How to Set Up a Smart Bedroom
You may spend most of the time in your bedroom sleeping, but it can still benefit from smarthome technology. A smarter bedroom can help you get to sleep and wake up in the morning.
Why a Smart Bedroom?
Bedrooms are a unique room in your living space, you spend a great deal of time in it, but most of that is usually spent sleeping. Adding smarthome technology can enhance a bedroom, so long as you think through your choices. With a few devices, you can make your bedroom more comfortable for sleeping and relaxing. A smart display, lights, smart shades, and smart plugs can help you get to bed and wake up feeling refreshed.
Add Smart Lights to Start and End the Day
Sometimes you’re like to relax in the bedroom before you’re want to sleep. So you might read or watch TV in bed. The problem is when you’re ready to go to sleep, the light switches may be out of reach. Or the lights may be too bright for your spouse or partner.
Smart lights are great for control from the comfort of your bed. You can create timers, turn them on and off with your voice or phone, and if you use smart bulbs, you can dim the or change colors to something less harsh for the evening. And with a few routines, you can create a sunrise effect without having to buy an expensive clock.
And if you have a large headboard, you can add ambient light by running LED strips around the back of it. You can do the same with a TV in your bedroom.
For smart bulbs and LED strips, we recommend Philips Hue for a few reasons. They run off Zigbee, so are less likely to interfere with your Wi-Fi devices. Philips Hue is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. The Hue app has a built-in wakeup routine that takes care of the sunrise feature without the need for setting up multiple routines. And you can pair your Hue lights with a Lutron Aurora light switch, which slips over your standard light switches.
The main issue with Philips Hue is the cost. A starter kit with two white bulbs and a hub will set you back $ 70. For the cost, you do get a better class of bulb, usually brighter and more vivid if you buy color bulbs. Hue bulbs also utilize Zigbee, which means they work even when the internet is down. Other smart bulbs may rely on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and so may come with range issues or lose their intelligence when the internet goes down. But if you want to save money, we’ve also gathered cheaper alternatives you may want to consider.
Smart Shades Can Cut the Lights Down
Once you have your lights taken care of, you may want to consider taking the other source of light in your bedroom: your windows. Smart shades are similar to smart lights: you can live without them, and they don’t provide a crucial function. But once you have them, you may not want to live without them again.
You can not only raise and lower shades with your voice or phone, but you can create timers and routines that take care of them for you. Your routine could raise the shades when it’s time to get up or lower them as part of a “good night” protocol. That’s the power of smarthomes; one command can take care of many things.