Control your garden from the sofa

Outdoor lighting is rarely close to a convenient switch. Often, you have to go outside, to the shed or to the back of the garden, to switch the light on or off. With a smart WiFi set, you can simply control it from your smartphone: switch it on or off, dim it and, with many models, adjust the light colour as well. You can even control it when you are not at home.

Setting schedules

You can create schedules in the app to suit your routine: for example, you can set the light to come on at sunset and switch off again at midnight, or to switch on around the time you come home. When you are on holiday, you can also use schedules to make it look as though someone is at home. An outdoor floor lamp at the front of your house is ideal for this.

Mind your WiFi range

This is the practical point to consider in a garden: your router is indoors, while the lamp may be at the back of the garden. Check whether your WiFi signal still reaches that far, especially through a cavity wall or behind a shed. Also keep in mind that the lamp needs to stay connected to the power supply to remain accessible via the app. Leave the switch on, otherwise you will not be able to control it remotely.

Smart or simple?

If you mainly want the light to come on automatically without having to use an app, a dusk sensor or a model with a sensor is simpler and just as effective. Smart lighting is particularly useful if you want to combine several lamps, create scenes or control the lighting remotely. Pay attention to the stated protection rating (IP rating).