For something a little different tonight, I thought I would tell a little bit about the recent change and, the new light of my life. And while my adoration is unexpected, I am glad that I made the leap.
I bought some Phillips Hue smart lighting.
We have a small apartment and the majority of it is white and grey, including the floors. This means it can at times feel a little sterile, although my daughter's toys all over the floor does tend to add some color, as does she herself to the atmosphere. Two colleagues at work kept harping on about the Hue Lighting and how great it has been and eventually I gave into the FOMO and bought a couple, a light bulb and a light strip.
My friend said, "the only reason you'll go back, is for more". I was skeptical... but not as skeptical as my wife - And since these aren't cheap, I made sure that I could return them if I (she) wasn't happy with the result. One color bulb, a 2 meter color strip and the network bridge were together 160€, a lot in my opinion for some colored lighting.
But I have to confess, they are pretty awesome.
They work using ZigBee so that the lights are networked and can be controlled via various ways including remotes, switches and voice command systems like Alexa. I use an app as those voice things are creepy. I thought it would be quite annoying to use an app instead of a light switch, but I guess that I am so used to using my phone for everything else that it isn't much of an inconvenience and, it can actually be more convenient to adjust the light level from the couch or bed when I wake up.
I like gadgets, but due to financial constraints I severely limit myself. However, since we do spend a lot of time at home I wanted to get something that made a difference in our life for the better, and it is surprising how much difference light can make. While not a fan of the rainbow colors as much as they are a bit tacky (I pictured to show), the oranges are really nice and relaxing and the preset for "energize" is fantastic in the morning as it gives a bright light, but not that early morning squintiness that I would have expected. In the darkness of Finnish winter, this is quite useful.
After a little experimenting, we placed one in a lamp in our lounge (above pic) that lights an area that was weirdly dark unless we had overhead lights on that were blinding, and the strip behind our bedhead (below) that allows us to have indirect light and can offer different moods. I am waiting for the "red light district" setting to be used ;D The photos are taken on my phone and aren't true to form, but they are good enough to give an idea.
As said, these were expensive, but just as my friend predicted - I wanted more. However, I wasn't ready to fork-out quite so much. We have a beam with six spotlights that separates our kitchen and lounge that do not have a dimmer switch wired in, so we barely use it as they are LEDs and about 30% brighter than the sun, if standing on Mercury. So, instead of buying more Phillips, I went online to see what other lights will do the job and work with the Hue Bridge and discovered that IKEA also have some smart lighting, much cheaper called, Trådfri. Instead of around 25€ a bulb, they were 6€.
The problem is that it takes a little fiddling to get them to work with the Hue Bridge and I will briefly explain here, if anyone wants to do the same as there is conflicting or outdated information on the internet.
All the new Trådfri bulbs should have the updated software, so that is not the issue. However, for the Bridge to recognize them they have to be reset, which requires quickly flicking them off and on 6 or 7 times, until they make a weird fade in and out light. From there, you need to add them through the Hue app to the Bridge, but....
they have to be very close to the bridge and it might take several attempts. This was a problem as the spots were high and while I had cables to get them together, it was killer on the arms. So, I went and bought an IKEA light that took the GU10 bulb and returned it once I had done what I needed - with the shop assistants blessing of course. I did this last night and returned the light fitting today.
So now, we have spotlights in that can be dimmed and because I have numbered them all, I can set them up to have some on and some off or various other settings applied. While all of this seems silly to hear perhaps, we have hardly used those lights over the dining table because if we do while eating, they will burn our hair off. But on the plus side, keep our food warm.
Here is a shot (below pic) I just took of them, again not great, but everyone is asleep and I don't want to spend time flicking lights on and off as while my wife likes the lights, since they are already installed, I am expendable.
Lighting is something I actually value quite a lot in a home, but when we renovated our apartment we did so with the intention of having it as a rental later and spending too much of what we didn't have wasn't really viable. We also didn't expect to spend so much time here but due to circumstances, we do, so having a cozier feel is important. Changing the lighting has brought this into our place and my wife already seems to be a little calmer and relaxed in the evenings, and it has only been a couple days. She has also commented how great that "energize" light is in the morning when she has to get up at 530 for work.
For me who works late at night writing for Steem from the dining table, it is nice to be able to have a light to offset the glow of the screen without burning out my retinas. I have also found that after writing, I can sit in the near darkness with a dim, orange-ish light and I relax a lot more before heading to bed.
How I see consuming these days is that unless necessary to replace, I don't really buy anything unless I think it is actually going to make an improvement to our lives. Yes, I was skeptical about these lights, but not because I didn't think lighting would make a difference, I was just unsure if these lights would, and given the cost, I wanted the option to be sure. That is why return policies are useful.
Small changes can have profound effects on our lives and while there does seem to be benefits to the lighting itself, the process for me was quite cathartic. Normally I write for my health, but I know that I also need some more diversity than that. Spending time reading through some forums and just the simple steps of flashing and changing light bulbs has made me feel a bit more connected to the home in some way. I think that part of the reason is that this change was kind of unnecessary, which made it for me, and while I do a lot, I generally don't do much for myself.
Changing lighting was well, illuminating.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
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