The Smart Lighting System in our House


Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by Legrand. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.

Ever since we bought our house, Finn has been on a mission to make it a “smart house.” And so far, we’ve done pretty well with that large endeavor. We have a smart doorbell, speakers for music throughout the house, a keyless garage door pad, and we’re working on our security system this fall. But my favorite part of our new setup is our smart lighting system.

We ended up adding recessed cans to every single room in our house. Before we moved in, there were either outdated ceiling fans or boob lights in each room, or some rooms barely had any light at all!ย Our neutral couch in the living roomLighting is an area of your home that shouldn’t be overlooked (you can read my rules for lighting here), so we added recessed cans and put them on dimmer switches all over the place. I’m a huge fan of dimmer switches so you can control the amount of light depending on the time of day (I’m all about dimming them in the evening for a cozy atmosphere!).

Smart lighting dimmer switches from LegrandBut we didn’t install just any ol’ dimmer switches. We installed smartย switches from Legrand. These are installed in place of a normal wall switch and they connect through your wifi network. You can then control the lights directly from the Legrand Smart Lights app on your phone. how to control the legrand smart dimmer from your phone

Before we dive into the awesome features of this product, let’s chat about the installation.

Legrand Smart Dimmer – InstallationHow to install the Legrand smart dimmer switches

If you’ve ever changed out an outlet or switch in your home, then you could definitely tackle this DIY project! It will only take you about 15 minutes to install each switch and there’s no need to call an electrician.

I shot a quick installation video to walk you through just how easy it is. You can view it below or watch it over on my Youtube channel here.

See, not that bad right?! During our renovation, we had our contractor install a few of these smart dimmers around the house. But we ended up loving them so much, I personally went around and upgraded every room after our renovation was complete. Now I can control every single overhead light from my phone (or from our Amazon Alexa). It’s freakin’ awesome!

Smart Lighting – Our Favorite Features

While I focused on the installation, Finn was most excited about setting it up so the entire smart lighting system works well for our everyday lives. He labeled each room, grouped together lights (we have it so each floor is grouped together), and even set up scenes.Smart dimmer switches from Legrand

You can create scenes so your lights automatically go off, on, or dim at certain times of the day. We have a “Good Morning” scene set for 6 am where all of the lights downstairs automatically turn on to about 50%. That way when I come down for breakfast and coffee, I don’t have to walk around and turn all of the lights off. We also have an “Evening Mood” scene where the overheads dim down in the living room and our lamps turn on.smart plug-in unit

We have our lamps on these smart plug-in units that connect to our phones too. These are great if you’re in a rental and want to get in on the smart lighting action! Or if you want to convert any outlet to a smart one (for example, you could plug your coffee maker into a plug-in unit so it only goes on in the morning when you need it!). Turning on and off your lamps with your phoneAll of the lamps in our home are plugged into these smart units and I can control them with the app or by simply asking Alexa to turn them off and on!

Showcasing our Smart Lighting System – VideoHow we use the smart lighting system in our home

To show you how it works for us in our everyday lives, Finn and I shot this video outlining all of our favorite features. Adding dimmer switches throughout our homeWe had a blast shooting it (that man cracks me up!) and there were some interesting things that happened with our Alexa during our interview (she is always listening…). You can view the video below or over on our Youtube channel.

My Favorite Parts

  • :05 Finn and his bad jokes…
  • 1:14 Yep, she is always listening!
  • 1:30 Those scenes really are amazing
  • 2:05 See the plug-in units in action
  • 2:47 We do try our best to be the cool kids!

Our new smart lighting systemOverall, I’m loving our new smart lighting system in our Finn Fixer Upper! Adding smart dimmer switchesIf you want to make your everyday life a little easier and start to make your home a little smarter, the Legrand smart lighting system is the best place to start! Soon my home may be smarter than me…

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.