What's more, the panels can glow solid colors or can transition at different speeds through colors to create a unique lighting effect in your home. On top of that, you can set the panels to react to touch or even music playing in your surroundings, putting you in the centre of your own music video. Consider integrated downlights over GU10, they're more reliable and last longer. The price of integrated versions has reduced a lot recently and some don’t cost too much more. Downlights have undoubtedly come a very long way since their inception, which is earlier than 1940. Although nobody knows who invented the recessed downlight, it’s certainly a great invention and something that is used in almost every home and business around the world. Scene setting - at the touch of a button you can, for example: dim a group of lights in one area of the room to 30%, switch on a table lamp, change a colour temperature from cool white to warm white, turn your LED strip tape to red etc. Any combination that your lights are capable of can be set to a “scene” and name accordingly e.g. Party Scene, Goodnight Scene or Cosy Night-In Scene. Our article about how smart lights work offer further in-depth reading. Can you put smart bulbs in any lamp?

Smart receivers are great for controlling LED tape with a smartphone. You can use a standalone system for this with an RF receiver and a Wi-Fi hub. Or you can integrate this into your system. Depending on which brand you go for, control of LED tape might be limited to just switching, while other systems can perform complete colour changing controls. Which Brand?

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How many downlights you will need is dependent on your personal preference, first and foremost. In addition, you need to assess how large the room is as well as what the purpose of the room is. It’s also worth noting that not all smart lights integrate with all voice assistants, so if you already have Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri (through Apple Homekit) in your home consider whether the smart lights you’ve selected are compatible. Most smart light bulbs, downlights, and LED strip lights have a dimmable function which means you can control their brightness. There are also options that coordinate with daylight hours (i.e., the brightness gradually turns up as the day gets darker) and mood (i.e., dimming the light for relaxing or winding down before bedtime).

If you want a smart light that fits within one ecosystem, the Hive Active Light is a good fit. If you're already the proud owner of a Hive Thermostat, Hive Active plug, motion sensor, or Hive View camera, you'll know that all Hive devices can all be controlled from a single easy-to-use app, providing you have the Hive Hub, streamlining the smart home control process. The size of the room in terms of the ceiling height and the height of the lighting fixtures are also things that you need to consider. The reason for this is that they will affect the impact this fixture will have on the room(s). Some systems like Lightwave do require a hub. Some standalone systems like Integral smart lamps don't, they can operate directly from the Tuya App. Sometimes the cost of a Wi-Fi hub can prohibit the use of some brands especially for smaller, single room projects. Other BrandsWe also appreciate the step-by-step guide that Govee provides, as it keeps the guesswork out of installing these, especially if you're a newbie in the world of light panels. Plus, the app offers fun lighting options suited for different moods, events, and holidays.