While there are features that may get more attention from homeowners, lighting control is often overlooked in new home construction. The benefits of smart lighting in particular are vast, but aren’t always top-of-mind for homebuyers.  

Smart lighting is often viewed as a “cool factor” with no additional benefits, but that can’t be further from the truth. Homebuyers that haven’t experienced smart lighting often make this assumption, but don’t know what they’re missing; enhanced interior/exterior design, lower energy usage, additional home security, and improved well-being. 

“We feel lighting is often overlooked because it is so deeply ingrained into our everyday lives,” says Justin Susnik, a sales manager for Shea Homes.  

All SheaConnect™ homes come with a standard set of smart features, including three iDevices Wall Switches for smart lighting control. Additional upgrades, including the iDevices Dimmer Switch and Instinct™, are also available in select Shea communities. Shea’s inclusion of smart lighting goes beyond the typical convenience factor of controlling lights with an app or voice command.   

 “Studies show that lighting has a direct impact on our overall well-being, and that’s why smart lighting is such an important component of our SheaConnect homes,” Susnik says. “Smart lighting can lower energy usage, improve home security, and it’s easy to use.” 

Once the initial “cool” value wears off, Susnik noted, “homeowners are happy to discover the other benefits that smart lighting has to offer such as light customization, added security, and energy efficiency just to name a few.”   

“We feel (smart lights) offer an added benefit and value to our homeowners and are a key component of our SheaConnect homes,” Susnik added.   

Smart lighting types  

Smart lighting can take multiple forms. There are smart bulbs and plugs, which serve as a great retrofit options for lamps and certain light fixutres throughout the home. Then there are smart light switches and outlets, which iDevices offers. These products can directly replace any standard light switch or outlet receptacle.

Smart light switches provide homeowners with an integrated smart lighting experience. If a circuit includes 6 recessed light fixtures, you’d need 6 smart bulbs for complete smart control compared to one smart light switch that adds intelligence to the entire circuit.   

Smart lighting benefits (beyond the “cool factor”)  

• Design

Without good visibility and the right amount of warmth or brightness, costly design features can fall flat. Quality lighting can enhance the atmosphere. With smart lighting, homeowners can create custom lighting scenes that provide just the right mix of warmth and visibility for any occasion. These scenes can be scheduled/automated or initiated at a moment’s notice with a voice command.  

• Well-being

That lighting can impact our health and happiness shouldn’t come as a surprise. Humans operate on a 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythms follow this cycle and regulate our biological, behavioral, and mental processes. Light, both natural and unnatural, can impact these rhythms. Bright light is ideal in the morning and early afternoon, while warmer, dimmer light is best in the evening and before bed. Homeowners can use smart lighting to dim and brighten based on the time-of-day to ensure their sleep schedule stays on track. Long-term benefits of good sleep include improved mood, focus, memory, healthier immune systems and improved metabolic function.

• Home security

Smart lighting provides peace of mind. Homeowners can schedule lights to turn on so it looks like someone is always home, when while they’re away. They can also set their lights to react based on when they leave or arrive at a certain location, or turn them on via app, providing a sense of security when they return home at night.

• Energy efficiency

We're all guilty of leaving the lights on. Even if homeowners forget to turn off their lights, they can access them remotely via app from anywhere. They can automate lights to turn off as soon as they leave home. Lights can easily be dimmed via schedules or app as well. This doesn’t just reduce wasted energy – it elongates the life of expensive LED light bulbs.

Smart lighting support 

With smart lighting and home technology in general, the customer experience is key. At iDevices, we realize homebuilders, homeowners, and contractors don’t have the bandwidth or expertise to deal with home technology questions on their own.  

iDevices offers concierge support to our professional partners and their customers. Our U.S.-based customer experience team has 45+ years of collective experience in smart home/tech support. To ensure homeowners call us directly for support, we’ve developed “new home” stickers that can be placed on each smart device. These stickers clearly indicate it’s an iDevices product, and provide contact information for iDevices support.  

“We take pride in working with and supporting our consumer and industry customers,” says iDevices Customer Experience Manager Christopher Feeney. “We’ve put together a personable, tech-savvy team committed to ensuring you have the best possible experience with iDevices.”