Light up your life with this range of bulbs, light panels and controls
Ikea Trådfri
Ikea’s smart lights are almost comedically cheap, but really
useful in their flexibility. You’ll need the gateway, which
connects to your router and controls the bulbs, but that’s just
£25. Then you can choose whatever bulbs you need, starting
from £7 – there are options for small and larger fittings, as well
as spotlights (though, this being Ikea, there are no bayonet-
ended bulbs). Even cooler, there are larger light panels
available, so you can turn your wardrobe door into a bigsmart light if you feel like it. When you’ve got the bulbs and
gateway, you can set the brightness of the lights, play with
their colour tone, choose their schedule, use voice controls to
activate them, and group them so it’s easy to set a mood or turn
everything on and off together. As an added bonus, the range
includes dimmer controls for manual adjustments, and motion
sensors for automatic lighting.
From £32 (gateway+bulb), ikea.comThe best range of
connected lights on the
market due to sheer variety
(and that they’re excellent
quality). You’ll need a Hue
Bridge to control the bulbs
(available in good-value
starter packs from £49
online), and then you can
add any kind of bulb youneed – they’re a little more
expensive than Ikea’s, but
there are bayonet options,
LED light strips, outdoor
lights of various kinds, and
loads more. There are also
multi-colour bulbs, so you
can really set a mood for
those special evenings.
£59 (Starter Kit), meethue.Philips Hue
IF YOU WANT TO SPEND MORE...48 |^ |^ August 2019