4 Smart LED Bulbs Worth Installing in Your [city] Home

The future is here—at least as far as LED light bulbs are concerned. Like phones, security systems, and thermostats, light bulbs have become smarter and smarter over the years. If you’re considering an LED retrofit for your [city] home, you can now replace your aging incandescent bulbs and CFLs with a wide variety of smart LED light bulbs that you can control from an app on your phone or tablet.

But with so many connected lighting solutions on the market, it can be hard to choose which smart LED is the best for your [city] home. Below are a few options with glowing reviews from users.

Philips Hue Starter Kit

As the name suggests, the Philips Hue Starter Kit is perhaps the best choice for homeowners switching to smart lighting for the first time. This starter pack comes with two LED light bulbs generating the same brightness of a 60-watt incandescent bulb, but using 80 percent less energy.

Each bulb can be controlled on your smartphone and tablet, allowing you to adjust the brightness and hue (color) of your light. With millions of colors to choose from, the options for customization are limitless. You can connect up to 50 Hue LEDs with the same bridge that comes with this pack, allowing you to set up a connected lighting system for your entire home.

GE Link Smart LED Light Bulb

Standing out as one of the cheapest smart LEDs on the market, the GE Link is another ideal option for first time smart lighting users. But its real claim to fame is its lifespan—GE claims the Link “Lasts 22.8 years with an estimated energy cost of $1.45/year,” all while generating the same lighting intensity of a 60-watt LED bulb.

As with most smart LEDs, users can control the GE Link on its proprietary smartphone app, which allows you to create lighting schedules for individual LEDs or for an entire group.

LIFX Color 1000 A19 Wi-Fi LED Smart Bulb

Boasting of “million colors and 1000 shades of warm to cool whites,” the LIFX Color 1000 is another ideal smart lighting solution for anyone looking to create custom lighting effects in their home. The LIFX is also compatible with Alexa, allowing you to adjust your lighting brightness and colors with voice control.

The proprietary app is easy to use and doesn’t require a bridge/hub, making setup with your [city] home’s Wi-Fi system a breeze. You can also connect up to 100 of these bulbs to your phone. Just be ready to pay up—at $44.99 per bulb (as of this writing), it’s one of the more expensive options on the market.

Cree Connected LED Bulb

If you’re willing to compromise on the lack of color customization in exchange for an attractive price point, you can’t go wrong with the Cree Connected LED Bulb. Each bulb comes at $29.99 (as of this writing), but you only get white light. However, you can use the Cree Connected Bulbs with Alexa for voice-controlled dimming, which you can also do on any Android or iOS device.

The Cree Connected LED generates 815 lumens of light for just 11.5 watts of electricity, giving you an annual energy cost of $1.64 based on 3 hours of daily usage and an electricity rate of 11/kWh.

Given the high cost of Smart LED Lighting, it may be a good idea to buy a few of these bulbs first and use them in the parts of your home where people hang out the most.