Why You Need a Smart Home Lighting System

I have been traveling a lot back and forth to Waco these past few months and it’s nice to know Caséta by Lutron has been watching over our home. It’s like having another person to watch over our home!

The Smart Away feature randomly turns lights on and off when you’re not home to make your house appear lived-in. There is also a geo-fencing feature that can control light based on your location. So when you are driving and pull up to your home, the lights come on which means you can always come home to a well-lit house!

And as I mentioned, with the Caséta by Lutron “sunset tracker” you can schedule lights to come on at dusk or adjust automatically at predetermined times of the day.

You all know we are trying to be more eco-friendly in our home. There is a Lutron app for your phone so you can control your lights from anywhere in the world – the office, the airport, or even your home in Waco – so lights aren’t left on. I use my app all of the time!

Home Lighting Switches

My husband always gets grouchy when our electric bill arrives in the mail. Which means I am always looking for ways to cut down on our energy usage. Did you know the average home has over 20 light switches (and nearly 50 light bulbs)? I counted 21 light switches on our first floor and gave up. (We have a four-story home and I am afraid to count how many switches are in our entire home. Ugh.) With Caséta by Lutron, a single smart switch can make any bulbs smart, which lets you do more with less, by putting the smart in the switch.

For example: would you rather replace all 8 ceiling lights in the kitchen, or would you rather purchase 1 smart dimmer/ 1 smart switch that can turn all 8 existing bulbs into smart bulbs? The answer should be pretty simple. And the best part? I can now say “Alexa, turn off the kitchen lights”.*

* I am pretty excited about my ability to tell our lights to turn off. But apparently (according to my husband) my excitement has led to a lot of bossing Alexa around. So I have been told (by my husband) that I need to give Alexa a break. Of course, I keep reminding him that the alternative is him!

I do need to share a 100 year old home cool fact. Most smart switches require a neutral wire; however, many homes built before the 1980s (or the 1920’s!) don’t have one, which creates a barrier for those wanting to begin their smart home journey. Caséta by Lutron dimmers are engineered to work in homes – whether they have a neutral wire or not!

Home Lighting Bridge

I installed a Caseta Bridge. Yes, I installed it. (And just so you know, all that really entailed was taking it out of the box and plugging it into an outlet and our internet box.) Wi-Fi routers can handle only so many devices – meaning the more smart home devices you add, the higher chance there is for a slowdown. Unlink many smart home products that use Wi-Fi to communicate, the Caséta by Lutron Smart Bridge does not. This provides you with super-fast, ultra-reliable smart lighting control that works not only right, but right away.

A Smart Bridge connects all your devices together so you can get the most out of Caséta. It also connects our home lighting system to smart home devices such as Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Serena, Sonos and more.