5 Steps to Better Home Security with Smart Lighting

Every home functions better with good lighting. It’s there to help you see as you cook and read. It helps you find your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It helps accentuate certain elements of your home’s architecture. It even helps lift your mood when it’s dreary outside. But did you know that lighting can also help protect your home? Sure, a “dumb” timer that turns your home’s lights on and off can create that illusion that someone is home when your house is actually unoccupied, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through this predictable ploy. The five tips shared here are solid lighting control suggestions that can boost the effectiveness a home security system, or even be used on their own for your own peace of mind, whether the emergency is finding a snack without stubbing your toe or scaring away an intruder in the middle of the night.

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1. Show me the Way. Hunger strike at 2 a.m., the baby needs to be fed, your five-year-old is crying from a nightmare, you smell smoke and need to get out of the house immediately. In all these situations, having a lighting system that can illuminate a pathway to your intended destination can not only be helpful, but can potentially save your life. Most security systems can be set up to control the lights in your house—the idea being that when a smoke or burglar alarm is tripped, the lights illuminate a pathway to the nearest exit.
2. That’s Random. Few families follow a strict pattern of when they turn the lights on and off. Sometimes bedtime happens at 9 p.m., other night’s it’s midnight. A lighting control system works much better at making your empty house look lived in because instead of following a strict on/off schedule, it turns lights on and off randomly—more realistic and more convincing.
3. That “Bump” in the Night. That noise you heard in the backyard. It’s probably just a squirrel romping around on the roof, but for peace of mind, the exterior lights can be instructed by a lighting control system to blast the backyard whenever you touch a button on a remote control on your nightstand. It will scare away whatever’s lurking in the dark, be it a squirrel or burglar.
4. A Safe Return. No one likes to walk into a dark house. It may not be a safety issue, but stepping into a pitch black foyer can make even the bravest person feel a bit uneasy. A lighting control system lets you activate whichever lights you want whenever you want—as you’re leaving work, a party, or the grocery store—simply by tapping a button on a smartphone app.
5. Modern Mayday. Vessels at sea use flares to signal distress. So do motorists stranded on the side of the road. Like a flare gun, your home’s lights can flash to signal trouble. This will help authorities find your house faster, and give the neighborhood a heads-up.

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