Intelligent lighting systems allow you to change the atmosphere created by LED light sources in your home. All you need is a smartphone or tablet, and you can control the lights throughout your home, including their intensity and colour. According to the mood or situation, you can choose from preset lighting scenes, from romantic dinners to colorful party lights.
Another advantage is a smart lighting program that randomly turns lights on and off in your apartment when you are on holiday, which acts as an effective deterrent against burglers or trespassers.
Individual elements of smart lighting systems operate within closed or open systems. The advantage of open systems is that they can be expanded by connecting more compatible appliances to the control unit. The most frequently used communication protocols used by control units to connecting peripherals are ZigBee and Z-Wave.
Types of intelligent lighting
Platforms
This system combines smart appliances from more than 50 brands, which can be control using applications installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Everything is also controllable by voice assistant Siri.
Philips Hue is the biggest and best smart lighting system on the market. Thanks to Hue, you can create a wirelessly connected "ecosystem" of lights in your home, which you can control from anywhere via the special central unit (Bridge). You just have to install the Philips Hue application on your device and you're ready to go. Philips offers a wide range of lights that can be connected to the Bridge unit - from LED strips to exterior lighting and even hanging chandeliers.
Beware of compatibility
Some other smart lighting manufacturers (Osram, MiPow) have created their own systems that allow you to connect lights and control them remotely. Before buying, you should check that your chosen product is compatible with the platform you want to use or are already using.
