That is totally up to you. I personally, would not be interested in it at all. One of my sons, would love it. Its all personal preference. I dont mind turning my lights on and off and it is definitely a lot less expensive.

My parents have a remote control for the bedroom light/fan, which saves them from having to get out of bed to turn it on/off and potentially have to navigate a dark room. I have battery candles with timers that turn on for 4 hours every evening; love them. If you are worried about security, get a security system.

Thank you all! I think I will stick to dumb lighting. If I need an isolated area (bed side switch, for example), I'll add it later.

It is enough of a nightmare trying to pick the best outlets/switches that are not intrusive and install flush (or close to flush) in my drywall and granite backsplash.

My showroom guy doesn't carry Trufig, DesignMod, Sillites, or other brands. Only Legrand. I think Trufig would be pretty expensive, but I'm more worried about what happens down the road when there is a problem (maybe there never is).

We have a Lutron smart lighting system. It’s wonderful. I can control lighting, ceiling fans, and bathroom exhaust fans throughout the house, and outdoors, from the Lutron app on my Apple devices.

Also, the bedrooms have hard wired button panels on the wall, plus simple remotes to control the rooms’ ceiling fans and lights, that sit on night tables. The den and living room, also have hard wired button switches on the walls, plus a simple remote on end tables.

In the master suite, there are hard wired controls on walls…at the entry, plus on either side of the bed. A hard wired remote sits on the night tables, from which I can control the lights and ceiling fan in the bedroom (including the walk-in closets), and the lights and exhaust fan in the bathroom. The bathroom has a wall control for the ceiling and vanity lights, plus the ceiling fan.

The kitchen walls have four Lutron button panels at the two entrances, which control the three layers of lighting…two semi-flush, recessed, and undercabinet. Plus the fixture in the dining nook.

All lighting throughout the house, is dimmable. This was all done during a gut reno of the house we bought in 2015. We are ever grateful our son insisted on this system, and designed it.

" It is enough of a nightmare trying to pick the best outlets/switches that are not intrusive and install flush (or close to flush) in my drywall and granite backsplash. "

For outlets, consider getting under-cabinet angled Plugmold (sometimes called "wiremold"). Plugmold keeps the outlets out of the backsplash but still easily accessible. It also provides outlets all along the counter, not just in a few places.

You don't want a flat plugmold since that will make it more difficult to access the outlets, you want "angled" plugmold. Note that you can DIY the angle by mounting flat plugmold on an angled piece of wood under the cabinet, if you prefer.

The only situation I would recommend standard in-the-backsplash outlets would be behind something on the counter & plugged in all the time like a coffeemaker.

I think I might be getting old! I am 63 and used to getting up and turning my lights on and off. I don't carry my cell phone in my pocket and don't always have it next to me.

What is easier, getting up and turning the lights on and off at the wall switch (which is always in the same place) or getting up and walking through my home looking to see where I left the cell phone.

I also worry. What happens when I lose my cell phone or drop it in the toilet? What happens when the internet goes out or the cell towers are compromised (thinking about when the cell phone didn't work during the S CA wildfires).

I don't always go to bed at the exact same time - do I want to schedule the lights to turn off while I am in the middle of hanging a picture because I am usually in bed by this time?

Nope - I will stick to my old fashioned light switches and keep using my phone to make phone calls and send/receive text messages. (I have gotten used to using my cell phone as a camera and no longer carry a camera on vacation!).

One thing I did purchase and love is a remote controlled outlet that I use in my bedroom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RGN9DY9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

It has two remote controls that turn my bedside lamp on and off. I have one by the bedroom door and one on my nightstand.

The only other smart device that I sometimes really like is my GE Cafe Range. It has a temperature probe that I can place in a roast and I can monitor how close to done it is without getting up and going into the kitchen.

I am in the "No" camp when it comes to smart switches and outlets. Smart bulbs, in targeted locations where they really improve life are nice. I am in IT, and it is incredibly expensive and wasteful to have a lot of switches and outlets that will have to be replaced when the technology is completely different in 5-8 years. I would rather flick a mechanical switch than spend a lot of time and money fiddling with my home network and "smart" systems (doesn't seem very smart to me). Playing with agravating home network issues is not how I see myself spending my precious spare time.

There are YouTube videos that cover this much better than I can but here are a few points to consider: The home networking technologies are rapidly evolving. A) As software updates come out for your wireless router, and your home networking technology, the firmware on your switches will fall out of date. Eventually you will need to replace all of your smart wiring components. B) The switches and outlets have to pair to your wifi network, and they can lose their pairing. There is usually a tiny hidden button on a switch to pair again, but you may have to get a flashlight to do it beause your lights will be off! C) The more switches and outlets you have, the more network traffic you are creating, which will clog your home network and slow down your internet if you don't upgrade to a more complex network (more hardware, more complexity, more cost, more time) to manage your internet traffic. People have better luck with brands like Lutron (more expensive), but they are not immune to these issues. Lutron and other premium brands make great products, but they cannot control the evolution of home networking systems and they cannot evade these problems.

Some smart devices receive software updates, so they are more likely to keep pace with your home network as it evolves with it's own software and hardware changes. Devices like this are less succeptible to issue A above, but still fall prey to issues B and C. The Nest thermostat is a good example of a product that gets software updates, and has some longevity, compared to "smart" but cannot adapt devices like switches.

Computer drives used to fail far more often, and eventually "solid state" (super reliable) drives became the norm, and computers now crash a lot less. The mechanical switches and outlets we grew up with are already "solid state". Smart technologies are often more marketing and fads than life-changing improvements. (I recently saw a smart blender that you can pair to your phone.) Smart devices also help manufacturers make cheaper products by taking the controls off the product, and requireing the purchaser to supply the control console in the form of a smart phone or tablet. Example: Roomba, Apple, and Garmin don't need to add the cost and complexity (profit reducers) of a set of buttons and a screen on their vacuums/watchs if they make it a smart device and put that all on an app instead. In some cases this is a great thing for the manufacturer and consumer, and in other cases it leads to a lot of headach and extra dollars for the consumer.

I minimize smart devices in my home, and I think my quality of life is better for it. While others are fiddling with that stuff, I am going to be cooking, going out, entertaining, gardening, riding my horse, going to yoga, and I am going to have more money in the bank. You do you. 💗

Hard NO.

What is easier, getting up and turning the lights on and off at the wall switch (which is always in the same place) or getting up and walking through my home looking to see where I left the cell phone."

^^ Perfectly said; agree 2000%.

More than that I refuse to have anything in my home on the Internet of Things (IoT). Too much chance of things going wrong -- internet outages and getting hacked. You can jump up and down all you want about your firewalls and how it won't happen to you, but it's all hackable. Pentagon, anyone? Yea, too cold up here to be without heat in the winter because some yahoo decided to target the system and I can't turn on the furnace or I leave for work only to come home to a cleaned-out house because the "smart" dumb door locks and security system got hacked. Piece of cake for cybercriminals.

I fooled around with an Amazon Echo for a few minutes and decided I didn't need such a device...or smart lighting. What I did install was Lutron dimmer/motion sensors and motion sensors in hallways and the kitchen, respectively. It's really convenient to have the lights come on when it's dark and turn off after a pre-programmed amount of time. The Lutron products are trainable to only turn on the lights when its dark, not every time you pass by.

Of course, you can always later replace dumb switches with smart models such as those from tp-link.

Each to his/her own.

Only our lights are connected through wifi. Not the various entry door locks.

For those who didn’t read my previous post in it’s entirety…in addition to having all lights throughout the inside and outside of the house wifi connected, and controlled via an app…all lighting is also hardwired. There are wall switches in every room. So this drama about losing one’s cell phone and not being able to control the lights, is non existent.

Besides, the app is used mostly to control lights from a distance. Living with people who are prone (at times) to leave lights on after leaving a room, I can check the app and turn off any of those lights…from anywhere.

Is it hard to get up to turn on/off a light switch? Well, yeah, for this immunosupressed person, who frequently spends time in bed with viral or bacterial infections …or, for my husband who suffers from chronic back issues, it can be. Convenience is our friend.

We got caught up in some of the "glitzy" sales pitches when building and ended up using a Crestron system for lighting in all public interior spaces and exterior. It works fine and it is nice to be able to press just one button in my bedroom (and a few other rooms) and turn on every single light inside and outside if you hear a strange noise at night.

The main issue is that I didn't realize how proprietary the software is and how a tech has to makes any programming changes by coming to the house. So if I decided I no longer want my outdoor light to stay on till 2 am, I can't change the settings myself! Which is crazy.

Wish I had looked at some of the other options that are more customizable by the end user.

@chispa, our Lutron system is entirely customer customizeable. In fact, our 36yo lawyer son installed it. He did/does all of the programming.

Whatever switch system you choose, you need good lighting in your kitchen. Task lighting at minimum 450 lumens at the counter for your work zones. Ambient lighting to generally light the whole space. Accent lighting is optional as decorative fixtures with usually minimum light sources. All led on dimmers. Led bulbs come in different warmth to stark levels of white. 2700k yellow white to 6000k bright stark white.

We also have Crestron. Yes, it is proprietary but the tech doesn't need to come to the house to change it, he can do it on his own computer.

Party tricks. Not interested, especially if it'd mean finding my phone every time I wanted to change something.

What I do like: Motion sensored lights that turn on when you enter a room (such as a laundry, pantry or walk-in closet.

It's a no to smart lighting for me. I wouldn't mind motion sensored in my pantry but that is about it. I'm good with flicking a switch to turn things on and off.

Well, maybe it could be fun to turn the lights out on my husband from my phone when he’s on the toilet.🙂. Oh wait, he’s on his phone too. OK, when he’s in the shower.

ShadyWillowFarm "Oh wait, he’s on his phone too."

When he's on the toilet, won't his hands also be on, well, you know...

A friend of mine owns a beautiful independent lighting store. New build 15 years ago with a smart system. Lights changed by time of day and customer activity within the space. Since then we’ve had two new lighting technologies (cfl and led) and 15 years of software changes. The manufacturer no longer supports this old system, LEDs don’t draw enough wattage for the system to see them, random lights flash, nothing dims. Give me a dumb switch any day! I don’t want an app or a remote control.

We love our smart lights, sprinklers, solar system, locks, vacuum, all of it. Especially the vacuum, whch cleans whenver we’re not there. Being able to let people in, or tell them to go away, without actually having to come to the door, is also great.

However, we are both retired software developers, which no doubt impacts our tolerance for bit twiddling (high).