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Comment by pradn | Hacker News Reader

Electronic lights seem like a small convenience for a high price, not to mention how they require even more use of smartphones and such.

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Disagree, as a renter smart bulbs are by far the easiest way to get dimmable lights in my apartment. Being able to dim the lights in the evenings while I watch TV is amazing.

We simply switch to string lights and "bedtime bulb" in the evenings, no dimming or internet needed.

(Although, I did install a dimmer into the dining room wall switch, but it's worth it I think if you'll be there at least a year.)

No internet needed for my setup either, local network only.

I would totally be down for that, but I don't have access to the breaker box, and I don't feel like trying to install anything into anything that has hot wires.

That’s smart policy.

In the US (or at least the majority of jurisdictions who have adopted it), NEC Section 240.24(B) requires "each occupant shall have ready access to all overcurrent devices protecting the conductors supplying that occupancy unless otherwise permitted in 240.24(B)(1)" (where that is roughly buildings with continuous on-site maintenance supervision can avoid this requirement).

Is that legal?

what do you do if you have a flooding? just hope you dont get electrocuted?

You should really insist on access...

They don't need to be internet-connected though, there's many "smart" LED bulbs that run off a traditional remote control.

I don't want to add a remote control to my life, the "smart" bulbs are better because I can control them with my phone, watch, and any other devices I might get in the future.

Not to mention, I have ~10 of these bulbs. Can't imagine how a remote control would deal with that. They also aren't connected to the internet, they are controlled by a hub that only has local network access.

We have automation to turn off all lights in the apartment when nobody's home, which saves a lot of energy due to us forgetting to turn of lights quite often otherwise. Also adds nice things like turning on lights on movement in the bathroom and kitchen, where you don't need to have lights on all the time, turning on lights 45 minutes before sunset if somebody's home and turning on lights in the hallway when coming home if it's dark already.

I find all of this extremely convenient and ZigBee is a great platform to do things like this.

I don't know if I'm just that jaded, but it feels like it's more trouble that just using a light switch and getting in the habit of not leaving lights on.

Depends on how many lights you have, and how often you need to do it. I've installed extra wires from all light buttons so one master switch per room, not as flexible but same cost over 10 years. It saves me a ton grief every night turning off all the lamps in the apartment, some partners never learn that light switches can turn something off. The monetary savings are not enough to break even in 20 years, the time saved is priceless. ;-)

I get a lot of subjective value out of being able to adjust colour temperature, brightness, and hue.

For instance, the last hour or two of the day, I have lights in the bedroom and kitchen either dim red or off.

Being able to do the routine of "try to go to sleep, fail, tell my watch to turn the lights red, get a glass of water or a snack, turn lights off" is really nice. Even dim white light would be like splashing cold water on my face.

There are other ways to solve for this, approximately, I guess. This is simple and works, though.

I forgot one more thing I do: a redshift kind of system for the whole house. The lights dim and change their temperature from bright and blue during the day to dim and red in the evening, just like my computer and phone does.

Circadian lighting is the script and it follows the sun to make its decisions.

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