I've seen a lot of enthusiasm here for Zigbee bulbs, and I agree they can offer solid performance, especially when scaling up. But from a practical perspective, I've found that relying too heavily on smart bulbs themselves isn't always the most robust solution. For instance, if someone in the household switches off the physical wall switch (and yes, it happens more often than you'd think...), the bulbs lose power and become unresponsive through the hub. This has been a recurring annoyance at some of our recent residential projects.
Instead, I generally recommend clients consider installing smart switches or dimmers paired with standard LED bulbs. You still get remote control, scheduling, and integration into automation routines, but without the risk of someone accidentally disabling your smart setup. Plus, it makes it easier to swap out bulbs if there's an issue. Bulbs fail eventually, and replacing a standard LED is usually much quicker and cheaper than tracking down a compatible smart bulb.
As for energy efficiency, integrating occupancy sensors or daylight harvesting is indeed beneficial, but I've found these features to be more reliable and flexible when built into switches or standalone sensors rather than relying solely on bulb-level intelligence. For example, occupancy sensors mounted on walls or ceilings typically have better coverage and sensitivity than motion sensors built into bulbs, and they can control multiple lights or entire zones at once.
Just something to keep in mind—smart bulbs are convenient and fun, but they're not always the best long-term solution, especially if you're looking at larger-scale installations or whole-home automation.
Totally agree with your point about the wall switches. I learned this the hard way after installing smart bulbs throughout my downstairs.
"if someone in the household switches off the physical wall switch (and yes, it happens more often than you'd think...), the bulbs lose power and become unresponsive through the hub."
Exactly my experience. My kids and guests constantly flipped switches out of habit, and suddenly half my "smart" setup was offline. After a few months of frustration, I swapped most of them out for smart dimmers and regular LEDs. Way less hassle, and honestly, it just feels more reliable overall.
I still have a few smart bulbs in lamps where there's no wall switch to mess things up, but for main lighting, smart switches are definitely the way to go. Plus, like you said, replacing a standard bulb is cheap and easy—no need to hunt down a specific brand or model when one inevitably burns out.
Yeah, same here. I ended up labeling a few switches "DO NOT TOUCH" with tape, which looked pretty ridiculous tbh... Eventually switched to smart dimmers—way simpler and no more accidental outages. Lesson learned the hard way!
"Eventually switched to smart dimmers—way simpler and no more accidental outages."
Haha, glad I'm not the only one who went through the tape-labeling phase... Smart dimmers are definitely the way to go. Took me a while to realize it, but once set up, they're pretty foolproof.
Smart dimmers are handy, but honestly, smart bulbs still have their place. I've found that dimmers can limit your bulb choices—especially if you're particular about color temperature or CRI ratings. With smart bulbs, you get flexibility to fine-tune ambiance per fixture. Sure, the setup can be a bit finicky at first (been there...), but once dialed in, the customization is unmatched. It's all about priorities, I guess—simplicity vs. control.
