Home automation is that branch of technology that brings objects, to say the least, “science fiction” until a few years ago inside our homes, allowing appliances and other devices to connect to the Internet and receive our commands remotely, even with the voice. If we are fanatics of new technologies and we can’t wait to bring as much home automation as possible into our homes, one of the first steps is certainly the adoption of wireless lights.Wireless lights are normal LED bulbs that integrate a Wi-Fi module inside, which allows them to connect to your home wireless network and receive orders or commands from an online cloud platform or from one of the supported voice assistants.
In this guide We will show you the best wireless lights that you can buy online, highlighting the smart features of each product (if it supports voice commands, if a control app is available, etc.).READ ALSO -> 8 Home automation products (Smart Home) easy to assemble and use
1) Features lights and wireless bulbs
Before throwing yourself headlong into buying bulbs with Wi-Fi, you should check that the products you choose have some important features:
– Light technology: now all the bulbs contain LEDs inside to emit light, thanks to their great energy savings (with a 7W bulb we get the same light as an old 60-70W bulb).
The ignitions are all ultra-fast, so we won’t even have to wait for the bulbs to get hot to get full light. We, therefore, avoid any technology that is not LED: halogen, incandescent or old light bulbs are now illegal so they should not even be for sale.
– Type of socket: each lamp holder has its own “attack”, so at the time of purchase we will have to check which type of door socket and take the bulb relative to it. The most common models are E27 (candle), E14 (half-candle) and GU10 (spotlight).
– IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi standard: if we have to connect them to the wireless network at home, we must not miss the support of the most used standard for 2.4 GHz networks. Usually, the 5 GHz network support is not required on the light bulbs because the light bulb may be too far from the modem, so don’t connect properly. If the house is large and the modem is still far away (even for 2.4 GHz networks) we will examine the purchase of a Wi-Fi repeater or a Wi-Fi Powerline.
– Light temperature: we check that the temperature of the light emitted is to our liking.
The value is expressed in K (degrees Kelvin) and can provide an indication of how the final light will look: a value equal to or less than 3000K indicates a warm light (tending to yellow), a value equal to 4000K indicates a neutral light ( tendentially white) and a value higher than 5000K indicates a cold light (tending to blue). Some light bulbs also allow you to change the light, so as to recreate a different and colorful environment for each type of room.
– Dimmer system: an additional feature (not fundamental) that we can find on wireless lights is the dimmer, that is the possibility to decrease the light intensity to adapt it to all scenarios and rooms. Not all wireless lights are dimmable, so if we have a switch or knob at home to adjust the light intensity, make sure we buy dimmable models.
– Home automation integration: to have maximum control over the wireless bulb we can use both the dedicated app and integrate the control service on the most commonly used voice assistants (Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa).
In this way, we can program the lighting of the lights at certain times or alternatively turn them on using the voice commands on the smartphone or on the portable speakers.
– Duration: all smart light bulbs must last like the classic LED bulbs, or at least 10,000 hours of use. Obviously it is not possible to predict in advance when a light bulb will break or stop working, but we absolutely avoid products that do not clearly indicate the minimum lamp life.
In addition to the bulbs with wireless included, we can also buy normal LED bulbs and place a Wi-Fi bulb holder, so as to save a little bit on the final price. In the next chapter of the guide, we will also show you the Wi-Fi bulb holders, so you can also control normal bulbs remotely.
2) Wireless lights: purchase guide
In this part of the guide, we will recommend the best ones wireless bulbs that you can buy online, so as to get the best possible price.
Finally, we will show you the Wi-Fi bulb holders, to be used on any type of LED bulb.
E27 bulbs
- Smart WiFi bulb Smart LED bulb E27 (15 €)
- LIFX Mini White (E27) Smart Wi-Fi LED bulb (€ 17)
- ACCEWIT Smart Bulb Wi-Fi Bulb Dimmable LED Light (€ 27)
- Philips Hue White LED Bulbs, E27, 9 W, 2 Pieces (€ 35)
- Dimmable Multicolour Smart LED Lamp, TECKIN E27 (€ 52)
E14 bulbs
- E14 Smart Bulb Wi-Fi Dimmable Smart Bulb (€ 15)
- Smart Wifi Bulb, Mexico Dimmable Led Bulb (€ 16)
- EXTSUD Smart Bulb E14 WiFi Smart Bulb RGB Dimmable (18 €)
- Lohas WiFi Smart light bulb E14 5W = 40W (34 €)
- Philips Hue White Ambiance LED Bulbs, E14 (€ 59)
GU10 spotlights
- GU10 Wifi Intelligence Bulb, Avatar Controls Dimmable Multicolor (€ 17)
- LOHAS-LED Smart LED Lamp 5 W (€ 32)
- Philips Hue White LED bulb, Gu10 socket, 5.5 W (34 €)
- EXTSUD 4 Pcs GU10 WiFi LED Dimmable RGB bulb 5W (69 €)
If instead, we want to use the classic LED lights, we can make them “smart” buying one of the Wi-Fi bulb holder (also called Wi-Fi Light Socket) present here below.
– KOBWA Smart WiFi E27 lamp holder, Smart LED Bulb (€ 16)
– Smart WiFi E27 Light socket, Aicase Intelligent WLAN (€ 29)
In order to automate our home to save energy and get a lighter bill, we advise you to read our dedicated guide below.
READ ALSO -> Smart lights, sockets, and thermostats to save on bills