Intelligent lighting is essentially the core of whole-house smart systems. This is not because it is indispensable, but because when it comes to lighting, several solutions are involved. Different solutions correspond to different products. The main players in smart homes are currently there. Although some products are integrated into platforms like Mi Home or Apple HomeKit, within the same platform is possible.
However, currently, the inter-brand product interaction is not as seamless as within the same brand, mainly involving the gateway aspect. For instance, companies like LUMI and Xiaoyan require their devices to be connected to their own gateways, while Xiaomi, primarily using Bluetooth mesh, also needs to be connected to its multi-mode gateway to achieve a certain level of local operation. Yeelight is no exception, whether online or offline products, they either go directly through Wi-Fi or need to be connected to Yeelight’s Bluetooth mesh gateway. In summary, there is still a certain degree of fragmentation between them.Currently, there are several ways to achieve intelligent lighting: 1. Ordinary lights + smart switches to achieve intelligent control for on and off. 2. Smart lights + ordinary switches to achieve on and off control plus dimming. This seems ideal, but the issue is that the switch must remain always on, and everyone in the house must be aware and pay attention to this. 3. Smart lights switches to achieve on and off control plus dimming.
This has virtually no flaws and can be achieved with a single live wire, meaning no neutral wire needs to be reserved in the switch box, which is beneficial for those who did not prepare in advance during renovation or for those who install later. Additionally, switches support dual control circuits. This seems perfect, but there is a drawback: you can only use lights that support . Currently, the lights that support are mainly Yeelight and Xiaomi lights, of course, Xiaomi’s lights are also manufactured by Yeelight. This limits the choice of lighting fixtures. 4. Smart lights + smart switches to achieve on and off control plus dimming. This also seems good. The only issue is that a neutral wire must be present in the switch box. After the smart wall switch is wired normally, the switch can be set to a wireless switch mode. Then it can be used as a scene switch, and of course, it can also serve as a switch for the lights on the circuit (wireless interaction). Isn’t this redundant? No, it has its advantages, such as solving the problem of not being able to freely choose lighting fixtures mentioned earlier. I can use LUMI’s smart switch with any brand of smart lights. Why list these intelligent lighting solutions? As previously mentioned, the choice of smart switches and lighting fixtures directly affects the brand selection of the final product.If using the Mi Home app as the primary platform for smart home automation, one must face a challenge. The Mi Home app supports a vast array of brands and products. Most of these devices, especially smart appliances, rely on Wi-Fi connectivity. (Xiaomi products use Bluetooth mesh, and if speakers act as gateways, they primarily connect through the cloud). The platform logic of the Mi Home app is predominantly cloud-based. If the brands and products are not well-selected in the smart home ecosystem, the entire system cannot be expected to operate locally. Without local operation, a network outage results in system failure. Even if the network remains stable, poor Wi-Fi coverage can lead to frequent latency and disconnections. On the other hand, if Apple’s HomeKit is used as the main platform, the local operation is relatively better. Apple’s HomeKit has a Home Hub that serves as the execution center for local operation. For instance, if you have Aqara and Yeelink gateways at home, they can be integrated with Apple’s HomeKit for. Even if one gateway goes offline, the system can still execute locally. (Wireless switches, Apple’s Home app, and sensor automations all operate locally). This is a significant advantage of Apple’s HomeKit. However, there are drawbacks; the Home app lacks the rich conditional options for device execution found in Mi Home. Additionally, there are fewer devices that natively support Apple’s HomeKit compared to Mi Home. Therefore, the overall playability is not as high as Mi Home. Of course, this is a matter of preference. If you view smart home automation as an adult’s big toy, adding convenience to your home, then Mi Home can be the primary choice. If you consider smart home automation as part of home decoration, seeking stable and unobtrusive operation in the long run, and don’t want to bother with troubleshooting or occasional malfunctions, then Apple’s HomeKit is definitely a more reliable choice. Comparatively, information security is also more reliable. After all, with more cloud interactions, there’s a joke that goes: if you know how many times you get up at night, the next day your JD homepage will be filled with kidney supplements. Regarding the intelligent lighting solution, let’s briefly discuss. Aqara, a brand that started with sensors, has approximately followed this product path. In the past year, they realized that lighting is a crucial entry point for whole-house intelligence, so they put more effort into developing a magnetic track lighting series and single-lamp Zigbee drivers to address downlights and spotlights.
This complete set is designed specifically for the current trend of leaderless lighting design. However, the cost of dimming for an entire room is genuinely high. The cost of a single recessed spotlight lamp is over a hundred, plus a driver of 299, not including the smart switch, the cost of a single light point is nearly five hundred. Additionally, magnetic track lighting is even more expensive. Clearly, the cost-performance ratio of Lumi’s dimming is not high.
But the problem is that Lumi offers a complete range of other products. If you insist on using the Mi Home ecosystem and want to operate locally throughout the house with Lumi, that’s feasible; focusing mainly on dimming for light strips won’t cost much. In fact, for home use, it’s not really necessary to use magnetic track lighting, as it’s quite unsuitable for home use. If it’s for home use, preparing for ordinary lights + smart switches, Lumi is indeed the best choice. The online E-series switches are affordable, abundant, and support dual platforms. It’s like shearing Lumi’s wool. Similarly, smart lights + motion switches are like shearing Yeelight’s wool. Although Yeelight has given its best technology to offline models, the price of online models is also very attractive. (If you don’t have high requirements for dimming texture, you can definitely go for online models) Compared to the downlights made for Xiaomi, Yeelight’s online models have gathered both recessed and surface-mounted spotlights. They can also hang their own Bluetooth mesh gateways. It can be said to be as stable as an old dog. The advantage of hanging a gateway is that the online model of downlights, which originally only supported Mi Home, can also support HomeKit. This is a great benefit. As I mentioned in my previous articles, the biggest principle of playing with smart homes at this stage is to choose products that can support both Mi Home and Apple HomeKit platforms. How to play with them later is up to you. As for smart lights + smart switches, this can be considered a benefit for players who have left zero lines in the switch box. Especially for homes where only some lights are dimmed, this plan is the most suitable. Buying the entire house with Lumi’s E-series switches, the cost-performance ratio is extremely high. Speaking of the E-series switches, they are not much more expensive than traditional mechanical switches. The feel is particularly good. It’s like slapping the face of their own H-series. Regarding the intelligentization of lighting, that’s basically it.
