Anyone using "smart" (wifi or BT) LED's? How cheap will they get?

[newbury]

Lately I'm seeing a lot of "smart" LED lights being offered for sale, mainly medium E26 base/A19 or A21 shape.

Prices have been dropping from $50@ to $10@.

My rudimentary understanding of what the "smart" means is that I'd be able to dim or maybe change color of the light via computer (or smart phone/PDA).

I've been ignoring these because of the cost, but it's getting close to my pain threshold.

I procrastinated long enough on going from T12 fluorescents to T8 that T5 came along and then promptly went to T12/8 LED's. Consequently I've got on lone T5 4bulb unit, and a ton of everything else. On the medium E26 base/A19 I waited till prices dropped from $6@+ to $3@, bought a few, then jumped in when they got to $1@. But I've a lot (50?? 100?) of medium E26 base/A19 fixtures that even though they are switch controlled "smart" would be GREAT. I've one room with 12 track lights installed in the early 1980's that would be great if I could turn individual lights on and off with my phone versus switching on the light. I've another room with about a dozen "can lights". The architect and builder had recommended integrated led recessed fixtures at about $100@. I went with the standard can. Now with "smart bulbs" like the GE A19 C-Life Smart LED Light Bulb I can sit in my chair and change the lighting with ease.

So does anyone here have experience with these "smart" bulbs?
Any recommendations?
Do you expect the price to drop precipitously?
Is WIFI better than BT?
Will they be used by the NSA to spy on me? (I don't want any darn Alexa eavesdropping stuff)

 

[RNeumann]

The cost of the bulb or other smart device typically has some type of base station. The products are very much hit and miss. Some will frustrate you to no end and others work perfect. If it doesn’t work right out of the box send it back right away- don’t bother trying to diagnose. I can’t say that loud enough! They should work without issue right out of the box- if it doesn’t connect or requires a google search to figure something out send it back!

I’ve had the best luck with Honeywell products.

 

[deezler]

Yeah my home (built in 2015) is stocked with wifi LEDs in any applicable areas. Basically the whole living room and kitchen/dining. We went with phillips hue start kit and then added some other phillips products (under/over cabinet strings, etc) as well as GE "link" bulbs that are fully compatible. The GE link bulbs have been as cheap as $7 apiece, so for 22 wifi bulbs and hub I think we're under $400 total. Maybe $500, but all work perfectly still and should last for many years, and only burn like 9 watts apiece in the meantime.

All my phillips hue bulbs are full color, which can be fun but you don't really need too often. Dim orange colors are nice late at night and for watching movies. It's very nice to hit one of three buttons on the "tap" remote for different mood settings, or many more "scenes" from the smart phone app. You can even have them pulse to music if you want to get crazy. But it's nice to get into bed and then hit "all off" instead of having to walk around and hit switches.

Of course, for people who don't understand the system, the light switches on the walls still work perfectly normal (but bring everything to full bright - white).

I would avoid bluetooth - wifi only. Theres really no reason to use wifi bulbs in places like the bathrooms or utility rooms. Places you go into and turn on the lights, and then turn off when you leave, basically.

TL/DR - I highly recommend them.