7 Key Lighting Scenes to Use in Your Smart Lighting Control System

“Smart lighting” is often thought about as a few simple smart bulbs or smart plugs purchased from a big box store, used to add a few lights to an app on your phone or your Alexa. Though these are a readily accessible option, the functionality provided by a true lighting control system can go so much deeper.

What is a lighting control system?

In short, a lighting control system uses a variety of connected devices and protocols to unify the lighting across a home or business onto one centralized digital platform. The best systems typically span several device types and applications to serve each need best around the property.

Professional-grade lighting control systems, like the Crestron Home systems we provide at MAVi, typically feature in-wall keypads that provide custom-engravable buttons that can trigger anything you want across the property. One of the most useful applications of this is Scenes.

What is a Scene?

You can think of Scenes as preset snapshots of a certain look or feel in a space. Scenes can cover just one room, or the entire house. Imagine you might ordinarily have 20 or 30 different light switches across one level of your home. To achieve a specific mood or set the lights for a given occasion, you have to walk around to every one of those switches and turn it on, off, or dim it manually.

Instead, you can make use of the power of Scenes for one touch of a button to activate the entire space.

Here are some practical scenes that can benefit any household:

1. Good Morning

Whether you have a strict routine, or every day looks a little different, there are probably certain things you do every morning. Do you like to head to your kitchen to make some morning coffee? Get energized with a workout in the gym? Take a nice, leisurely shower? Whatever your mornings look like, set the lighting to the perfect levels that you don’t have to think about. Even add a slow fade to wake up gently.

2. Goodnight

Winding down at the end of a long day should be a relaxing, restful process. The last thing you want to do is get up out of the comfort of your bed to go shut down the house. Whether it’s kids leaving lights on all over the place, remembering to leave a night light on for your spouse, or simply preparing the bedroom for sleep, the Goodnight scene instantly sets everything just right, for peace of mind and convenience. Even add a bedside keypad for built-in control, or use your phone app.

3. Away (or Goodbye)

Leave the house in style – by pressing the “Away” button by your back door. Make sure lights are never left on again, from important spaces like the kitchen and great room all the way to the basement storage room or your kids’ closets. One scene can turn everything off. With a 10 second fade, leave yourself time to get out the door before the lights go out. Even set automated schedules to run lamps or other lights while you’re gone – so no one can tell you’re out.

4. Home (or Welcome)

Don’t come home to a dark house again. A Welcome Home scene can quickly and easily activate lights in all of your key entry points and main pathways, from the press of a single button. Conveniently locate these near the garage or mudroom door, the front door, and anywhere else you regularly arrive from. Or, remotely access your phone app before you drive home, so everything is already prepared for you. Even add voice control, like Josh.ai, for the times your hands are full of groceries.

5. Entertain (or Party)

Having a party? You should focus on the food, drinks, and frantically cleaning that messy bathroom. Setting your lighting just right can go to the bottom of the list with a perfectly curated Entertain scene. Provide just enough light where you need it, while keeping the environment moody (or festive) – whatever’s perfect for your style.

6. Relax (or Mood)

Lighting can make or break an atmosphere. When you’re winding down after a long or stressful day, the perfect, relaxing mood light really sets the tone. With a Relax scene, you can turn on all of your decorative and accent lights to soft, moody levels, while turning off bright overhead lighting that really kills the vibe. Your blood pressure will thank you.

7. Night Light (or Pathway)

Getting up in the middle of the night for a glass of water? Letting the dog out? Just heard a noise somewhere else in the house? A Night Light scene is the perfect way to turn the right light on to cover all of these moments, all without disrupting your sleep (or more importantly, your spouse’s!) Provide a gentle, dim pathway between key places like the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Throw in some outside lights like flood lights or porch lights, and you’ve got the perfect option for your late-night activities, all with the quick press of a button.

These are some of our favorite ideas that we use on every project, and we think you’ll be sure to love them too. Got another idea? Need something special for your exact routines? The flexibility of a Crestron Home system has you covered!