Smart home lighting in human life: the art of comfort and cosiness.
Lighting has always played a crucial role in human life. Back in the Stone Age, a fire not only kept us warm, protected us from predators and helped us cook our food, but also illuminated the cave and made us feel cosy and safe. Today, light fulfils the same functions, but with the development of technology, it has become an essential element of design, comfort and energy efficiency. Modern technology makes it possible to create intelligent lighting scenarios that adapt to a person’s lifestyle, habits and environment. Lighting is no longer just a source of light, but a powerful tool for shaping moods and customising spaces.
The main types of lighting in a smart home.
In a smart home, lighting is divided into two main categories: main lighting and backlighting.
- Basic lighting includes chandeliers, luminaires, spotlights and other powerful light sources that create the basic illumination of a space. It is necessary for the full perception of the space and to ensure a comfortable level of brightness in the room.
- Illumination fulfils a decorative and functional role: it is the contour lighting of ceilings, stairs, skirting boards, furniture, as well as light sources in bathrooms and sleeping areas. This type of lighting helps to accentuate interior details and facilitates orientation in the dark. It can also be used to create a romantic atmosphere or to support human biorhythms with dynamically changing lighting.
Smart lighting and technology.
Today’s smart home systems allow you to control lighting at an advanced level:
- Automatic brightness and colour temperature control depending on time of day and presence of people.
- Creating unique lighting scenarios such as “morning dawn” or “evening relaxation” to help set the body to the right rhythm.
- Remote lighting control via mobile apps or voice assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa.
- Optimising energy consumption, which reduces electricity costs and makes the home more environmentally friendly. LED technology combined with intelligent controllers reduces energy consumption without compromising on comfort.
LED panels that simulate natural light are particularly useful in basements where there is no natural light. Intelligent lighting systems can create a comfortable environment even in the most demanding spaces. For example, adaptive lighting can change colour temperature throughout the day, providing invigorating white light in the morning and warm, soft light in the evening. This is conducive to gym and yoga classes. There is no basement feel to the game room. A home cinema room is able to convey the feeling of the time of day in between watching films in total darkness.
Lighting Zones.
The division of space into illuminated zones plays a role in creating comfort. Each zone has its own purpose, and appropriate lighting makes it as functional as possible:
- Work area – bright lighting for reading, working or cooking. Usually white light is used to improve concentration and productivity.
- Relaxation zone – soft, warm light for relaxing, watching films or evening conversations. Adjustable light sources are important here to help you relax.
- Accent lighting – decorative luminaires that emphasise the style of the interior, such as concealed LED strips, illumination of pictures, showcases and niches.
- Navigation lighting – illuminates stairs, corridors and entrance areas for easy movement at night. It can be activated automatically when motion is detected.
- Night illumination – a dimmed light that switches on when travelling at night so as not to cause eye discomfort.
Light quality and its impact on comfort.
When choosing lighting, it is important to consider not only brightness but also the colour rendering index (CRI). This determines how naturally colours are rendered in artificial light. CRI should be above 90%, especially for work areas, to avoid colour distortion and rapid eye fatigue. Low-quality LEDs with high pulsation levels can cause discomfort, fatigue and irritation, so it is recommended to choose proven light sources with quality drivers and stable luminescence characteristics.
Lighting control in the Loxone smart home.
The Loxone smart home system offers a wide range of functionality for controlling lighting in rooms of all purposes. It allows you to:
- Flexibly customise lighting to suit scenarios and preferences.
- Use light and presence sensors for automatic light control.
- Eliminate the need for third-party equipment with integrated solutions.
- Create scenarios that combine lighting with other smart home elements such as climate control or multimedia systems.
- Set the lights to automatically dim or switch on according to the level of natural light, increasing comfort and reducing visual strain.
When designing lighting, it is important to work closely with the designer and engineers so that all ideas can be realised as efficiently as possible. This makes it possible to achieve harmony between aesthetics, functionality and energy efficiency.
Let there be light!
If you are interested in how to control lighting in a smart home, what scenarios can be realised and what prospects it opens up, write to us. We will share our experience, tell you about the best solutions and help you create lighting that will make your home more comfortable, cosy and energy efficient.
Thanks to modern technology, lighting is becoming not just a functional element, but an important tool for improving the quality of life. A smart home allows you to illuminate your space not only brightly, but also intelligently, creating a cosy atmosphere and improving the well-being of its inhabitants.
