X

Smart lighting for the CNET Smart Home (pictures)

Take a step-by-step look at how we began installing a killer connected lighting setup in the CNET Smart Home.

Ry Crist
Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.
Ry Crist
cnet-smart-home-lighting-inventory.jpg
1 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Bring on the smart lights

After beefing up the Wi-Fi network and picking out a smart hub, we're ready to start filling the CNET Smart Home with Web-connected gadgetry. First up: smart lights.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-hue-led.jpg
2 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Hue's up first

To start things out, we picked up a Philips Hue Starter Kit and a couple of extra bulbs. Pricey, for sure, but we wanted to be able to play around with color-changing bulbs in a real-life setting. Plus, Hue is a very well-developed lighting platform, and one that plays well with the SmartThings Hub, which we've already got installed in the Smart Home.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-changing-bulb.jpg
3 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Bulb-swapping

The first step: change out the old bulbs for our new Hue LEDs.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-philips-hue-bridge.jpg
4 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Bridge to smarter ligthing

Next, we plugged the Philips Hue Bridge into our router. The Bridge acts as translator between the bulb, which broadcasts using Zigbee, and the smart home's wireless network. It comes included with Philips Hue starter kits.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-philips-hue-app.jpg
5 of 16 Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

App controls

With everything plugged in and turned on, just follow the instructions in the Hue app to get started.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-philips-hue-leds-blue.jpg
6 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Presto!

Within a few minutes, our color-changing lights were up and running.

philips-hue-wireless-dimming-kit-product-photos-1.jpg
7 of 16 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

One addition

We installed this white-light-only Hue bulb in one of the family room fixtures, then used the accompanying remote to control all of the lights in the room.

cree-connected-led-product-photos-5.jpg
8 of 16 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Third-party bulbs, too

For those other family room lights, we used Cree Connected LEDs, one of the many third-party Zigbee bulbs you can control using the Hue Bridge.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-four-gang-switch.jpg
9 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

Switching things up

Up next, something a little more challenging. We're going to smarten up each switch in this four-way plate. Doing so will let us automate our living room lights, as well as two of our outdoor lights.

cnet-smart-home-belkin-wemo-light-switch.jpg
10 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

The hardware

For this build, we're going to go with Belkin WeMo Light Switches. They'll sync up quite nicely with the rest of our smart-home gear.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-belkin-wemo-light-switch-size-comparison.jpg
11 of 16 Ry Crist/CNET

A tight squeeze

Here's the challenge -- they're a lot bigger than standard switches, and we'll have more wires to cram into the box, too.

smart-home-lighting-gallery-2.jpg
12 of 16 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Getting to work

Still, where there's a will, there's a way. With the power shut off at the breaker, we got to work.

smart-home-lighting-gallery-5.jpg
13 of 16

They fit!

After spending an hour wrangling all of the wires into place, we had our four switches set in place.

smart-home-lighting-gallery-7.jpg
14 of 16 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The finishing touch

We finished things off with a four-way switch plate that we picked up off Amazon. A perfect fit.

cnet-smart-home-lighting-wemo-app.jpg
15 of 16 Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

WeMo app

Like with Hue, the next step is to open up an app and walk through a pairing process. Each WeMo Switch broadcasts its own Wi-Fi signal. You'll join up with it on your phone, then return to the WeMo app to sync it up with your home's Wi-Fi. From there, you'll be able to give the switch a name and snap a picture of whatever it controls.

amazon-echo-promo-pic.jpg
16 of 16 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

One more thing -- voice control

To finish our setup off, we installed two Amazon Echo smart speakers in the home -- one in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom. Echo is compatible with SmartThings, Philips Hue, and WeMo, which means we can turn everything we installed on and off using simple voice commands.

More Galleries

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera
A houseplant

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera

20 Photos
Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra
magic-v2-2024-foldable-1383

Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra

10 Photos
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum
Samsung Galaxy S24

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum

23 Photos
Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design
The Galaxy S24 Ultra in multiple colors

Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design

23 Photos
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
img-0368.jpg

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

34 Photos
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About

18 Photos
AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?
img-1599-2.jpg

AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?

17 Photos