Be smart about it – lights need not just be for Christmas

IT’S that time of year when people are getting strings of colourful lights out of loft spaces, spending a while untying knots that have somehow appeared despite the fact they were put away in a neat coil.

But not me.

It has nothing to do with any lack of festive spirit, or anything against lighting up the living room in the colours a toddler would pick after consuming too much sugar, but that I can just press a button and my existing lights can turn from their current colour to the greens and reds that typify the season.

That’s because I have a bit of an obsession with LED lightstrips and their related products.

I discovered them last year, and have spent far too much time and money installing them into various nooks and crevices since then. For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of discovering them, one of the best things is the fact that they are ‘smart’ – as in controlled from your mobile phone.

Many come with a physical switch, too, in case you want to just use them as normal lights, but often, the best features are unlocked via an app on the now ubiquitous smartphones.

You can even turn them on and off by voice control in many instances.

Among those features is the ability to turn them different colours – such as those which we usually only see at Christmas. So, rather than hauling strings of lights out from the attic, a touch of a button can do the trick. Of course, you might still want to add some extra ones to your tree, but there are ones which you can place around your tree and switch on and off remotely, without having to do the late-night stretch behind the tree to reach the plug, which usually ends up with your hair sprinkled with fir needles and several baubles falling off and rolling across the floor.

Lights are just one of the devices which can now be controlled via your phone, including smart heating systems which you can turn on before you get home, and doorbell cameras so you can spy on visitors even if you are not at home.

Of course, there are also a few which seem pointless, such as the ability to turn the washing machine on and off while you are out. If the machine loaded and unloaded itself and hung out your laundered clothes, then great, otherwise maybe leave that one. Or the coffee machine which makes an espresso remotely – as if you don’t need to be there in person to drink it.

But it is also creating a shift in the way our homes can look. Smart lights can transform the way our homes look year-round, and take the emphasis off ceiling fixtures and standing lamps.

Instead, you might have a strip of light which emanates from behind your telly, like it is about to become a portal into another dimension.

Certain light ranges can even mirror the picture from your TV to the lights behind or around it – so the lights dim or brighten along with whatever you are watching. That can work well for gamers, too. If you don’t want the lights going up and down, you can just set them lower when you are watching a movie, or higher for reading.

They are, apparently, better for the environment too as a strip of light uses less energy than a strong bulb, though I’ve had my doubts.

But the range also includes smart bulbs too, so the days of having to get up and turn a light on can be over, as you only need to press a button on your phone and the bulb can be adjusted accordingly.

Having made a few changes to my garden recently, I also ordered some lights which mean I can even light up the outside while I am sitting comfortably within.

Now, if only I could get tinsel that would put itself up...