The electronic market is constantly evolving and using innovative technology to make ordinary products much more efficient. With modern technology being readily available, many consumers are looking to create a smart home. 

Smart home appliances use network connectivity to allow better control over them. Even the most basic appliances in a home, such as lighting and heating, have smart models which outperform any other lighting and heating appliance on the market. 

Smart home lighting and heating products are also energy efficient and come with several intuitive features. If you want to learn more about these devices, here is everything you need to know about smart home lighting and heating. 

What Is A Smart Home?

Before looking at the different smart home lighting and heating products, it is important to understand the concept of a connected home. A smart home refers to an efficient home setup where electrical appliances are automatically controlled from anywhere using a wi-fi connection. 

You can use a smartphone or a networked device to control your appliances remotely. Devices and appliances in smart home systems are interconnected through the internet. This connection allows users to control the functions of the linked devices. 

You can grant security access to your home, adjust the lighting or temperature of a room, and you can also create a home theatre experience with the help of smart home technology. You can control your smart home technology from a tablet device as well. 

Smart home systems can be set up through either a hardwired system or a wireless connection. The smart home market is steadily rising. It is estimated that by 2026 the number of active households with smart home technology will reach 25.4 million. 

Since smart home systems rely less on energy, you save more on your utility bills. Therefore, smart home technology allows you to save energy. 

How Do Smart Homes Systems Work And What Do Smart Homes Do?

Now that you know that smart home definition let’s look at how a smart home operates. As mentioned in the smart home definition, all the devices and appliances in a smart home system can be accessed through one central point. This central point can be a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or even a game console. 

For appliances such as televisions, thermostats, door locks, home monitors, lights, and other appliances such as refrigerators, you can use a specialised home automation system. This smart home technology is installed on a smartphone or another networked device. 

A home automation device provides full control over the appliances. You can create time schedules to control the usability of the devices.   

Smart homes that enable lighting control allow homeowners to reduce energy use and benefit from electricity-related savings. Smart home technology has the ability to self-learn skills. This means that the smart home device can learn the homeowner’s preferences and schedules to make adjustments accordingly. 

Many homeowners use smart home systems for security purposes. Some home automation devices come with motion sensor features. This feature notifies the homeowners in the event of motion detection when the homeowners are away. 

Other home automation devices can notify the authorities, such as the fire or police departments, in case of different dangerous situations. Once devices such as smart doorbells, smart security systems, and smart appliances are connected together, they become a part of the internet of things technology. 

The IoT is a network in which physical objects gather and share electronic data. Smart home technology can be either wireless or a hardwired system. Sometimes it can be both. Wireless smart home systems are easier to install, and it works well with smart climate control, smart lighting, and security. 

Wireless systems are also cost-friendly and can help you save significantly on installation costs. Hardwired smart home systems can increase the resale value of any household property. 

However, these systems are very expensive to install and may not be cost-effective for many consumers. The best way to go about building a smart home is by gradually introducing smart appliances. You can easily do so through smart lighting and heating which will help you start building a connected home. 

What Are The Benefits Of Creating A Smart Home?

Now that you know what smart homes are and how they work, here are some important benefits of using this technology. 

Save Energy And Money

For many homeowners, the driving force behind creating a smart home is the potential to save energy and money. Smart heaters and thermostats are a great way of making your home’s heating and cooling more efficient. 

Smart lighting cuts down energy waste through inefficient luminaries and allows you better control over how much light energy is used throughout your property. Once you start saving on energy consumption, you will see significant saving in your utility costs. 

A Lifestyle Of Comfort And Convenience

Modern technology is designed to make out lives easier and smart home products are no different. Smart home systems allow ease and simplicity with everyday household appliances. 

Many smart home devices will enable you to operate with a few simple clicks on an app or through voice control. However, you can things further than just having better control over your appliances. 

These devices can be set to trigger based on your location, time of day, or sensors. Due to these comforts, many people are switching to smart home lighting and heating. 

Better Safety And Security

Even though conventional alarm systems provide ample security to your home, smart home security provides an even wider range of features that protects your home from multiple emergencies. 

While surveilling your home, you can keep away intruders before they do any damage. Smart home security systems contain interlinked locks, lights, cameras, sensors, and doorbells, which enable a higher level of control and surveillance. 

This type of home security is important if you are away from your home as it allows you to keep surveilling your premises. 

Simplify Household Tasks

Another great benefit of smart home technology is how it simplifies simple household tasks. Some homeowners don’t have enough time to dedicate to household chores which is why smart home appliances do the job for them. 

There are several smart robot vacuums that help you clean up your home. Some stationery appliances such as ovens are also being manufactured with smart features.

Important Energy Insights

If energy efficiency is your main concern, you will benefit from installing a smart home system. Many smart home systems provide helpful insights and data based on your energy consumption. 

You can browse through this information to find areas for efficiency, or you can cut your energy consumption in these areas to save money on utility bills.  

Now that you know the basic of smart homes, it is time to take a closer look at some of the most important aspects of this system: smart home lighting and heating. 

What Is Smart Home Lighting?

Lighting is such an important part of any building, therefore, it is important to invest in technology that will elevate your home’s design and prove cost-effective in the long run. At its most basic form, smart lighting allows handheld remote controllability. 

In most models, smart lights are also compatible via an app which means you can operate your lighting using your smartphone or computer. For this control to work, smart lighting typically relies on different wireless transmission signals sent to the lighting and back. 

Generally, most people connect their smart luminaries to a smart home hub through Wi-Fi. This type of connectivity sometimes involves your router or Bluetooth. However, there are several smart lights on the market that don’t need a smart home hub to operate. 

Other smart lighting alternatives use motion and lighting sensors which will automatically turn on/off based on the amount of detected light or the presence of movement or people in a given space. 

With these innovative yet simple features, you can greatly reduce the energy consumption that comes from leaving lights turned on when the house is not occupied. Simple smart lights only have an extra chip inside them which gives them smart capabilities. 

Some of the most innovative and advanced smart lighting units also use certain machine learning techniques for more efficient energy use. With the machine learning component, the lights monitor and learn the lighting patterns of the home's occupants. 

By learning the patterns, the light automatically turns on/off during specific times of the day based on your everyday habits. Sometimes these lights will turn on when you are away from home to keep intruders away while the home is unoccupied. 

What Are The Different Types Of Smart Lights? 

There are a wide variety of smart lights on the market, and you should look at all the options to deice which type of lighting suits your household’s needs. The three most popular types of smart lights are:

• Smart light bulbs: similar to regular light bulbs. They come in various shapes and sizes, including bayonets and screw fittings. You can add these bulbs to regular bulb fixtures. 
• Smart light strips: This is a strip of LED lights that can be attached to any surface. These lights are controlled by your smartphone via an app. 
• Smart enclosed lights: These are enclosed lamp lights that come in various shapes and sizes. An enclosed light is much more ideal for lamp lighting than a smart light bulb. 

Smart Light Bulbs

Individual smart light bulbs are a great way to start building a smart home system. These smart luminaries can be connected to existing light sockets and set up oath your home’s Wi-Fi network for smart control.  

With this feature, homeowners can control smart light bulbs from their smartphones, tablets etc. You can control multiple smart light bulbs with your app. Some apps can help you set a schedule; therefore, if you have these bulbs in multiple rooms, you can set different control depending on each light. 

For example, if you have smart light bulbs in the bedroom and the living room, you can set the living room bulbs to stay operational for a long period of time while the bedroom bulbs can be set to only operate at night. 

Most smart light bulbs use LEDs which are highly energy efficient. With LED bulbs, you can save money on energy costs while enjoying high functionality. Different types of smart bulbs offer several other features, including mood-based lighting, adjustable brightness, and much more. 

For high-grade smart light bulbs, visit Meteor Electrical. At Meteor, you can browse through our wide range of smart lighting that guarantees comfort and convenience. 

Smart Light Strips

Smart light strips use several bulbs to light up larger spaces. This type of lighting works best in smaller enclosed spaces such as on the staircase, around your TV, or under kitchen areas. Smart strip lighting comes in multiple colour options, and you can choose from simple white or other more eclectic colour schemes. 

Due to the various colour options, light strips are also commonly used for mood lighting. It is important to note that light strips don’t provide high-intensity brightness; they are mainly used to highlight the area they are placed in. 

Smart Enclosed Lamps

Smart enclosed lighting is specially designed to fit into recessed or enclosed lighting fixtures. These luminaries work well with lamp appliances such as desk or floor lamps. Enclosed are ideal for such fixtures because of the heat component. 

Bulbs in enclosed lighting release heat which can damage your equipment; it is important that you get enclosed light bulbs to ensure there is no damage to your light fixture. However, you can use a regular smart bulb instead of an enclosed light to illuminate your lamps. 

Which Networks Work With Smart Lighting?

While Wi-Fi is commonly used with smart lighting, there are a number of different networks available that are compatible with smart lights. Here are the different networks and their benefits. 

Wi-Fi

To get started with your smart lighting, you only need your home’s regular Wi-Fi network. The smart light uses your Wi-Fi signal and router as a method of communication. These systems are essential for the function of your smart lighting. 

If you ask your smartphone to turn off the lights, it sends a signal to your home’s wireless connection to carry out the command. There are several benefits of using a Wi-Fi network. Most household Wi-Fi provides strong coverage. Therefore, you will suffer fewer connectivity issues with your light controls.

Household Wi-Fis also are equipped to handle several devices, which means you don’t need to purchase an extra hub. However, there is one main limitation of Wi-Fi - unreliability. If your Wi-Fi is down, you will be unable to control your lighting.   

Bluetooth

Modern smart bulbs often use Bluetooth technology instead of Wi-Fi. Bluetooth is another network that does not require a hub, as your smartphone directly connects with the bulb to provide control. 

However, there are certain drawbacks to using a Bluetooth network. This network offers a very low bandwidth range which means you can only communicate with very few light bulbs at once. 

For instance, if you have smart bulbs throughout your house, you will only be able to control bulbs in rooms or sections of the house at once. Bluetooth also doesn’t allow you to group all your light bulbs; therefore, you can’t switch off all the lights in a room simultaneously.  

Zigbee

Apart from smart lighting, you can also connect smart speakers with a Zigbee network giving you more ways to create a connected home. Zigbee is a self-forming mesh network which means that when you turn the power on a Zigbee-compatible device, it will automatically reach out and connect with other Zigbee-connected devices in the range. 

With the Zigbee network, each device acts as a mini-hub to transport your messages from the app to other appliances. This process helps improve the range of the network and the connected devices. 

Zigbee networks also bear some similarities to Wi-Fi in that they operate on a 2.4 GHz radio frequency, but there is a small chance for interference between the two networks. However, this occurrence is quite rare, and you do not need a separate hub.

Z-Wave

Z-Wave is another network system that works just like Zigbee. This system is mainly used for smart sensor devices. Z-wave requires its own hub to operate, and it functions separately from your Wi-Fi network. 

Z-wave uses an 800-900 Mhz range which; means there will be no inference between your Wi-Fi and this protocol. If you have any other devices in your household that also use Z-wave, you can connect them together and increase their range. However, Z-wave is very rarely used with smart lights. 

What Are The Benefits Of Smart Lights?

As mentioned before, lighting is an important part of your home, which is why when you choose smart lighting, you should look for lights that provide convenience and comfort. Here are all the important benefits of smart lights. 

Improved Convenience

Smart products, including smart lights, are well-known for allowing a higher level of convenience. With these lights, you have improved control and better functionality of your home’s lighting systems. 

Most smart lights can be easily set up with your phone, so you can control your lights even when you are away from your home. Other conveniences include setting up a schedule for your lights depending on your needs. 

You can schedule your lights to turn on at sunset and turn off at sunrise. This removes the need for you to get up and turn off all the lights in the morning. Some smart lighting also allows voice control, meaning you simply utter a command, and your lighting will turn on/off. 

Smart lights and motion sensors will automatically turn on when they detect movement. Such lights work well in areas that don’t get frequent use. 

Energy Efficiency And Savings

One of the most crucial benefits of smart lighting products is that with increased control, you can significantly reduce your energy consumption. If you leave your light turned on, a smart bulb connected to an app will send you an alert.

Once you receive the alert, you can simply turn the light off from the app instead of going back home. As mentioned earlier, almost all smart lighting products are made from LED bulbs to ensure efficient energy use. 

LED bulbs are 75% more efficient than conventional light bulbs, which means you will see major savings on your energy bills in the long run. LEDs also have a longer lifespan compared to incandescent light bulbs; therefore, you will also save money on maintenance and replacement costs. 

The exact amount you would save from smart lights depends on the manual light bulbs you need and how long they remain operational. Despite these factors, every homeowner will see some level of savings by installing smart lights. 

More Creativity With Light Colours 

One of the most inventive features of smart lighting is the wide range of colour choices available to you. The majority of standard light bulbs only offer one colour. These bulbs usually offer a warm white shade that looks orange or cooler and a sharper blue colour. 

These conventional bulbs often fall somewhere in the middle of the Kelvin colour temperature scale. However, with smart bulbs, you can explore a wide array of colour temperatures. If you prefer standard colours, you can still get a regular white colour, or you can choose from various shades of white depending on your lighting needs. 

Some smart lights offer a setting called “white ambiance” that changes the colour temperature depending on your needs. For instance, you can choose a warmer white temperature when you want to create a relaxing atmosphere, or you can opt for a cooler white when you can get intense illumination.   

Safety And Security

Smart lights also ensure the safety and security of your household. You can schedule your lights to turn on at specific times when you are away from home. This will give the appearance that someone is at home, keeping intruders away. 

Smart lights are also a great way to reduce accidents from the darkness. With motion-sensing lights, the bulbs will automatically turn on to help you illuminate your path. You can also experience these benefits with smart outdoor lighting; the sensor will automatically trigger the outdoor light to turn on without the need for any wiring. 

Health And Wellness

Some smart lights also have the rare benefit of positively impacting your health. Blue light is well-known as a disruptor of our natural circadian rhythms. Many manufacturers are developing smart lights with hues that do not disrupt your health and wellness. You can also programme your smart lighting to increase in intensity to avoid experiencing jarring light levels gradually. 

What Is Smart Heating?

Once you have planned your smart lighting design, it is time to consider smart heating. Nowadays, you can find smart heating in the form of energy efficient smart radiators. These appliances represent the next generation of heating systems that offer better functionality and smarter energy use. 

Just like smart lighting, these radiators use a network connection to operate. Almost all smart radiators come with a corresponding app that you can download on your phone to control your appliance remotely. 

With the app, you can access various other features that provide even better performance than other heating systems. Some of these advanced features include accurate temperature control, timers, scheduling and much more. 

With modern smart radiators, you can control all temperature-related aspects of your home with a few clicks on your phone. With a smart radiator, your electric energy will be used much more efficiently. These smart heating systems use machine learning to adjust the temperature according to the time of the day or the climate outside. 

Some smart radiators are also compatible with home assistant devices such as Alexa and Google Home. This feature allows you to use the heating system completely hands-free. You can also use voice controls to activate the radiators or follow any commands. 

Smart radiators come in a variety of different sizes based on wattage. Therefore, there is a smart radiator to fit every household’s needs. Depending on your home’s heating requirement, your energy consumption will fluctuate. Despite the higher wattage, smart radiators will help you save on energy costs due to their smart technology and energy efficiency. 

Smart radiators are also designed with modern aesthetics in mind. These radiators come in neutral colours to easily fit into any household. Traditional radiators often look bulky and would stick out in a home; however, modern smart radiators are sleek with a minimalist design that blends seamlessly into the background of your home. 

How Do Smart Heaters Work?

Before you start using smart radiators, it is important to understand how this system works to unlock its full potential. 

Smart radiators use high-grade electric heating technology to make more efficient use of energy. This technology also comes with advanced controls that let you operate every single aspect of a room’s temperature. 

With such precise controls, you can efficiently heat up your home without worrying about wasting energy. Smart radiators connect to your boiler and your network connection simultaneously. This connection allows you to control your heating. 

You can access this capability through a handheld remote control, an app, or your home assistant hub. To start using these features, you can adjust the settings on the app, and this will send a signal to the radiator. 

Smart radiators with wifi connectivity provide automatic temperature management with the help of your smartphone. You can control this system from anywhere inside or outside your home. This feature ensures that you will always be in complete control of your heating system. 

For example, if you forget to turn off your heating when you leave for work and know you won’t be able to go back to turn it off, you can simply use your phone. With a few quicks taps, you can immediately send signals to the radiators to switch off. This feature is not only great for domestic properties, but it also works well for commercial and hospitality properties. 

Some smart radiators also allow you to set schedules and timers for your heating systems. If you forget to turn your heating off when you leave your home or if you want your home to become warmer at night, you can set schedules to carry out these tasks. 

You can also use this feature to automatically shut down your heating during the day and turn it back on during the night. Bluetooth connectivity also provides the same capabilities as a wifi connection. However, there is a much smaller range with this connectivity. Both wifi and Bluetooth are modern ways to control your heating system without any manual operation. 

Advanced Capabilities In Smart Radiators

Advanced smart radiators come with several features that add even more functionality to regular heating systems. 

Some smart radiators come with geofencing capabilities and motion sensor technology to identify whether a room is occupied or not. This lets the system know when to start heating up the room and conserving excess heat consumption. 

These motion sensors can also start heating up your home as soon as you enter a room. The geofencing and motion sensors allow more efficient control over your heating and ensure that no energy is wasted. 

You can also set up multi-zone heating with smart radiators. If you have radiators in multiple rooms, you can control all the radiators from one central hub without having to set up the radiators manually. You can input various settings depending on each room’s needs. 

For example, you might want to keep your bedroom warm but want the kitchen to remain cool due to cooking heat emissions. You can input these settings into the smart radiator to enjoy a comfortable temperature throughout your home. 

Many smart radiators also come with safety features that ensure the longevity of your heating system. These radiators are easy and safe to install without damaging your pipes. 

Some traditional heating systems could severely damage your home’s piping system due to prolonged use. However, you do not need to worry about this with smart radiators. To ensure that a smart radiator does not harm your piping, you must carry out proper installation guidelines. 

Proper installation will also ensure that the heating system works efficiently so you can enjoy energy saving benefits. 

For better energy efficiency, some smart electric radiators also contain advanced capabilities that track and monitor your weather. These heating systems adjust their temperatures accordingly to the weather conditions for accurate and efficient use of heat energy. You can also monitor your energy consumption to operate your heating systems at energy saving hours. 

Some smart radiators automatically shut off during peak hours and begin operating during off-peak hours to provide the best possible energy savings. However, it is important to note that not all smart radiators come with all these features. 

Make sure to purchase a smart radiator according to your household’s needs and energy saving qualities. 

What Are The Benefits Of Smart Heating?

If you are still unsure about switching to smart heaters, here are some important benefits that highlight the need for these innovative heating systems.  

Excellent Heat Retention

Many smart heating systems are oil filled radiators which means they are excellent at retaining heat energy. These radiators use a specialised thermal fluid/oil that maintains warmth for a long time so you can cut down on operational costs.

When this oil heats up, the heat is transferred out of the unit and into the room, warming up the surrounding air. Although it takes longer to heat up a large volume of oil compared to a wire element, these radiators are much better at retaining heat energy than other radiator units. 

Since oil filled radiators are better at retaining heat, you need less energy to increase the temperature in your living space. Even after you switch off the radiator from the power sockets, the unit will continue to heat up the room and keep you comfortable gently. This happens because the thermal oil is designed to cool slowly. 

Better Comfort And Convenience

One of the most important benefits of smart radiators is the higher comfort level. Smart radiators make it easy for you to get the optimal level of warmth in your household. Each room has its own heating needs, and a smart radiator system can benefit this situation. 

For example, maybe you prefer your bedroom to be much warmer than your living room or kitchen. You can create specific warmth settings with your smart radiators. You might also require different levels of heating depending on the time of the day or season. 

You can use the low-intensity background heating while you are away from home, and you can set this level to rise once you are back home. You can create seasonal settings with a smart radiator to provide comfortable warmth in your home all year round. 

More Energy Savings

As mentioned before, smart radiators can help you achieve better energy savings, but how exactly do these appliances achieve this? Since smart radiators provide more efficient control over heat energy, you can avoid wasting heat emissions. 

An average household in the UK uses 242 kWh of electricity per month and heating takes up a significant portion of these costs. By simply switching to energy-efficient boilers, you save £260 to £580 per year. 

With these figures, you can see that heating energy takes up a major portion of household costs. With these figures, you can see that heating appliances take up a major portion of household costs. 

Many experts estimate that efficient heating systems, including smart radiators, can help you save between 10 to 20% on energy costs. The actual amount of savings depends on various factors, including the duration of heating and the size of your household. Therefore, the more you use smart radiators, the more energy savings you will enjoy. 

Even though most smart radiators have high upfront costs, most of these appliances will pay for themselves in the long term due to energy savings. Apart from energy savings, smart radiators also have many functions that allow you to make energy efficient choices with your heating. 

Many smart radiators come with a peak/off-peak function. This also allows you to manage your heating in order to achieve potential energy benefits. In this setting, the radiators either lower themselves or shuts off during peak electricity hours and turn back on during off-peak hours to enjoy the lowest possible costs on heat energy. 

What Are The Best Smart Home Lighting And Heating Appliances?

If you are looking for some of the best smart home lighting and heating products, visit Meteor Electrical. 

Here you will find a wide range of appliances with highly innovative functions and features. Here are some of the best smart lighting and heating appliances at Meteor. 

1. Aurora 8W GLS Dimmable Smart Lamp

If you are looking for a singular bulb, you should go for the 8W dimmable smart lamp from Aurora. This smart bulb uses Bluetooth connectivity which means you don’t need a smart hub to power your light. 

This smart bulb is simple and cost-effective, and you will start seeing benefits after the first use. With this lamp, you get a remote control to access your lighting easily. This bulb offers 6 RGB colours, and it is made from LED, which means a longer lifespan of 25,000 hours. 

1. AOne Smart Kit 4x5W Dimmable LED Smart Lamps

For a smart light kit, Aurora offers the AOne smart kit with four 5W dimmable LED smart lights. These lights have a colour temperature range between 2700-5000K, and they offer dimming options between 5-100%. 

For those looking to start their smart home journey, this is the perfect kit to start with. This kit also works with Bluetooth connectivity, and you don’t need any external devices to get started. To start using these lamps, simply connect the light fittings, turn on the provided remote, and begin controlling the smart lights immediately. 

1. 500W ATC iLifestyle Smart Radiator

The 500W ATC lifestyle smart radiator is an award-winning smart heating solution that is great if you want to start out with smart heating systems. This radiator unit comes with Wi-Fi control capabilities, so you don’t need any external network to use your radiator. 

The ATC radiator is designed with aluminum fins to guarantee optimal heat emission. The 500W radiator comes with three modes - eco, comfort, and frost to suit everyone’s temperature control needs. 

1. 1800W ATC iLifestyle Smart Radiator

If you are looking for smart radiators with a larger heat energy transmission, the 1800W ATC iLifestyle smart radiator is the product for you. Just like other ATC radiators, this product also comes with Wi-Fi controllability so that you can operate your heaters from anywhere. 

The 1800W radiator is also fitter with a large display panel that makes it easy to read any information. This radiator is highly intelligent as it provides precision control of 0.2 degrees Celsius. 

Final Takeaway

Smart home products are a great investment as they elevate comfort and convenience at every step of the way. One of the best ways to create a connected home is through smart home lighting and heating. These essential appliances will help you create an efficient household.