Everyone wants their home to be a secure environment. For centuries light has provided warmth and comfort. The first thing people do at night when they’re in bed and hear a noise is go for a light. (OK maybe the second thing after nudging their significant other and saying did you hear that?)

The invention of sensor lights for outside the home provided another level of comfort, and they have scared off many an intruder. They have also provided a guiding light when you get home at night and you’re fumbling with your keys.

Ever had multiple lights that you wanted to control from a single switch or a single light from multiple switches? Typically you would need to have your sparky wire up this configuration. With our light switches you can do some pretty cool things via the app, no additional wiring needed.

Our test home has a single switch in a dinning room that controls a deck light. The garage also has a single switch that controls a second light on the deck. Both of these switches are at opposite ends of the deck and its inconvenient to have to walk from one end of the house to the other just to turn on both deck lights.

Anyone who has walked into an Home Entertainment Retailer in recent times would have undoubtedly come across their Connected Home section. Its the section full of brands such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Lifx, Phillips Hue, Swann, Ring and many more. And for most people they have a look and keep walking.

The connected home has a number of challenges and as per this blogs title in many cases its comes down to dollars and (common) sense. Lets face it, the gear on offer today has some shortcomings and a hefty price tag.

Australia sees fluctuations in sunrise and sunset times between summer and winter. In Brisbane for example the sun goes down at 5.00pm in Winter and 6.50pm in Sumer. That’s almost a 2 hour variation. 

Setting schedules so your lights come on and off is easy but a basic schedule doesn’t factor in the variation in shifting sunset times. If for example you set a schedule so your lights come on at 5.00pm in winter and do bother further your lights will be turned on 2 hours earlier than need for summer.  

Everyone seems to be on the Smart Bulb bandwagon these days. Most electronic stores have dedicated sections for smart home products, hardwares have started selling smart products and there are hundreds of online stores selling smart bulbs. The battle lines have been drawn between Phillips Hue and Lifx as the two biggest players in this space. Each with their own set of features as well as pros and cons.