Hey LifeHackster! You HIT the nail on the head as far as ground wires needed for switches. I have an older home with NO ground on many switches so, no-dice! I do have a couple of GE switches from several years ago that do not need a ground and these work great (SmartThings). For me I either use smart-bulbs or smart-plugs. Another option is to use switch-bot devices to control existing switches and also no wiring needed. These Switch-Bot devices also work GREAT for coffee makers, floor fans, and space-heaters, or anything else you need a button to be pushed or a switch toggled. Also, I have several smart-bulbs that change color and I use this feature once and a while but as you mentioned in your son's case not that often. Great video and keep them coming! Stay safe!
Great review. Not ready to meet my maker so I stick with smart bulbs. I do like the option of having multiple colors that I use quite often. I use the toggle covers to keep from turning the switches off by accident.
I have four of the FEIT smart light bulbs and they suit my purpose (security routines) fine. I have one that my wife does occasionally turn off on the lamp, which puts it out of commission, as you mentioned. It is a pain, but I'm training her up!
Shortly after moving into my house earlier this year, I made the decision to do smart switches instead of bulbs. Recently tried out the Lutron dimmer starter kit as my first smart switch as I wanted a hub to be the central point of control so as not to burden my network down the road. I've got the dimmer controlling the pot lights in my living room, and I also love having the Pico remote as another option to manage those lights. Also like setting up the schedules/routines for out of home situations. Next project is to add another smart switch at least to the stairway lights in a 3-way config, and possibly to the bedrooms too.
For my needs, I went with smart plugs. 2 in the house, & 2 in the garage. 99% of the time I just use voice commands to control them. Very cost effective too! I'm using both Amazon, & Wyze plugs.
Great video! I feel like this is one of those fundamental controversial questions in the smart home like whether to hub or not to hub. My general take is when you can, go for smart switches. When we start out with a smart home, we sometimes have the idea that all of our lights need to be RGB, but in reality very few of them need to be and I find that most of the time light strips add that bit of color much better than bulbs.
@@black11189 definitely. In my experience though, full-color RGB lights don't typically do well with warm and cool Wwhites unless they have a Dedicated LED.
I have both so it depends what you are going for. With smart bulbs I can have multi colored setups. With a smart switch, it's just on / off /schedule as you explained.
@@LifeHackster Right. Similar with the Ring Smart Bulbs. They were not reliable. Tried Leviton Z Wave smart switches. They are through my Ring Alarm and Alexa enabled. All automations through Alexa and they work great!
I have a smart switch in my bedroom and smart bulbs for the porch. I like the smart switch because I don’t have to use the pull chains on my fan to turn off the light or adjust fan speed and I can still use voice control to change both. The smart bulbs I like for outside because they are RGB so instead of having to buy decorative holiday bulbs I can just change the colors of these (I normally have them on warm white, 3000K like all my other low voltage lighting.) I have the bulbs as well as my low voltage lighting on a dusk to dawn schedule and they work great! IMO, smart switches are great for rooms or fixtures with multiple bulbs, and smart bulbs are good for everything else; especially if like you said you can’t make any changes like renting or an apartment.
I LOVE my Philips Hue bulbs man! I love changing the colors in my bedroom, in my home office, in my garden.I have several scenes with different color schemes and I feel like a kid in Disneyland! Super happy with those. But for the rest of the house I also set Lutron Caseta smart dimmers and the have worked FLAWLESSLY!! The turn bright or dim, on or off according to schedule or my motion sensors and most importantly, my elderly mom and dad can keep turning their lights on or off through them. I also have some smart switches/dimmers that are compatible with my Philips Hue system so no one switches the energy off my bulbs, while also keeping manual control for every bulb in the house. That's important
Thanks for mentioning the neutral wire. I am interested in switches because my smart bulbs suddenly won't connect back to my wifi no matter what I try. I figured switches would be more reliable. But if non-neutral wire switches are also unreliable, I'm back to the drawing board. 💡🤔
Thank you for your videos. Always great content and presentation. Your honest inputs and experiences are super helpful with all the home automation options available 👍👍
Nice job as always. I have one switch and the rest (15) are smart bulbs or plugs. For the lights I bought switch guards on Amazon so nobody can flip them. I found that sometimes the switch’s are hard to get into the electrical box as the are tremendously larger than normal, and I am jamming the wires in. Thanks Again!
Yes I do use RGB lighting (different colors) in my room for a more gamer aesthetic or when i'm just chilling. But when i'm having lunch or reading I switch to normal white lighting (warm for lunch, cool for reading)
I have both a smart bulb and switches. I use the bulb for a bit of a night light for my daughtee as I can dim it to not be as bright. I use smart switches as my daughter will walk past and not turn off a light switch on her way to her room, so I can simple ask Google to turn it off or on the app. Its also part of my routines to turn lights on/off.
I have the govee waffe rgb lights in my living room and use the dreamview feature a few times a week, dreamview mimics the lights from the TV screen and matches the lighting real time, these are also smart lights to they work with Google assistant and Alexa, they are dimable via the app but not the switch so need to run a block off for that switch
I have (C by GE dimmable white) bulbs which allows me to adjust brightness plus kelvin on every bulb independently or groups or program scenes (“movie theater” in the family room) and I have them through out the house including ceiling fans. In the beginning I would forget and use the switch but I don’t anymore and haven’t touched a wall switch in over a year. RGB doesn’t interest me at all. Now that GE has updated to the SYNC app they work really well. I do think Phillips Hue is a better choice though
I need the dimmer light switch to control a remote plug system. There are no switches connected to wall outlets in our home. Duh ... I have the Smart Dimmer Plug controlled by the app, but I need to have manually controlled for others without the app. Secondly, can a switch/plug be controlled by two phones, I tried to do it but it kept disconnecting the device from the original phone. What am I doing wrong ?
I don't mess with the electric so it's smart light bulbs for me. Love to mess with the colors every once in a while and the brand I use is a really good value....
Greetings from Torrance! Another fantastic video! I had low voltage pot lights installed into my house many years ago. Just wondering if these smart switches are compatible for low voltage or have to make sure to order "low voltage" type? Thanks again for keeping us up on new things! Hope the weather in your part of Texas isn't too bad People on TicTok are making videos of how hot Texas is right now.
Hi there I have a ceiling fan with 3 lights. How do I make it smart without having to interfere with the actual fan? I am senior with little electrical skills
FYI If you do plan on getting smart light bulbs they can use electricity even though the light is off but the outlet isn't all be it it may just be a few cent increase but still better than just leaving the lightbulb on
Do these use standard dimension decorator wall plates or do you have to get their brand? And if the switch is more than one-way, I presume it takes a separate device for each switch like Lutron? Good option if they are cheaper though.
I like smart switches but it seems like I never have enough room in the box and really need to cram everything in. I’ve found smart bulbs better for lamps that aren’t associated with switches…
tell me why the heck i cant just get some sort of wifi remote that controls google assistant with programable buttons that I can just stick on the wall next to light switches that controls WIFI bulbs????
I love using the smart bulbs I love them been using them for 2 years now.. it’s the main reason I purchased the smart bulbs over the switch I don’t want to click the switch anymore lol.. if your looking smart bulbs is the best choice.. all that he had to do to install no way!! Just screw the bulbs in download the app your all set.. far as the ceiling fan I never use mine I turn on the air so not useful for me lol looking at the smart switch I would be more worried about electric problems that click sounds real loud with all that voltage it take to turn off and on. Great video I will take smart bulbs for 100 Alex
IOT devices that only connect to 2.4GHz networks are a huge PITA to connect to my mesh network that does not have separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5GHz networks.
@@LifeHackster I wish my Orbi did that. I recently had to put a robot vacuum cleaner in my truck and drive away from my house to get on the 2.4GHz network.
Most older houses are not setup to run a four wire switch so smart switchs is a no for most people with older houses. You failed to mention that in your video
Where was this video 5 years ago! I wasted so much time on smart bulbs...NOT wife proof. Now I am changing all my bulbs out with Shelly 1L (for all most of ly 14 light switches) and Dimmer 2 (for bedrooms). Bulbs are good as desk lights/ complimentary lighting terrible for a normal house
![Best Smart Light Bulbs 2024 [don’t buy one before watching this]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5iiI8jCKTMs/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey LifeHackster! You HIT the nail on the head as far as ground wires needed for switches. I have an older home with NO ground on many switches so, no-dice! I do have a couple of GE switches from several years ago that do not need a ground and these work great (SmartThings). For me I either use smart-bulbs or smart-plugs. Another option is to use switch-bot devices to control existing switches and also no wiring needed. These Switch-Bot devices also work GREAT for coffee makers, floor fans, and space-heaters, or anything else you need a button to be pushed or a switch toggled. Also, I have several smart-bulbs that change color and I use this feature once and a while but as you mentioned in your son's case not that often. Great video and keep them coming! Stay safe!
I agree. Thank you.
Great review. Not ready to meet my maker so I stick with smart bulbs. I do like the option of having multiple colors that I use quite often. I use the toggle covers to keep from turning the switches off by accident.
I have four of the FEIT smart light bulbs and they suit my purpose (security routines) fine. I have one that my wife does occasionally turn off on the lamp, which puts it out of commission, as you mentioned. It is a pain, but I'm training her up!
Shortly after moving into my house earlier this year, I made the decision to do smart switches instead of bulbs. Recently tried out the Lutron dimmer starter kit as my first smart switch as I wanted a hub to be the central point of control so as not to burden my network down the road. I've got the dimmer controlling the pot lights in my living room, and I also love having the Pico remote as another option to manage those lights. Also like setting up the schedules/routines for out of home situations.
Next project is to add another smart switch at least to the stairway lights in a 3-way config, and possibly to the bedrooms too.
Thanks for sharing your setup.
For my needs, I went with smart plugs. 2 in the house, & 2 in the garage. 99% of the time I just use voice commands to control them. Very cost effective too! I'm using both Amazon, & Wyze plugs.
Great video! I feel like this is one of those fundamental controversial questions in the smart home like whether to hub or not to hub. My general take is when you can, go for smart switches. When we start out with a smart home, we sometimes have the idea that all of our lights need to be RGB, but in reality very few of them need to be and I find that most of the time light strips add that bit of color much better than bulbs.
While RGB isn't alway require having the possibility to choose btw Cold or warm color depending of the days or the "chore" is nice
@@black11189 definitely. In my experience though, full-color RGB lights don't typically do well with warm and cool Wwhites unless they have a Dedicated LED.
I have both so it depends what you are going for. With smart bulbs I can have multi colored setups. With a smart switch, it's just on / off /schedule as you explained.
Definitely go with smart switches. I tried smart bulbs first but switches are way more reliable. Awesome choice going with Smart Switches.
This is true too..especially on my wyze bulbs which goes offline every once in a while. I haven’t noticed my smart switches go offline yet.
@@LifeHackster Right. Similar with the Ring Smart Bulbs. They were not reliable. Tried Leviton Z Wave smart switches. They are through my Ring Alarm and Alexa enabled. All automations through Alexa and they work great!
I have a smart switch in my bedroom and smart bulbs for the porch. I like the smart switch because I don’t have to use the pull chains on my fan to turn off the light or adjust fan speed and I can still use voice control to change both. The smart bulbs I like for outside because they are RGB so instead of having to buy decorative holiday bulbs I can just change the colors of these (I normally have them on warm white, 3000K like all my other low voltage lighting.)
I have the bulbs as well as my low voltage lighting on a dusk to dawn schedule and they work great! IMO, smart switches are great for rooms or fixtures with multiple bulbs, and smart bulbs are good for everything else; especially if like you said you can’t make any changes like renting or an apartment.
I LOVE my Philips Hue bulbs man! I love changing the colors in my bedroom, in my home office, in my garden.I have several scenes with different color schemes and I feel like a kid in Disneyland! Super happy with those. But for the rest of the house I also set Lutron Caseta smart dimmers and the have worked FLAWLESSLY!! The turn bright or dim, on or off according to schedule or my motion sensors and most importantly, my elderly mom and dad can keep turning their lights on or off through them. I also have some smart switches/dimmers that are compatible with my Philips Hue system so no one switches the energy off my bulbs, while also keeping manual control for every bulb in the house. That's important
I have to try creating routines using motion sensors and see if I can get by without manually toggling the switches.
Thanks for mentioning the neutral wire. I am interested in switches because my smart bulbs suddenly won't connect back to my wifi no matter what I try. I figured switches would be more reliable. But if non-neutral wire switches are also unreliable, I'm back to the drawing board. 💡🤔
Thank you for your videos. Always great content and presentation. Your honest inputs and experiences are super helpful with all the home automation options available 👍👍
Nice job as always. I have one switch and the rest (15) are smart bulbs or plugs. For the lights I bought switch guards on Amazon so nobody can flip them. I found that sometimes the switch’s are hard to get into the electrical box as the are tremendously larger than normal, and I am jamming the wires in. Thanks Again!
Thanks for sharing your setup. Thank you.
Yes I do use RGB lighting (different colors) in my room for a more gamer aesthetic or when i'm just chilling. But when i'm having lunch or reading I switch to normal white lighting (warm for lunch, cool for reading)
I have both a smart bulb and switches. I use the bulb for a bit of a night light for my daughtee as I can dim it to not be as bright. I use smart switches as my daughter will walk past and not turn off a light switch on her way to her room, so I can simple ask Google to turn it off or on the app. Its also part of my routines to turn lights on/off.
Video on DEKCO 2K outdoor security camera Pan & tilt 360
I have the govee waffe rgb lights in my living room and use the dreamview feature a few times a week, dreamview mimics the lights from the TV screen and matches the lighting real time, these are also smart lights to they work with Google assistant and Alexa, they are dimable via the app but not the switch so need to run a block off for that switch
what tool did you use to check that there is no power at the switch.
I have (C by GE dimmable white) bulbs which allows me to adjust brightness plus kelvin on every bulb independently or groups or program scenes (“movie theater” in the family room) and I have them through out the house including ceiling fans.
In the beginning I would forget and use the switch but I don’t anymore and haven’t touched a wall switch in over a year. RGB doesn’t interest me at all.
Now that GE has updated to the SYNC app they work really well.
I do think Phillips Hue is a better choice though
I need the dimmer light switch to control a remote plug system. There are no switches connected to wall outlets in our home. Duh ...
I have the Smart Dimmer Plug controlled by the app, but I need to have manually controlled for others without the app.
Secondly, can a switch/plug be controlled by two phones, I tried to do it but it kept disconnecting the device from the original phone. What am I doing wrong ?
I don't mess with the electric so it's smart light bulbs for me. Love to mess with the colors every once in a while and the brand I use is a really good value....
Never heard of this brand but I'll take a look.
Wishing & you a blessed 🙌
& Happy Father's day!
What if I want to use the smart switch with the smart bulb. Are there any that won't cut the power completely to the bulb ??
Greetings from Torrance! Another fantastic video! I had low voltage pot lights installed into my house many years ago. Just wondering if these smart switches are compatible for low voltage or have to make sure to order "low voltage" type? Thanks again for keeping us up on new things! Hope the weather in your part of Texas isn't too bad People on TicTok are making videos of how hot Texas is right now.
These are only for 120 volts and I don’t think it will work on lower voltages or 220-240 volts. Yes, it is pretty hot over here in Texas…
Could you review the bluetooth speaker lightbulb sold at home depot? About $25. Thank you
Hi there I have a ceiling fan with 3 lights. How do I make it smart without having to interfere with the actual fan? I am senior with little electrical skills
Thank you. 👍🏻
I'm using Lutron Caseta and they do have a product that doesn't need neutral wire.
FYI If you do plan on getting smart light bulbs they can use electricity even though the light is off but the outlet isn't all be it it may just be a few cent increase but still better than just leaving the lightbulb on
Can you do any reviews on the "Camera Bulbs" that are being sold? Would like your opinion!
I had problems with smart switches....I have plaster walls with metal meshing....blocked the signal. Had to switch to bulbs...
kaya po yan sir sa interprise set up salamat po sa inyongbsagot
Do these use standard dimension decorator wall plates or do you have to get their brand? And if the switch is more than one-way, I presume it takes a separate device for each switch like Lutron? Good option if they are cheaper though.
It works with standard decorator plates and yes they sell a three way smart switch too.
Love all ur video. Very informative, thanks for sharing 😊
Another excellent video.
Thanks.
@@LifeHackster Can the TreatLife switch be operated by an Apple Watch? I'd like my sister to operate it from her car in the driveway. Thanks.
Actually IMO, smart switches are better than bulbs. But in my case where changing switches is not possible then bulbs are okay too
I like smart switches but it seems like I never have enough room in the box and really need to cram everything in. I’ve found smart bulbs better for lamps that aren’t associated with switches…
I agree..you have to stuff the wires in.
tell me why the heck i cant just get some sort of wifi remote that controls google assistant with programable buttons that I can just stick on the wall next to light switches that controls WIFI bulbs????
I love using the smart bulbs I love them been using them for 2 years now.. it’s the main reason I purchased the smart bulbs over the switch I don’t want to click the switch anymore lol.. if your looking smart bulbs is the best choice.. all that he had to do to install no way!! Just screw the bulbs in download the app your all set.. far as the ceiling fan I never use mine I turn on the air so not useful for me lol looking at the smart switch I would be more worried about electric problems that click sounds real loud with all that voltage it take to turn off and on. Great video I will take smart bulbs for 100 Alex
I'm using WiZ Portable Smart Button 💡
IOT devices that only connect to 2.4GHz networks are a huge PITA to connect to my mesh network that does not have separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5GHz networks.
With my eero, they have an option to pause 5GHz for 10-15 mins so you can install your 2.4 GHz only devices.
@@LifeHackster I wish my Orbi did that. I recently had to put a robot vacuum cleaner in my truck and drive away from my house to get on the 2.4GHz network.
Bro, how to get the 2k video recording from micro sd card of Eufy camera.
Please answer.
On the events tab in the app.
@@LifeHackster Thanks bro
I will take the smart switch over the bulb as it feels kinda weird walking around your house talking to some devices to turn on or turn off lights
I personally prefer the smart ball that happened everywhere around my house and I just control them by saying Alexa Z or FL
What are smart ball? I'm just being a smart ass.
Most older houses are not setup to run a four wire switch so smart switchs is a no for most people with older houses. You failed to mention that in your video
The “no neutral wire” comment I did covers that.
Can I activate the lights on a smart switch when I’m out of town on vacation or do I have to be at the house?
Yes you can using the app.
I find smart switches for the same reasons and some smart bulbs lost their configuration much faster.
Where was this video 5 years ago! I wasted so much time on smart bulbs...NOT wife proof.
Now I am changing all my bulbs out with Shelly 1L (for all most of ly 14 light switches) and Dimmer 2 (for bedrooms). Bulbs are good as desk lights/ complimentary lighting terrible for a normal house
Smart switches… smart bulb only for accent lights or lamps
Alex eh? Or Alexa? Lol
Lol hahaha
Alex- A
Hahaha
That's Alex from Amazon
Alex-A
Amazon Alex-a?
Why not just get a product that uses both smart bulbs and smart switches?
💐🌹🌷👍🌷🌹💐