Festival Smart Decorative Lighting
We all love festivals. Decorative lighting is an important part of celebrating these, be it indoor lighting or outdoor lighting. Let’s face it. How many times it has happened that you forgot to turn the lights on in the evening or off in the morning? And, some times on those important festival days! This is a perfect scenario where a smart home solution can be of assistance. With a simple DIY home improvement, you can set up smart decorative lighting to turn lights on sunset and turn off on sunrise. It’s easy and will take typically less than 15 minutes.
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Smart Decorative Lighting Options
While there are many ways of implementing this solution, for the sake of simplicity, I’ll focus on two options.
- Use a Smart WiFi Plug/Outlet without a Hub: This option is most suitable for those who do not currently have a Smart Hub (like SmartThings, Vera, etc.) and do not intend to invest in one in near future.
- Use a Z-Wave Smart Plug/Outlet with a Smart Hub: This option is for those who currently own a Smart Hub (or are interested in buying one).
If you would like to understand the benefits of a Smart Hub, I recommend reading Welcome to Smart Home.
Option#1: Use a Smart WiFi Plug/Outlet without a Hub
Equipment and Budget
Note: The prices shown are based on data at the time of writing this article. Taxes and shipping are not included in these and actual cost may vary.
| Item | Unit Price | Qty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| TanTan Wi-Fi Smart Plug | $9.99 | 1 | $9.99 |
| Total | $9.99 | ||
Set up this project in the Shopping Guru app to track and save money
(Shopping Guru is a FREE mobile app to plan, shop and save with Amazon. Learn more or see how to create a project in it.)
Project: WiFi Smart Outlet Setup
Template: Smart Home – Indoor Lighting With Smart Plug Setup
| Item Type | Item | Keywords | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended | wifi smart plug | TanTan wifi smart plug | 1 |
Setup Instructions
Please follow these steps.
- Install the Smart Life mobile app (iOS | Android).
- Plug in the TanTan Smart Plug in an outlet and keep the power button pressed till it starts flashing blue.
- Add Device to the Smart Life app.
Note: If prompted, enter the WiFi connection information. At the time of writing, the plug only supported 2.4 GHz network. - Add an Automation to turn the outlet on at sunset.
- Similarly, add an Automation to turn the outlet off on sunrise.
- You should have the following two Automations at this point.
Now you should see the lights turn on at sunset and off on sunrise automatically.
Option#2: Use a Z-Wave Smart Plug/Outlet with a Smart Hub
Use this option if you have an existing Smart Hub.
Equipment and Budget
Note: The prices shown are based on data at the time of writing this article. Taxes and shipping are not included in these and actual cost may vary.
| Item | Unit Price | Qty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung SmartThings Outlet | $36.99 | 1 | $36.99 |
| Total | $36.99 | ||
Set up this project in the Shopping Guru app to track and save money
(Shopping Guru is a FREE mobile app to plan, shop and save with Amazon. Learn more or see how to create a project in it.)
Project: Z-Wave Smart Outlet Setup
Template: Smart Home – Smart Hub – Outlets Setup
| Item Type | Item | Keywords | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended | z-wave indoor outlets | Samsung SmartThings Outlet | 1 |
Setup Instructions
For the purpose of illustration, I’ll be using the SmartThings Hub. But, you should be able to apply equivalent steps to the other Smart Hubs.
- Open the SmartThings mobile app.
- Plug in the SmartThings Outlet in an outlet and keep the power button pressed till it starts flashing blue.
- Add Device to the SmartThings app.
- Add the Smart Lighting SmartApp from Automation->SmartApps, if you do not have it already.
- Add a new Lighting Automation to toggle the decorative lights.
Note: Notice the naming convention I’m using so that the automation appears at an appropriate place in my list as compared to other frequently used ones.
Now you should see the lights turn on at sunset and off on sunrise automatically.
Happy festive season!
– Nitin
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Also published on Medium.