In the past, homeowners used to turn on one or two lights when they leave their homes for a few days. It makes thieves think that the people are at home. However, it was a waste of electricity.
But fortunately, smart light has brought the solution to this problem as you can control all the smart lights in your home even if you are away from home! It improves home security and can save electricity. You can now easily turn off the light that you have forgotten in a hurry to catch your train!
So, how is that possible? In this article, we have explained how you can turn on and off smart lights and what are the conditions to control light while being away from home. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s explore below.
Is It Possible to Turn ON Smart Light Away from Home?
With traditional lights, it wasn’t possible to control lights remotely. But with smart lights, it can be done easily. If you have installed smart lights at your home, you can control them from anywhere in the world.
However, there are some factors that vary on whether you can use smart lights away from home or not. The conditions are given in the following section below.
Conditions to Control Smart Lights Away From Home
Here are some of the factors that you need to consider to control smart lights while you’re away from home:
- Power to the Lights: The smart lights must have to be plugged into the socket. However, smart switches are generally wired into the main power supply of a house so that you can control them remotely.
- Internet Connection: The Smart lights and your remote device have to be connected to the internet to control the lights wirelessly using the remote device. However, some smart lights only support Bluetooth connectivity which doesn’t allow you to control the lights while you are far away from the Bluetooth range.
- Router or Hub: To connect the smart lights to the internet, you just need to router inside your house and you have to ensure the internet connection on the router. However, some cheap smart lights only support wired internet connection and, in that case, you need to have a Zigbee hub connected to that router to connect the smart lights.
- Smart Apps: Finally, you’ll need the smart light app installed on your remote device that is provided by the light manufacturer. You also need to connect the smart lights in your home to that app to control them over the internet.
- Smart Bridge: You also need a smart bridge or hub from the light manufacturer to connect all the smart lights in your home. Without it, you cannot control all the smart lights with the smart app.
Ways Turn ON Smart Lights Away from Home?
Now, let’s see how you can control the smart lights in your home while you’re away from home.
There are basically two ways to turn on or control smart lights remotely over the internet –
- Using a Smart App.
- Using a Virtual Home Assistant.
Let’s explore both ways below:
Way 1: Use A Smart App to Control Smart Lights
To control the smart light remotely, smart light manufacturers provide a smart app that allows users to connect the light to their phone or other remote device and control the lights away from home.
If your home has only one smart light or multiple smart lights in a room, then you can use the single-tasking app provided by the manufacturer. But if you have multiple smart lights at your home, then you’ll need a more integrated system or a multi-tasking app to control all of them.
In that case, you can use any one of the following apps with the single-tasking smart app to make managing all the lights at your home easier:
- Philips Hue App
- Smart Life
- Apple Home
- Yonomi
- Samsung SmartThings
- Belkin Wemo
- Wink
- Google Home
Way 2: Use A Virtual Home Assistant to Control Smart Lights
You can also turn on or off smart lights in your home using voice command even if you’re away from home. For this, you need to have a virtual assistant installed on your phone or remote device and also here to connect the virtual assistant to the smart app.
It means, your phone needs to have installed both the virtual assistant and the smart app. However, you can’t control the smart light using voice command or smart assistant while you’re 300 miles away from home.
The virtual assistant has many interesting features that will help you utilize smart lights more efficiently. For example, you can use the “Away” feature of Amazon’s Alexa to control the lights automatically while you’re away from home.
Here are some popular virtual assistants to control smart lights:
- Google Assistant
- Amazon Alexa
- Cortana
- Siri
- Fyle
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions and Answers)
Can I Turn Lights On And Off Remotely?
Though regular lights cannot be turned on and off remotely, you can control smart lights without touching the switches. You can turn these smart lights on or off using your phone even if you are away from home.
How Far Away Can You Control Smart Bulbs?
How far away can smart bulbs be controlled depends on the range of the smart light. While you can control smart bulbs over WiFi for 100+ meters, Zigbee will allow you to control them from 300+ meters away from the lights.
Can You Turn Smart Bulbs on And Off with Phone?
Yes, you can turn smart bulbs on and off using your smartphones. All you need is a smart app and virtual assistant installed on your phone. Connect the smart lights using the app and you can control all the smart bulbs with your phone.
Can Google Home Turn On Lights Remotely?
Yes, the Google Home app can control, turn on and turn off smart lights remotely. You have to connect the lights to the Google Home app on your remote device and you will be able to turn on the lights using the app even while you’re away from home.
Conclusion
To conclude, whether you can turn on smart lights away from home depends on the type of that smart light. If it supports an internet connection, then you can do that. Otherwise, you can’t control the smart lights that only support Bluetooth connection. As everything about turning on smart lights away from home is explained in this article, we hope you have no confusion regarding this topic after reading it. But if you still have any questions to ask regarding this topic, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below and we’ll try to reach you as soon as we can. Thanks for reading.