if you’re going away on holiday? We’ve thought of that! You can use the Innr app’s timer function to automatically turn lights on and off while you’re gone. Here’s a quick guide on how to do that.
Set up scenes for every room in your home. In the example above the bookshelf was (part of) a room, but perhaps you’ve already made multiple rooms in your home smarter. Make sure that there’s a scene for every one of them.
Create a new program by going to ‘Programs & Timers’ and clicking the big ‘+’; icon. Name this program, for example “Holiday”.
Now you can start adding timers to this program. Click ‘add new timer’. Give it a name, for example ‘getting home’ and select a time, for example ‘17.30’. Then select a room and a corresponding scene. Press the pink check mark to save the timer.
Repeat step 3 to add multiple timers to the program.
Save the program and repeat step 2-4 to create multiple programs for different days of the week. This will really throw off any potential burglars (and neighbours).
A smart lighting solution helps you light any room exactly the way you want. That’s why we believe setting up your own smart lights should be as easy as possible while still being affordable. Check out our tips and tricks or get more inspiration for your own smart lighting system.
