I want to remotely turn on/off lights in my house from my phone

[calliex]

What is a simple way to use technology to simply turn on/off lights in my house from my phone. Say I go to Fla. on vacation and I live in NY, can I turn of light from there was an app and some gadgetry? I new to home automation and looking for some advice.

 

[SteveJawbs]

What is a simple way to use technology to simply turn on/off lights in my house from my phone. Say I go to Fla. on vacation and I live in NY, can I turn of light from there was an app and some gadgetry? I new to home automation and looking for some advice.

I have 20 of these. Work great.

Mini Smart Plug, WiFi Outlet Socket Compatible with Alexa and Google Home, Remote Control with Timer Function, No Hub Required, ETL FCC Listed (1 Pack),White https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Compatible-Function-Supports-Required/dp/B09JZLXXRX

 

[calliex]

thank you I will check it out.

 

[organerito]

You need smart bulbs. I use Hue and strip lights by Govee. They are on a schedule.
You can also use your existing lamps with a smart plug.

 

[calliex]

So the mini smart plug needs special bulbs too?

 

[fatTribble]

I like the Hue lights. You need a hub but not expensive

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

There are a lot of options out there. Light bulbs are expensive - you don't have to have them. There are smart plugs you plug your existing lights in to. Check out Kasa, Leviton, Wyze - very easy to set up and not too crazy in cost. And yes, you can operate them anywhere. Plus - they have vacation modes to operate within a set timeframe daily. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[SteveJawbs]

So the mini smart plug needs special bulbs too?

No. They do not. If all you want to do is turn off simple lights these are great. Spending on bulbs is another option but plugs is easiest.

 

[HDFan]

I have 6 of these. Since they are horizontal and have 2 individually controlled plugs I can control the power for 12 devices with 6 plugs. No hub required, no expensive light bulbs that will eventually fail. On a hot day I tell my watch "Turn on AC" when I head home and its cool when I arrive.

Dual Smart Outlet - Works with Apple HomeKit - Satechi

satechi.net

 

[wonderings]

For my lamps I use the Amazon smart plugs, they work flawlessly. You don't need a smart bulb with this approach as you are basically leaving the lamp in the on position and with the smart plug just turning power on and off. For other lights I have smart switches in the wall, not hard to install. I do this all through Amazon Echo's which work great. Super easy to set up routines. When I get home I just say "Alexa I am home" and on comes everything I want to come on. End of the day I say "Alexa good night" and boom everything goes off that I want to go off. I use the Nest thermostat and that as well is controlled by voice or from anywhere with the Nest app. Everything running through Amazon Alexa can be controlled from your phone as well through the Alexa app.

 

[solq]

I use Philips Hue and it works really well. Tons of devices, tons of features - including the one you want (out of home control), works in large installations (I have one with 3 bridges and about 130 devices).

 

[gxxr]

Whatever system you decide to go with: If you want a nice integration with apple hardware and future proofing, try to find devices that are homekit compatible and use the “thread” standard (or even better: “Matter”, but it’s a bit early for that).
I recently set up some home automation, and it was important to me to avoid any obscure cloud services by third parties. I also didn’t want gear that needs an active internet connection to control stuff while at home (yes, some home automation gear doesn’t work if your internet connection goes down, which is slightly bizarre).
I went with Eve for thermostats and some smart plugs. I extended that with some Aqara devices that are cheaper (while they normally do require an obscure cloud service, they can just be attached to homekit without using the Aqara app) and some meross smart plugs. Eve gear uses thread, Aqara uses Zigbee. I would’ve preferred Thread-only devices, but it wasn’t possible at this point.
All of it can now be controlled from the “Home” app on any of my devices (or, as a shortcut, from the iphone’s control center) which is nice.

If your lights are plugged in, smart plugs will work. For permanently installed lamps, you’ll need smart bulbs.

 

[icanhazmac]

What is a simple way to use technology to simply turn on/off lights in my house from my phone. Say I go to Fla. on vacation and I live in NY, can I turn of light from there was an app and some gadgetry? I new to home automation and looking for some advice.

I use Lutron Caseta switches and dimmers. Works with homekit and has a function called 'smart away' that allows you to choose switches to randomly turn on and off while you are away. I have over 10 of these and they truly work every time, no goofy setup issues or problems.

Caseta by Lutron | Smart Light Switches, Controls & Dimmers

Make your lighting smart at the switch instead of replacing your bulbs or Fixtures with Caseta Wireless.

www.casetawireless.com

I also have 5 Wemo plugs and while they work now I cannot recommend them as setup was a nightmare of inconsistencies. I keep hoping that Lutron will make smaller plugs for lamps, etc. YMMV but I would NEVER use anything from Amazon or Google.

 

[now i see it]

Whatever you do - avoid Belkin WEMO products like the plague.
They’re horrible and it’s just a matter of time until the app burns you.

Also EVE smart plugs suck too (because of their app and because you’ve got to buy a HomePod too - lame)

 

[fatTribble]

I use Philips Hue and it works really well. Tons of devices, tons of features - including the one you want (out of home control), works in large installations (I have one with 3 bridges and about 130 devices).

I didn’t know you could do multiple bridges! I keep worrying about hitting whatever the limit is for number of devices. Thank you!

 

[fatTribble]

Whatever system you decide to go with: If you want a nice integration with apple hardware and future proofing, try to find devices that are homekit compatible and use the “thread” standard (or even better: “Matter”, but it’s a bit early for that).
I recently set up some home automation, and it was important to me to avoid any obscure cloud services by third parties. I also didn’t want gear that needs an active internet connection to control stuff while at home (yes, some home automation gear doesn’t work if your internet connection goes down, which is slightly bizarre).
I went with Eve for thermostats and some smart plugs. I extended that with some Aqara devices that are cheaper (while they normally do require an obscure cloud service, they can just be attached to homekit without using the Aqara app) and some meross smart plugs. Eve gear uses thread, Aqara uses Zigbee. I would’ve preferred Thread-only devices, but it wasn’t possible at this point.
All of it can now be controlled from the “Home” app on any of my devices (or, as a shortcut, from the iphone’s control center) which is nice.

If your lights are plugged in, smart plugs will work. For permanently installed lamps, you’ll need smart bulbs.

I recently tried the Eve outlets. I’m really impressed! They support thread as you said. I believe Matter support is coming in December. I’ve been interested in seeing the energy usage of devices plugged in.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

.......For permanently installed lamps, you’ll need smart bulbs.

Actually, you don't. There are Wi-Fi capable switches. Or - switches that require hubs.

 

[Giuanniello]

Hello,

I just got my mum an Echo Dot 5th gen and a Philips Hue bulb which still has to land home, at her place there is wifi and I'd like to automate and being able to control a few things from remotely which seems can be easily accomplished with the Alexa app onto my phone, quite cool to be honest.

At my place I use Apple, have a 4th gen ATV and another one should come as a Xmas holiday, I too would like to add some basic automation like switching on and off an external light and stuff like that but would like to buy gear which is both compatible with Alexa and HomeKit so I can buy bulk, say, bulbs or plugs and share between my mum's and mine environment, which brands (mind you I am in the old continent) are compatible with both?

As per above suggestion I looked at Meross but those which are compatible with both Alexa and HomeKit won't support consumption tracing which is interesting, any suggestion?

Grazie

 

[Shanghaichica]

I use Alexa and Tapo lights. Can control them remotely from the Alexa app, by routines and by voice using my echo devices. Sorry I can’t recommend any HomeKit solutions. I have many HomePods but use them strictly for music, speakers for my Apple TV, reminders, adding events to calendar, integration with my other Apple devices etc.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Like others have said, you can do this with HomeKit compatible devices (I over 20 smart plugs from VOCOlinc from Amazon)... they are compatible with HomeKit, Alexa and they also have their own app... works great... set up automation or control them manually from your phone.

VOCOlinc Homekit Smart Plug Works with Alexa, Apple Home, Google ...

 

[calliex]

I visited my nephew over Thanksgiving and his whole house is automated. He uses lights and controls from
Feit Electric. The bulbs work with out a hub. I bought some bulbs and outlet control device all controlled with one app. So far for my limited needs this is working fine. Thanks for all the good info provided in this thread.

 

[satcomer]

I visited my nephew over Thanksgiving and his whole house is automated. He uses lights and controls from
Feit Electric. The bulbs work with out a hub. I bought some bulbs and outlet control device all controlled with one app. So far for my limited needs this is working fine. Thanks for all the good info provided in this thread.

With replacing all your lamps to smart appliances look at devices the go on end plug before the wall electric socket outlet to have on/off function on older devices