A recent YouGov report indicates that close to a quarter of Britons now own one or more smart home devices (excluding smart meters), while one in ten now have two or more. This clearly highlights the growth in the industry. Smart lighting solutions are becoming an ever-increasing part of today’s home as consumers are made aware of the many benefits of controlling luminaires from their smart devices and tailoring lighting to their personal requirements.
If you are now looking to retrofit existing lighting to a connected lighting solution, here are some points you may want to consider:
Replacing existing lamps
Table lamps and pendants can be the quickest and easiest way to retrofit your lighting into a smart solution, connected technology has now been embedded into LED lamps; offering a simple, switch out solution. OCTO E27 smart lamps are available; with convertors available for non-standard bases. Simply switching to these intelligent lamps offers an instant connected solution.
This technology is not exclusively for indoor spaces. These smart lamps can be installed in a number of exterior fittings, including bollards and wall lights with an IP44 rating or higher.
Retrofitting existing luminaires
What about the other lighting in your home?
If you’re looking to retrofit existing downlights in a domestic environment such as a kitchen, there are some fantastic options available. OCTO indoor and outdoor connected lighting controllers can be wired in to existing non-smart fittings, transforming them into a fully functional part of an OCTO connected ecosystem.
The indoor and outdoor controllers can be connected to singular or multiple luminaires, enabling control of one fitting, or your entiHre kitchen lighting simultaneously.
Additionally, consumers can split the network of luminaires in large rooms in to separate groups of control. By wiring separate groups of luminaires in one room to separate indoor controllers, consumers can switch off lighting above television screens to watch a film, whilst leaving dimmed luminaires on at the back of the room, creating a relaxing, ambient aesthetic for occasions such as movie nights.
Switches and Dimmers
Another important element to consider when retrofitting your home’s lighting to a connected lighting solution, is how you intend on controlling it.
Configuring lighting scenes based upon your own requirements is an easy task with the use of a smart phone or tablet, but what if you want to use a more traditional looking method of control, whilst still having the ability to control a connected lighting system?
Smart switches and dimmers are part of the OCTO product range, enabling consumers to assign specific actions or scenes to switches, such as reducing luminaires to 50%, triggering a lighting animation or simply switching off the lights within certain rooms.
Smart switches can be used alongside, or in replacement of traditional lighting switches; therefore, it is important to consider the application of the connected system. Communal work spaces with multiple users, for example, may benefit from both smart and traditional lighting switches.
Sensors
In addition to the OCTO smart switches, there are also a range of indoor and outdoor sensors available.
Smart sensors enable consumers to further optimize a connected lighting eco-system to their personal requirements. Sensors can be easily assigned to particular groups of luminaires via the OCTO controller app.
The easily commissioned sensors can assist in energy saving by only illuminating an area when they detect motion. The sensors can also be used to trigger lighting scenes that have been configured via the app, for example, emitting a low level of illumination when visiting the bathroom in the middle of the night.