IKEA has offered flat-packed furniture for years at affordable prices, but have you heard of its smart lighting kits? These affordable kits are quite enticing for even the average tech enthusiast, but should you get one?
To help you decide, here are 8 things you should know before and after buying IKEA TRÅDFRI smart lighting!
IKEA Smart Lighting
IKEA offers smart lighting under the banner of TRÅDFRI, in which LED bulbs can be controlled via smart lighting products. This smart lighting is based on ZigBee protocol and has a range of 32 feet when not blocked by any walls or extended by signal repeaters. IKEA smart lights can also be connected to Amazon Echo/Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Philips Hue.
To learn more about the pricing of IKEA smart lighting, if you need a smart hub, bulb sizes, and more, keep on reading!
How Expensive Is IKEA Smart Lighting?
IKEA’s TRÅDFRI smart lighting range covers 19 different products and parts, some of which are starter kits, and others are simply different sizes of LED bulbs intended to fit a variety of lamps.
The cheapest starter kit available for IKEA smart lighting is the TRÅDFRI Dimmer Kit, costing $12.99, and the more expensive Gateway kit (which contains bulbs and a hub) will cost $69.99.
Other parts for TRÅDFRI smart lighting, such as motion sensors and wireless dimmers, will range between $7.99 and $35.
If you need the LED bulbs, however, this will range between $8.99 and $15.99, depending on the size you need.
You can also purchase a TRÅDFRI LED driver for up to $37, connecting to MITTLED, STRÖMLINJE, and NORRFLY integrated lighting.
Do I Need A Hub For IKEA Smart Lighting?
Yes, you will need a hub for your IKEA smart lighting.
IKEA’s TRÅDFRI brand has a hub gateway that will cost $35, however, you can also obtain this in IKEA’s TRÅDFRI Gateway Kit ($69.99).
As this smart lighting system works on the Zigbee protocol, you can also connect your smart lighting to any other smart speaker hub as well, such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Do I Need To Install The IKEA Home Smart App For Smart Lighting?
To use the LED lighting with your IKEA Smart Lighting kit, you will need to install the TRÅDFRI app, or IKEA Home Smart App.
From this app, you will control the entire IKEA Smart Lighting system; from setting up colors in different rooms to create moods to simply turning the lights off.
Do IKEA Smart Lighting Bulbs Come In Different Sizes?
Yes, IKEA offers its LED smart lighting bulbs in different sizes to suit customer needs. These sizes include:
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E26 (25W)
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E12 (48W)
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E26 (60W) Clear Bulb
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E26 (60W) Opal Bulb
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E26 (72W)
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb E12 (450 lumen)
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb GU10 (400 lumens) White Spectrum
- TRÅDFRI LED Bulb GU10 (400 lumens) Warm White
What Is A Smart Lighting Mood?
A mood is when you set a color and brightness for a specific group of lights. These can be controlled directly from the IKEA Home Smart app, and can be organized perfectly to your liking.
For example, you can set the lighting to a warm light for an evening meal and watch television, or you can set the lighting to be a little brighter when you need to work on something.
IKEA offers an educational video to assist users in creating and managing moods in their IKEA Home Smart app, helping customers learn how to use their new smart lighting system in under a minute.
Can IKEA Smart Lighting Wake Me Up In The Morning?
Yes, there is an option in your IKEA Home Smart app that can set a timer to help wake you up in the morning by changing the light slowly from warm to bright.
You can activate this setting by creating a “Rise and Shine” timer on your phone, which will start 30 minutes before the time you set it.
Can I Link My IKEA Smart Lighting With My Smart Speaker?
IKEA Smart Lighting runs on the Zigbee protocol, which connects the majority of smart home speakers together, such as Amazon Echo.
This protocol allows other Smart technology to communicate with each other, even if they are different brands.
If you already have a smart speaker at home and want to get smart lighting, you wouldn’t need to buy a TRÅDFRI gateway immediately to use it.
However, if you purchase a TRÅDFRI for your IKEA Smart Lighting, you will have to factory reset your steering device and re-pair your light sources.
Thankfully, the IKEA Home Smart app has a basic step-by-step guide on how to do so.
Can I Reset My IKEA Smart Lighting If I Move Home?
If you want to move home and need to reset everything, your IKEA Home Smart app should be able to instruct you on how to do so.
Under the app, there should be an option named “Clear All Settings” which you can use to erase your personalized settings and revert them to the factory default settings.
If you want to know more about shopping at IKEA, you can also see our related posts on whether or not IKEA bulbs are dimmable, the IKEA bulb equivalent guide, and the IKEA returns policy without a receipt.
Conclusion
IKEA’s Smart Lighting brand, under the name TRÅDFRI, is an affordable way to begin controlling your home lighting from the comfort of your phone.
TRÅDFRI lighting is controlled by the IKEA Home Smart app and requires a hub to run through, which is available in the Gateway kit, or on its own for $35.
However you can also connect your smart lights to another smart home speaker such as an Amazon Echo as they run on the same system.
