Your home might be turning into a smart device and it’s not only concerning the upper upper upper class anymore. Smart technology’s covering our champagne problems, as the hassle of leaving the couch to turn off the light switch. For starters, LED should be considered as smart technology in itself, regarding the energy savings and how the composition of diodes handles temperature on a next level in comparison to halogen. It has been a low-key mild form of paranoia because rumor has it (frankly it’s not a rumor anymore) that halogen is going to be replaced by LED, and in general it seems as if the unknown scares people. It’s not a rabbit hole you’re supposed to jump into and never get out of, it’s only a change of tools you use in your daily life. Within two weeks it won’t take up space in your head anymore (as after every Facebook update it feels messy because the visuals are changing, but today you would probably never want to welcome the 2008 version back into your life). One of the most known smart bulbs today’s from Philips. Philips Hue has one major advantage: the products belong to a huge brand which people trust, and is therefore (not to mention their budget) almost ahead of their competitors at the starter line.
At first I found it tacky that you could turn your whole apartment into anything from a club to a brothel, but once I broadened my horizon and gave it a clean slate I found myself feeling more relaxed in colored lighting. As if it functioned as a reminder of childhood and playfulness where Voldemort or seriousity has no presence. The color function is pure aesthetics but could also be symbolic, but the function however isn’t integrated in every smart bulb on the market. Some smart bulbs are capable of playing music, which might come in handy when your not so smart battery on your smartphone is dead. However, if your known to LED values you’re aware of how low wattage it has in comparison to halogen yet it’s stronger. This means that if your dimmer is more than two years old it will probably not function on LEDs because it was made for halogen values to begin with. With smart bulbs you remove this problem because you can dim to your finger’s hurting on either a remote control or through an app, hence smart bulb. Your existing lamps and luminaires will only function as tools for your smart bulbs, and will logically not take credit for being smarter. It isn’t free (but what is these days). LED bulbs have usually a lifespan from 15 000-25 000 hours. If you divide the cost of a LED bulb on the days you’re using it you’ll find it much more cheaper than regular halogen and that’s just simple math. Smart technology doesn’t necessary mean it will outsmart you, but the benefits are to be time, -and energy efficient. Meaning you’ll be saving seconds, minutes or even days depending on your technology to do the small jobs for you. As a natural consequence your electricity bills will be affected (yes, in the right way). However, how do we recycle such a complicated piece? People argue that it’s not better if it still cannot go back to nature and join the circle. This makes me raise the question; can we ever invent long-lasting items that doesn’t consist of toxic materials? There will always be pros and cons with technology due to the fact that nature and technology are two different planets. Considering the high speed on the market of developing LED it should be a matter of time before an even greener version is showing up. Are you smarter than your light bulb? Are you smarter than what your place is turning into?
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