Colored Lighting - The Next Phase in Smart Home Automation

ADD SOME COLOR

Thinking about providing colored lighting solutions to your clients? Adding color is a great way to increase the wow factor of any job and provide something unique to your customers. 

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN ADDING COLORED LIGHTING TO A SYSTEM

When choosing colored lighting, there are key aspects that should be discussed:

• Will the lighting be the main source of light or accent lighting? 
  • Lighting does not have to be about making the room brighter. Lighting designers use light to elevate a room or a feeling. 
• Does the customer want light bulbs or light strips, RBG lights, RBGW, or warm-white lights?
  • There are several manufacturers that support a wide array of lighting styles and protocols. It is important to make sure you're using a reputable brand that can support the customer's long-term needs. Cheaper doesn't necessarily mean better - customers want a lighting solution, not an inexpensive, lesser experience.
• How is the customer going to interact with the lighting?
  • Lights can be triggered automatically, turn on/off based on time, perform certain functions based on activity in the space, etc.
• How will it be integrated? 
  • This is where DriverCentral comes in. We offer several lighting drivers to integrate various types of hardware into Control4, ELAN, RTI, and URC. 

 While making a room purple or adding green accent lights is absolutely fun, changing the color of light also has health, wellness, and productivity benefits. Enter circadian lighting. 

The goal of circadian lighting is to follow the human circadian rhythm - our internal clock. Lights can be programmed to shift color temperature throughout the day to better match the natural daylight we would normally experience. Studies are analyzing the possible positive impacts that utilizing this method of lighting can have on health and increased productivity. 

Dealers can help improve customers' lifestyles by incorporating Circadian lighting solutions into their projects with the help of drivers. 

Read more on Circadian lighting here. 

COLORED LIGHTING RESOURCES

Need more information on colored lighting? Here are some resources to help get you started:

ProSource U. ProSource members can use the new and improved ProSource University for resources on lighting design, configuration, and programming. 

Nexlux. This product (available from Amazon) is a great, simple solution for adding colored lighting to a project. Axon Engineering has developed a simple IP driver for control on both Control4 and ELAN systems. Check out this and other solution Axon Engineering has provided HERE.

KNX. KNX is quickly becoming the leading standard in lighting integration. Janus Technology has developed a beautiful color integration for Control4 systems. Check out what Janus has been up to HERE.

IR-controllable lights. Many lighting manufactures use a simple IR-based controlled lighting. There are a few drivers that can control these lights:

• Generic Infrared RGB Light by T4 Control
• Generic Lighting by Chowmain

WiFi Controlled Bulbs. Tired of the experience with control4 and Phillips Hue? Try out some of these solutions

• Yeelight by Chowmain
• WiZ by Axon Engineering
• LIFX by Chowmain

Advanced Lighting Configuration. Customize your clients experience with these drivers:

• Keypad RGB Tracker by Domosapiens
• Relay to Light by Chowmain
• Color Wheel by Janus Technology