Comment on lightbulbs
bdonvr@thelemmy.club 3 days ago
I live my smart lights for this. I can change them at my whim. By default they’re brighter and whiter during the day, slowly moving dimmer and yellow after sunset. Or I can make them whatever other color but I do that pretty rarely.
It’s also fully offline and no WiFi used.
bloopenguin@lemmy.world 3 days ago
You can’t just sell me on your smart lights and not name the brand/model
bdonvr@thelemmy.club 2 days ago
Brand/model isn’t important.
You’ll need a HomeAsstant controller. You can buy one premade premade or you can look up tutorials and make your own with a raspberry pi or old laptop or PC. Then you’ll need a ZigBee controller, this is a radio that will talk to your smart lights and other accessories.
You then get ZigBee compatible lights. Phillips Hue is the top of the line but so stupidily expensive I’d never recommend it. Innr makes good ones at half the cost. ThirdReality makes decent ones too for even cheaper.
You’ll probably also want some ZigBee switches to have physical controls for your lights instead of just by phone. They make models that replace your actual light switches. Or, if you rent like me and can’t modify that, you can get battery powered ones that stick on the wall. Battery life is like a year or more so not too bad.
That’ll do it. You can also use HomeAssistant now that you’ve got it. It’s a home automation software that’s open source and locally controlled. You can hook up much more than your lights. Smart plugs, your TV, 3D printer, fans, cameras, tons of sensors, your thermostat, robovac, etc. Then make automations that connect them. For example my living room ZigBee switch, one press up toggles the main lights. Double press for the lamp. Hold down and it turns off all lights and the TV. Some lights like my closet light are controlled by a door sensor instead of a switch, so they come on automatically. Some people prefer motion sensors so all lights are automatic. Turn off stuff automatically when you leave, etc.