Incandescent light bulbs are rather cheap and familiar, but these little buggers are extremely inefficient. Although LED bulbs are more expensive, you will be glad to have opted for them in the long run as you’ll be saving energy and money at the same time.
Then we come to smart lighting, the next uprising aspect in home lightning as they are the most energy-efficient lighting. Smart bulbs are a pricier option, but they will save you both energy and money in the long run.
Smart bulbs can be controlled through voice commands. Welcome to the future of home lighting! Yes, smart lights can be operated and turned on by your voice through voice assistants like Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri.
Moreover, you can dim the smart bulbs and even change their colors all through their smartphone app or your voice. However, because of this advanced technology, smart lights do indeed leech power even during the time when the lights are off, but in very small amounts.
Although smart lights barely use much electricity, they’re still considered to be vampire appliances. In other words, they use power while they’re not being used. In the Thai article, we’ll be discussing smart lights, why and how they consume energy.
What is a Smart Light?
A smart light is an LED smart light bulb that has built-in technology so it has the ability to connect itself to Bluetooth or your home Wi-Fi network. This way, smart lights can be controlled and managed remotely.
In fact, smart lights are an important part of home automation, also known as smart home, in which there’s a rise in everyday household appliances being connected through a single network.
No matter what brand you choose for smart lighting, it’s important to know which devices can be paired and how. For instance, GE lighting is particularly designed to work with Google Home and connect to Wi-Fi.
Whereas, the Philips Hue Lights either run on Bluetooth or a central hub that you will have to purchase separately.
Why do Smart Lights Waste Energy While Not in Use?
As we shared earlier, smart lights are considered to be in the category of vampire devices. In other words, smart bulbs continue to generate energy even when they’re not in use. And how does this exactly happen?
In order for smart bulbs to be turned on through a smartphone app or a smart speaker, the bulb has to be connected to Bluetooth or the internet. This constant connection always requires some amount of power to be ready when you need the lights to be on.
That said, it’s not that much energy being used. However, if you have a good amount of smart bulbs at home, you can expect higher energy bills.
What are Vampire Appliances?
Vampire appliances, also known as standby power and phantom load, are the different types of appliances and electronics that consume energy when they’re off. When in reality, they’re in standby mode.
In other words, when you want to turn them on, they are on within an instant. A common example would be your TV. These appliances and electronics trade cost-effective with comfort and convenience.
You will be spending a little extra money on the electricity usage every month, so that you sustain the convenience of such planes turning on in an instant. However, if you one too many of these vampire appliances in your house, then you might have to pay a lot more.
Here are some common vampire appliances:
- Smart lights
- Computers
- TVs
- Microwaves
- Security systems
Do Smart Lights Save Cost?
The answer is both a yes and no. Smart lights are LEDs, and are highly energy efficient and consume less energy in comparison to incandescent bulbs. Hence, they do indeed save energy and money both.
That said, when comparing smart lights to regular LEDs, you’ll be spending more than the amount of money you save from switching to LEDs.
Conclusion
Well, there you go! If you only have a few smart lights at home, you’ll barely notice it on your energy bill. However, if there are multiple smart bulbs, because you like their features, and there are a number of standby mode appliances within your home, all this comes energy usage will cost you quite a bit. When it comes to smart bulbs, it all depends on how many you need and can you afford having multiple of them in your house?
