If you want to transform your residence into a smart home, transforming your light fixture is an ideal starting point.
You will replace your traditional light bulbs with smart light bulbs to save money, conserve energy, make your home safer, and have ultimate convenience in the long run.
Smart bulbs cost more than traditional bulbs, but they use less electrical energy. Besides, you can control them using timers and sensors.
And you will end up using less energy to light your home, resulting in reduced energy bills at the end of each year. Therefore, they are worth adding to your smart home.
But there’s the question of whether you can mix smart bulbs from different brands.
Yes, you can mix smart bulbs in your smart home to light every room. But this could require a smart hub to control all the connected smart bulbs if they’re from different manufacturers.
Replacing your traditional light bulbs with smart lights is essential as you’re about to witness. Be sure to read on for more information.
Choose The Right Control Platform for Your Smart Bulbs
It’s possible to mix smart bulbs from different brands, as we’ve already seen. Also, you can mix smart bulbs with other smart home devices such as a smart switch or even smart plugs to control them from a single app.
But this means connecting all your smart bulbs and other smart home devices to a platform. And you have a few platforms to choose from to control your smart bulbs:
A Smart Hub
You can find plenty of smart hubs on the market to control your color changing bulbs. Since you’re looking to control smart lights from different brands, you want to buy a hub and connect all your lights to the smart hub.
The smart hub then connects to your home’s Wi Fi network wirelessly or through an ethernet cable to allow you to control the connected devices remotely.
But the smart hub communicates with your mixed smart bulbs wirelessly using supported protocols. These communication protocols include ZigBee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Universal Powerline Bus (UPB), X10, and Insteon.
Of course, your chosen smart hub might use only a few of these wireless protocols. So, you want to ensure it supports your preferred smart bulbs.
Each smart hub has its companion app for adding your smart bulbs to it. You will download the mobile app on your control panel (smartphone or tablet) to add your smart home devices to the smart hub.
But since these companion apps only support specific operating systems, i.e., iOS and Android, ensure your control panel’s operating system supports the companion app.
Even though you have plenty of smart hubs to choose from, the Smartthings hub might work best for you. It uses ZigBee and Z-Wave wireless protocols to communicate with connected smart home devices.
And that means it efficiently controls your smart bulbs, even if they’re from different manufacturers. Besides, many smart bulbs support ZigBee and Z-Wave protocols!
You will connect this smart hub to your TP Link Wi-Fi router via an ethernet cable or wirelessly to control it remotely via the Smartthings app.
As a result, you will control your smart bulbs from anywhere to save on electricity and boost your home security.
You can also be sure to control other smart home devices such as light switches, smart locks, smart cameras, and wall switches, among many other smart devices, with your smart hub.
As such, a smart hub is a versatile smart home control device for any smart home.
You also have the option of using Amazon Alexa to control your hub. And this is possible if you’ve connected your smart speaker to the hub to control your smart lights by voice.
As such, consider adding smart speakers such as Amazon Echo or a speaker using Google Assistant as its virtual assistant to control your smart light through voice commands.
A Smart Speaker
- Meet Echo Dot with clock - Our most popular smart speaker with Alexa. The sleek, compact design delivers crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound.
- Perfect for your nightstand - See the time, alarms, and timers on the LED display. Tap the top to snooze an alarm.
- Ready to help - Ask Alexa to tell a joke, play music, answer questions, play the news, check the weather, set alarms, and more.
A hub works great with a smart speaker to control your smart lights through your spoken voice commands. But you can cut to the chase by eliminating the smart hub and add your preferred lights to a smart speaker directly.
As a result, you will tell your virtual assistant to control the smart lights for you.
Some of the virtual assistants smart speakers use include Alexa Google Assistant, and Siri. Adding your LED lights to your smart speaker follows the same procedures as adding smart lights to your smart hub.
You will also use a mobile app, only that the app will be for the smart speaker in this case.
If you’re using an Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker, for example, you will use the Amazon Alexa app to add smart lights to your smart speaker.
You can download this app to your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. After adding your desired smart home devices, you can teach Alexa to control each device, depending on your spoken voice commands.
Smart Plugs
- Kasa smart plugs that work with Alexa and Google Home Assistant. Enjoy the hands free convenience of controlling any home electronic appliances with your voice via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
- Turn electronics on and off your smart home devices from anywhere with your smartphone using the case app, whether you are at home, in the office or on vacation
- Use timer or countdown schedules to set your wifi smart plug to automatically turn on and off any home electronic appliances such as lamps, fan, humidifier, Christmas lights etc.
Smart plugs also allow you to control them remotely via an app. They also connect to your home Wi-Fi network, putting you in control no matter where you are.
And if you connect your LED bulbs to one of these smart plugs, you can control the bulbs from anywhere.
What’s more, smart plugs such as Kasa Smart Plugs support scheduling. You can use a timer or countdown scheduler to set when your smart lights turn on/off.
And this means not letting your smart lights run when you intend to turn them off. As a result, you will pay less in electricity bills.
If you have LED lights that you need to control remotely, you should connect them to a smart plug with hard wires. Also, smart plugs are ideal for light fixtures. So, consider connecting your light fixture to a smart plug to control your LED bulbs from anywhere.
Smart plugs also support voice control devices such as Amazon Echo Dot. And that means you can also control your LED bulbs through voice commands.
If you’re looking for hands-free control of your lighting system, consider adding a voice assistant device to your smart plug.
Smart Light Switch
- Neutral wire is required, standard wall plate size. No need to understand complex switch, wiring or master vs auxiliary switch configurations.
- Monitor your light status. Turn electronics on and off from anywhere with your smartphone using the case app, whether you are at home, in the office or on vacation
- Enjoy the hands-free convenience of controlling the lights in your home with your voice via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant; perfect for times when your hands are full or entering a dark room
If you have smart bulbs from different brands, you should consider controlling them at once with a smart light switch.
Kasa has plenty of smart switches under its product line, and our Kasa Smart Dimmer Switch HS220 is a favorite to many users.
This smart home device connects to your Wi-Fi 2.4GHz to allow you to control the connected smart bulbs remotely via the Case app.
Since it also works with voice control devices, you can connect it with your Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Microsoft Cortana and control your bulbs through voice commands.
Like smart plugs, this smart light switch also allows you to automate your smart bulbs through scheduling. You can set the light switch to turn the bulbs on/off at specific times.
As a result, you will not leave any bulb glowing, thus conserving energy in the long run. So, consider controlling your different smart bulbs with a smart light switch.
A Dimmer Switch
- Dim and brighten lights from anywhere - simply replace your switch for full-range dimming with custom settings for preset light levels, fade rates, and bulb types.
- Works with Hey Google, Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri to dim and brighten connected bulbs and fixtures.
- Control with the Apple Home app and Siri from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, or HomePod.
Smart bulbs don’t work excellently with any dimmer switch. And that’s because they have built-in dimmers to reduce or increase the light brightness.
But a dimmer switch could still come in handy if you’re looking to control your LED bulbs.
What’s more, a dimmer switch could also help you save electricity since dim lights consume less electrical energy. As such, consider controlling your LED bulbs with a dimmer switch.
If you’re looking to control your outdoor lights, a dimmer switch could help you greatly.
Smart Bulbs Options on The Market
If you’re looking to add smart bulbs to your home, you have plenty of products from which to choose. But you can be sure that not all of them work efficiently to transform your living space into a smart home.
But with Philips Hue bulbs, you will be sure to control your lighting from anywhere.
Philips Hue Bulbs
- Set the mood with 16 million colors. Control your Philips Hue Smart Lights all with just the touch of a button on your mobile device or your favorite voice assistant.
- Lifetime: 22 years or 25,000 lifetime hours (based on industry average usage), Energy Star Certified
- This smart light, while Bluetooth compatible, will continue to work with your Hue Hub and can be seamlessly integrated into your current Hue Ecosystem.
These smart bulbs use LED technology to emit light. As a result, they consume less energy while producing brighter light.
What’s more, Philips Hue bulbs have 25,000 hours of lifetime, translating to over 20 years of service life. As such, they are durable and worth the investment.
If you’re looking to have a Hue ecosystem, adding these smart bulbs to your home is ideal. And with over 16 million colors to choose from, Philips Hue bulbs set the mood with the right color accent.
But that’s not even the best part yet since your smart lights pair with a voice control device to grant you hands-free control.
The smart bulbs support Bluetooth and ZigBee protocols, meaning you can also control them using your Smartthings hub.
So, if you’re looking to smarten your home, you can let Philips Hue bulbs be part of your starter kit.
LIFX Color A19 800 Lumens
- Why Wi-Fi: Control from anywhere. No bridge or hub required. (Use 2.4GHz).
- Full color: 550 billion possible color steps. RGBW LEDs for richer colors and huge 1500-9000K white range.
- 800 lumens: Bright! But also dimmable via voice or app.
You don’t require a hub to control these smart bulbs. But you might need a hub if you’re mixing the lights with other smart bulbs.
The bulbs connect to your Wi-Fi network to allow you to control them remotely via the companion app.
The smart bulbs also pair with voice control devices to grant you hands-free control over them. And with over 550 billion colors to choose from, setting a perfect dining mood is effortless and convenient.
What’s more, the bulbs also boast 25,000 hours of durability, meaning they could last you 22.8 years.
You can adjust their color brightness up to 800 lumens while also ensuring you have the perfect white color temperature ranging from 1,500 – 9,000K. And since they use LEDs, you can be sure to brighten your home while using less energy.
Conclusion
Mixing smart bulbs is possible if you have the right platform. A smart hub works best to grant you remote control of smart bulbs from different brands.
But you can also control your different smart bulbs through voice commands if you’ve connected them with a smart speaker.
Also, smart plugs and smart light switches could help you control your preferred smart bulbs. As such, they are also an investment worth considering.
We hope you’ve answered your questions if you were looking to know if you can mix smart bulbs.
Whether you’re using smart bulbs from popular brands or LED bulbs, you can control every lighting device from a single app. Or you can schedule the bulbs to turn on/off at specific times.
And in the end, you will save energy by controlling your smart bulbs. Therefore, consider adding smart bulbs to your smart home and use a platform to control them if they’re from different brands.
