💡 How I made my lighting smarter (Without touching my phone or talking to a speaker)

ⓘ

As an Amazon Associate, Smart Home Labo earns from qualifying purchases.

Back in 2014, I bought my first smart lighting kit: a Philips Hue Starter Kit, with a hub and three RGBW bulbs — something like this one on Amazon . The setup felt magical. I could turn lights on from my phone, change colors, and set the perfect mood — all from my couch.

For the first few days, I felt like I had stepped into the future. But after a month… that future started to feel like a chore.

Unlocking my phone, opening the app, waiting for it to connect — it all became too much. I barely changed the lights anymore. The “smart” part suddenly felt less convenient than just flipping a switch.

🧠 The Remote Control Revelation

A few months later, I tried something simpler — cheap smart bulbs with a physical remote. To my surprise, I used them way more often than the expensive Philips Hue ones. It turns out, sometimes “smart” means just easier to reach.

🎙️ My First Attempt at Voice Control

Then I discovered an open-source project called SARAH, which allowed controlling your smart home using voice commands. It didn’t support Philips Hue or my cheap bulbs, so I jumped in, contributed code, and added support for my devices.

It was awesome — controlling my home with my voice felt so futuristic! Remember, this was still 2014 — Amazon Alexa wouldn’t even launch in Japan until late 2017.

But like before, the excitement faded. Sometimes the voice recognition failed, or I forgot the names of my bulbs. I went back to my trusty remote control — simple, instant, reliable.

🚪 Automating the Everyday

With time, I realized the key to smart lighting wasn’t how I controlled it — it was not having to control it at all.

So I started adding sensors.

In closets, I used contact sensors: open the door → light on; close the door → light off. Super simple automation.
In hallways, toilets, and bathrooms, I installed motion sensors. Lights now turn on when I walk in, and off after a short delay.

You can even use a ready-made blueprint for this in Home Assistant:

For lights that don’t follow a clear pattern, I added smart switches — no phone, no hub, no cloud, just physical buttons where I need them.

🪄 My Favorite Smart Switches

Since I’m renting, I can’t rewire my walls, but that’s fine — I just stuck smart switches next to existing ones (and blocked access to the old ones with this cover ).

Now I have switches:

Near the sofa
On my desk
Next to my bed

And they don’t just control lights — they can also start the vacuum cleaner, close the curtains, or trigger any automation I want.

My favorite models are:

Each button can have multiple actions — short press, long press, double tap… it’s like having a tiny control panel in every room.

📍 Lights That Know When You’re Home

When I go out, I don’t even think about the lights — Home Assistant knows I’ve left thanks to geolocation from the Companion App (or App Store ).

As soon as I leave, it automatically turns off all lights. When I return, my entrance lights welcome me back — no voice command needed.

💡 How to Choose Smart Bulbs

Over the years, I’ve tried all kinds of bulbs. Here’s what I learned:

Type	Description	My Take
On/Off only	Simple control, no brightness or color	Not worth it — you lose what makes “smart” lighting smart
Variable white	Adjustable color temperature (warm ↔ cool)	My favorite for main lights — cooler in the morning, warmer at night
RGB (multi-color)	Full color control for ambiance	Great for mood lighting, not necessary everywhere

Variable white bulbs are the sweet spot — they help you wake up naturally with cool tones and wind down at night with warm light that reduces blue light exposure.

🌅 Making It Even Smarter: Adaptive Lighting

To go even further, I installed Adaptive Lighting via HACS (Home Assistant Community Store): 👉 Adaptive Lighting on GitHub

This integration automatically adjusts the color temperature and brightness of your lights based on the time of day — just like natural sunlight.

Morning: bright and cool ☀️ Afternoon: neutral and balanced 🌤️ Evening: warm and dim 🌙

It’s one of those integrations that you forget exists — until you realize your home feels right at every hour without you doing anything.

🏡 Final Thoughts

Looking back, I started this journey thinking “smart” meant controlling everything. Now I think it means not having to control anything at all.

No phone, no voice, no buttons — just a home that understands you.

And the best part? Those 2014 Philips Hue bulbs are still glowing — at my parents’ house. They’ve come a long way since that first tap on my phone screen, and so have I.