Hi everyone! I recently upgraded my home lighting to a smart system on a budget and wanted to share the steps:
Choose affordable smart bulbs: Brands like Wyze or Sengled are great budget options. Set up a smart hub (optional): If you’re going for a cohesive ecosystem, consider hubs like Alexa or Google Home. Install and connect: Replace your old bulbs, connect them to your Wi-Fi, and use the corresponding app for setup. Automate: Use routines or schedules for energy-saving and convenience. Let me know if you’ve tried something similar or have any questions!
1 to 3 Watt in stand-by mode for s lamp that draws somewhere between 7 and 15 Watt when on. That’s roughly like leaving the lamp on for at least on hour and half each day when nobody is home in the best case.
I have an old wifi yeelight, measured it now because I was interested. 1.4W off, 8.4W full power
For comparison, Ikea zigbee bulb 9.3W max power, less than 0.1 W while off, but switches on instantly. My watt meter can’t measure less than 0.1W so it shows 0.0W.
Zigbee was designed for this kind of usage. I have several zigbee sensors running on 3.3V coin cell batteries, they can report data for years without battery replacement.
That’s a pretty high estimate, this article claims to have measured it at 0.5W/bulb (0.15W for zigbee). That’s still 3x or so higher than Zigbee, but still decent.
I have about 50 bulbs in my house, so that’s:
At $0.15/kWh, that’s $1.89/month savings with zigbee. That’s not nothing, but it’s not something I’d switch out a bunch of bulbs over.
It may make sense for an airbnb rental property or something, but I don’t see a point for average homes, and I’d expect adding dozens of WiFi clients would cause problems with WiFi quality.