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Should You Hire An Electrician To Upgrade To A Smart Lighting System?

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You can find internet-enabled technology everywhere nowadays, including items as simple as lightbulbs. Although lighting has undergone many revolutions over the last few decades, smart technologies offer more than just improved energy efficiency or longer life. Bringing this high-tech form of lighting into your home can potentially revolutionize how your interact with your lights.

Of course, there's more to it than simply screwing in a new bulb. Getting your home onto a smart ecosystem requires a bit of knowledge and skill to set up. While this job is far from outside the realm of the average do-it-yourselfer, there are a few other reasons to consider a professional electrician's help.

1. System Selection

If you've browsed online for smart lighting system solutions before, then you know there are more than just a handful of manufacturers. Options range from high-end to budget-conscious, with a variety of features and varying levels of reliability. Sorting the wheat from the chaff can be a significant project, especially if you aren't particularly inclined towards product research.

A professional electrician can recommend equipment that works for your home and your budget. In addition to recommending specific lighting solutions, they can also help you understand how those solutions work with ecosystems from companies like Google or Amazon. Since switching between ecosystems can be tricky, making the right decisions upfront can save you a hassle later on.

2. Fixture and Switch Installation

You can just put smart bulbs into your existing lights, but why stop there? You might also want to install smart switches to control older lighting or even bring in new fixtures. These aspects of a lighting install project require more knowledge and expertise and will need you to modify your home's wiring. If you're thinking about these options, a professional installation is safer and more reliable.

3. Additional Exterior Lighting

Smart lighting makes an excellent upgrade for your home's exterior, as well. Features such as scheduling and app-based control allow you to turn on lights before you come home, guaranteeing you arrive at a well-lit driveway and front porch. Depending on your goals, your home's existing exterior lighting fixtures may not be sufficient to take advantage of these features.

Whether you want to add new lighting to your walkway or expand the lighting around a driveway, these are jobs best left to a professional. Not only does installing exterior lighting mean running new wires, but you'll also need to adhere to local building codes for buried electrical wiring. A professional can easily take care of these tasks while ensuring your home remains up to code.

Installing one or two smart lights is an easy do-it-yourself job, but retrofitting your home with a smart lighting system is a much bigger task. For more information on residential lighting installation, contact an electrician near you.


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