Funny you mention the sticky note—my wife still jokes about the “do not touch” signs I plastered everywhere during my last switch swap. I’m with you on the wire labeling too. First time I did it, I thought, “I’ll remember which is which.” Yeah, right... spent half the afternoon playing electrician detective. Honestly, I think smart switches are the way to go if you’ve got a bunch of lights on one circuit. Bulbs are cool for lamps or accent stuff, but for main rooms? Switches just make more sense and look cleaner, in my opinion.
Title: Finally Upgraded My Living Room Lights—Anyone Else Tried Smart Bulbs?
I get where you’re coming from with the switches, but I’ll admit, I’ve started leaning more toward smart bulbs in a few of my projects, even for main areas. There’s a bit more flexibility—especially if you want to play with color temps or dimming zones without rewiring. Sure, it can look a little cluttered if you’ve got different brands or styles mixed in, but these days most of the major platforms play pretty nicely together.
One thing I’ve run into with switches is that if someone flips it off manually, your whole smart setup goes dead until you flip it back on. That can be a pain, especially if you’ve got guests or kids who aren’t used to the system. With bulbs, at least you can still control everything from your phone, even if the wall switch gets left on.
Not saying switches don’t have their place—especially for whole-house jobs—but sometimes the bulbs make things easier when you’re dealing with older wiring or just want to avoid patching drywall. Just my two cents from a few too many renovation headaches...
- Definitely see the appeal of smart bulbs, especially for retrofits—no drywall dust, no rewiring headaches.
- That said, I’ve run into reliability issues. If the WiFi hiccups or the app updates, sometimes the bulbs just stop responding until you reset everything. Gets old fast.
- Mixing brands can get messy. Even with “universal” platforms, there’s always one bulb that refuses to play nice.
- For rentals or flips, I stick with regular switches—less to troubleshoot when new folks move in. But for my own place? Yeah, smart bulbs are fun for mood lighting or scenes.
- Just wish they’d standardize these things more... half my time is spent updating firmware instead of actually enjoying the lights.
- Had a similar experience last year when I swapped out the old can lights for smart bulbs in the den. Super easy install, but yeah, the WiFi dropouts drove me nuts. One time, half the room went disco mode while the other half just... froze.
- I’ve found sticking to one brand helps, but it’s not perfect. Still keep regular switches in high-traffic areas—less hassle when folks visit or if I’m renting out.
- Honestly, sometimes I miss the days when a light switch just worked, no updates needed.
FINALLY UPGRADED MY LIVING ROOM LIGHTS—ANYONE ELSE TRIED SMART BULBS?
Did my first round of smart bulbs in the living room a couple months after moving in. I figured, hey, new house, might as well go all-in on “smart everything.” Install was fine—just swapped out the old bulbs, set up the app, and thought I was set. But yeah, the WiFi issues are real. I had one night where the lights randomly cycled through color modes during a movie, which was funny for about two seconds… then just annoying.
I tried mixing brands at first (some were on sale, couldn’t resist), but getting them to sync was a pain. Ended up resetting everything and sticking with one brand. Still, I get the occasional lag or random disconnect. I actually mapped out which bulbs drop out most often and it’s always the ones furthest from the router. Thought about adding a mesh network, but that feels like overkill just for lights.
Totally agree about keeping regular switches in busy spots. My parents visited and couldn’t figure out how to turn on the kitchen lights with the voice commands. They just wanted a good old-fashioned switch. I get it—sometimes simple is better.
One thing I didn’t expect: firmware updates at 2am. Woke up once to all the lights flashing because they were updating. Not exactly restful. Never thought I’d have to troubleshoot lighting with my phone at midnight.
Honestly, I love the flexibility—dimming, colors, schedules—but there are moments I miss just flipping a switch and not thinking about it. Guess that’s the trade-off with smart stuff… cool features, but more things to go wrong.
