As the holidays bring on festivities and celebrated traditions, whether it’s hanging lights or hosting holiday parties, now is the perfect time of year to take advantage of smart lighting control. Not only is it energy-efficient, but it can help display your lights, Christmas decorations, and more. Read on to discover ways to incorporate home automation into the holiday season, or check out this video below to get started.
Outdoor Lights
RGB Displays
As you drive around any given neighborhood during December, it’s likely you’ll see an array of different lights strung along roofs, or other lit-up decor. If you too want an eye-catching display, one way to go is by using RGB lights. These lights allow a single bulb to create any color you want, creating unique arrangements. However, these do require some light show programming knowledge and additional controllers beyond just your home automation system.
Sync Lights to Music
Another light show programming piece that always makes a house stand out is when lights are synced up to a favorite holiday tune. This can be done through a couple different ways: Philips Hue Smart Bulbs, or a Christmas light controller. Depending on how many lights you need and the level of work you want to put in, it’s a good idea to check out both options before making a purchase.
Using Timers
The options above can use automation to decide when and how the lights go off, but do require some additional skills. If you’d prefer to skip the extra steps, a good way to go is using standard white bulbs or LED lights and hook them up to timers. These allow for your lights to automatically turn on once the sun sets, and go off before bed.
Pathways
As the days get darker, having adequate lighting becomes more important. With smart lighting, you could have the lights come on automatically when someone pulls into the driveway. If you plan on having guests over, this is a great way to create a pathway for people to walk to your door.
Set Up Scenes
With the outside shining bright, consider bringing some holiday cheer indoors. If you plan on hosting a formal dinner or cocktail party, consider using dimmers to set any ambiance you want. You can also set up scenes, which is a collection of settings that run when you trigger them. Using a scene, you can set up a playlist, adjust the thermostat, and change the lights, all in a few quick touches. This is a great idea to get ready ahead of time, so you don’t have to worry about it when you’re busy during a party.
Shades
Automated shades can be programmed to raise and lower independently, so you can show off a holiday decoration center stage in your front window—whether it’s a Christmas tree, Menorah, or a Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story—but still keep privacy in the rest of your house.
Home automation is a great way to improve the energy consumption in your house, as well as make life easier. If you’d like to go beyond automation, check out what other monitoring needs AvantGuard can help you with.
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