Smart homes have a reputation for being fiddly: hubs, apps, Wi-Fi passwords and firmware updates. The good news is that most of what people actually want, lamps that come on when it gets dark and lights that find you on the stairs, needs none of that. Here's how to do it simply, room by room, without drilling a hole.
1. Put the lamps you can't reach on a remote
The easiest win is a remote-control plug socket. It sits between the wall socket and your lamp's plug, and a small remote switches it on and off. Put one behind the sofa lamp, one on the Christmas tree and one on the fairy lights on the shelf, and a single press from the sofa does the lot. Because it's radio-controlled, there's no app to install and nothing to connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Let motion sensors handle stairs, hallways and wardrobes
Rechargeable motion sensor lights are ideal for the places you walk through in the dark: the landing, under kitchen cupboards, inside a wardrobe. They switch on when you walk past, only when it's dark, and switch off again after a few seconds. Magnetic mounts mean no screws, which is perfect if you rent.
3. Choose lamps that do more than one job
A bedside touch lamp you tap to dim is far easier than hunting for a switch at night, and one with USB ports charges your phone at the same time. An oak lamp with a wireless charger goes a step further: put your phone down and it charges.
4. Use timers built into your lights
Many mood lights now include a timer or light-sensor mode, like the corner floor lamp, which you can run from its remote or from your phone. Set it once and your living room is already glowing when you get home.
A simple starter setup
- Living room: remote plug socket on the main lamp, corner lamp on a timer.
- Hallway and stairs: two or three motion sensor lights.
- Bedroom: touch lamp with USB charging.
- Kitchen: motion sensor lights under the wall cupboards.
That's a home that looks after its own lighting, with no hub, no subscriptions and no wiring, and you can take all of it with you when you move.