As a child, I would tie the end of a long length of dental floss to the light switch. The other end would be placed by my side. Then, I would crawl under my sheets and pull on the dental floss to turn off my bedroom lighting. It was as if I were a king.
The dental floss trick isn’t as cute now that I’m married and 30.
Even after all these years, I haven’t lost my desire to turn off the bedroom lights without getting up from bed.
If not, how can you floss your teeth?
Home automation allows you to turn off the bedroom light
Home automation is the best way to dim your bedroom lights. Smart light switches, smart bulbs, smart plugs or a combination of them all can be used to turn off your bedroom lights. You can turn the bedroom lights off from underneath your bed, regardless of which smart product you choose.
I will first show you how I set up my bedroom, what I did and how you can do it. Next, I will show you how to do it in other ways.
My smart light switch setup
My bedroom has 5 light bulbs. They are controlled by one switch near the bedroom door.
My bedroom closets have additional light bulbs, but they are seldom left on. It was just not worth the effort or money to automate them.
All 5 bulbs can be controlled by one switch. So I swapped out my old light switch for a smart switch.
To automate this, I would have to replace five individual bulbs if I had used smart lamps. 5 decent smart bulbs cost between $40-$55. The single smart light switch that I purchased (and highly recommend) was $19.99 and works perfectly!
It was cheaper to use a smart switch than to replace the light switch functionality.
Smart bulbs must be in the on position. If the light switch is accidentally turned off, smart bulbs will not work. Smart light bulbs need electricity to function properly.
You’ve probably read my blog to know what I think about this: Smart Home Automation should add functionality, but not remove it.
I can tell you that your spouse, family members and guests will forget to use the light switch. It will also get turned off constantly. To remind them, you can purchase a magnetic cover like this.
I was able to spend less and my wife can use the light switch whenever she pleases.
How to set up the “turn on bedroom light” automation
Here are the steps to set up the turnoff bedroom light automation.
1 A smart switch
- The Kasa Smart Light switch by TP-Link is what I use. The switch is very affordable and I have never had any issues with it after one year of usage. The quality and price are unbeatable. This switch requires a neutral cable to be set up. The price can be found on Amazon.
- I recommend the Lutron Caseta Smart Home Dimmer Switch if you don’t own a neutral wire. It is a great smart switch but costs more. The price can be checked on Amazon here.
2 A smart tablet/phone
- This will allow you to install the Kasa Smart App on Google Play and Apple’s App store. The Kasa app will guide you through the installation and configuration of the smart light switch.
3) A 2.4 GHz WiFi connection
- The Kasa Smart Switch uses WiFi to establish a connection to your phone and other devices.
- The Lutron Smart Bridge is required if you choose the Lutron Caseta route. The price can be checked on Amazon here.
4) A Smart speaker Optional, but highly recommended
- A smart speaker is a device that allows you to turn off your bedroom lights using your voice. You don’t have to do this but you can still control your smart lights 100% using the Kasa Smart App.
- The Kasa Smart Lighting Switch works with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, so you can use either!
