Lighting and energy saving: tips for a smart home

Lighting and energy saving, a possible combination; just think that 80% of the electricity consumed in a home serves only to illuminate. Consumption that can be reduced by up to 20% with intelligent lighting, for example using efficient low-consumption lamps.

The energy savings through lighting helps us pay cheaper to use but also to reduce national consumption of fossil fuels, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thereby improve the quality of our lives. But how?

Here are some practical tips to better illuminate and save money.

Intelligent lighting: Which light bulb?

It starts with light bulbs, so the first step is to choose the right one for our needs. Size of the space to be lit and its functionality are the first two components to keep in mind: a kitchenette should be lit differently from a bathroom, a living room or a bedroom.

Certainly, all traditional incandescent lamps that have been banned from marketing since 2011 must be banned from home. They had a low cost but also very low efficiency, short duration, and high heat output.

Also, the halogen lamps should be replaced since they ensure a greater efficiency compared to traditional incandescent, but always have poor efficiency. Not to mention that low voltage ones need a transformer.

The fluorescent lamps have a high cost but then compensates with high efficiency (but they need a reactor if not integrated into its interior).

Finally, there are LED lamps, which save up to 80% of electricity compared to a normal light bulb. They have low maintenance costs and a very long life span. They do not heat and do not contain mercury and lead, so they can be disposed of as unsorted waste. The only condition is that they do not light up immediately.

Practical tips for intelligent lighting

For each room, it's the lighting but above all its activity at home. Go ahead then to the central suspension lamp for general lighting but not to those equipped with many lamps because they could consume more without an equivalent advantage in terms of lighting.

Yes to particular lighting for objects and paintings, perhaps with LED lamps.

Yes to the floor lamp near the sofa to read, yes to the low consumption lamp to watch TV that should never be seen in the dark to avoid sight problems.

In the kitchen, free lighting for lighting with spotlights for the sink and cooking and work surfaces.

In the ok room, the general lighting could be realized with wall lights and bedside lamps.

For the study desk, go ahead for adjustable table lamps with very low voltage lamps that must be positioned on the opposite side of the writing hand; today, however, it is mainly written on the computer, so the lamps must be oriented about 60 cm above the top.

Ok in bathroom ceiling lights and spotlights in the ceiling, preferably halogen or LED for illumination of the mirrors and of the basin.

For the outside, therefore, since it may often be possible to forget about lit appliances, it is better to make use of lamps powered by photovoltaic panels perhaps controlled by a photocell that is activated only with the passage of people or with a previously programmed timer.

The new frontier of smart lighting

The IoT (Internet of Things) also allows you to think of intelligent lighting for our home, with a remote Wi-Fi lighting control. L ' smart lighting makes it possible to manage from their smartphone the switching on or off of the lamps in my house, with a considerable energy saving, since their ignition is performed solely in the presence of people in the house.

The smart light bulbs are connected to the Wi-Fi home network via the app is available on both Android and iOS that can be controlled by voice or a clap. They can also be installed in place of classic bulbs since they have the same attacks. The only peculiarity is that they are equipped with a wireless connector, able to connect with the home router, the same one to which the smartphone will also be connected.

Finally, the maximum of technology is offered by smart lighting that informs us of any sudden changes in voltage, always indicating via smartphone, the actions to be taken to solve problems.

Also, read and know about Plasterboardceiling with LED lighting ideas