Part 1: How to Automate Your Lighting?

Lighting with connected lights is a very good starting point for any home automation installation. We will see why, and how to optimize it.

I do not intend to go into the technical details but share some principles from my first feedback. I remind you that I start and that it can evolve. In fact, I have already evolved by writing this article. You will still find links to more technical articles to perfect your lighting installation.

THE SOLUTIONS

SMART BULBS

The smart bulbs have invaded the market between Philips Hue, Xiaomi Yeelight, Ikea Trådfri ... Just look for "smart bulb" on Amazon to realize the market. These are very easy to install because they require nothing more than to change the bulb. They embark a small radio in the base, either wifi (communication with your application through the modem/router) or other protocols such as ZigBee (requires a gateway to communicate with your wifi). Like any bulb, the selection criteria are the brightness, the color temperature (variable or not) and the base.

For color bulbs it is interesting to check the number of colors, for example, those of Ikea has only 20 colors against 16 million for Hue. It will be necessary to wait for a comparison, I for the moment only Xiaomi and Broadlink (see the article how to associate your Ikea bulbs with your Hue gateway ), but I intend well to explore the yeelight and the others according to their compatibility with Jeedom. Here is an important criterion, compatibility with your home automation controller, if you do not have one yet, see the article How to choose a home automation controller. You will be much less limited with the controller than with the manufacturer's application.

When opting for bulbs, think about the actuators. Those who will turn on your light. The first step, you must condemn your current switches so that the bulb is always powered and controllable.

To replace them you have wireless switches or motion sensors provided by the same manufacturers (Philips Hue, Broadlink, Ikea Trådfri, Xiaomi). I would opt for a detector in the corridors or other rooms of passage and for a switch in the living rooms as the living room or the kitchen. Although I think it's possible to combine the two with the Jeedom scenario that's going well.

You can also automate power on / off with your home automation controller. Who will be able to take into account the luminosity of the room, the hour, your detectors of the movements, the presence ... If you want a detailed example with Jeedom, go read Sarakha's article63: Automatic extinction of lights in Jeedom Domotique

For example:

Put the lighting between sunset, until the sunrise when you detect a movement and dim the light between 00:00 and 05:00 to not dazzle.

Or, everyone leaves, turn off all the lights on.

It is also possible to use the voice with Google Home for example to manage its lighting. No need to get up because the voice goes further than your arm.