Control from the switch or the bulb?

This discussion has been going on from the beginning of the forums and will probably continue for a very long time. :sunglasses: There are people who are very passionate on both sides, but the real answer is that it just depends on the exact use case and your own particular preferences.

If you have multiple bulbs controlled by one switch, it will generally be less expensive to use a smart switch with dumb bulbs.

The main reasons to use smart bulbs are if you want changeable colors (including from cool white to warm white), if you want to create zones in a group of bulbs that are all controlled by one switch, or if you don’t want to do any rewiring. Otherwise a smart switch with dumb bulbs is probably easier and less expensive.

At our house, we use some smart bulbs in areas where we want color or zones, and some smart switches elsewhere.

Both can be good, it just depends on what you need in each place. :sunglasses:

We should also note that it used to be true that it was quite difficult to have a wall switch and smart bulbs, but that is no longer true. There are now a number of options for putting a switch on the wall that can effectively control smart bulbs, including most recently the introduction of smart switch covers which fit over the existing switch. So if you come across any old discussions in the forums that say “but we really need to have a switch on the wall,” you can do that now with smart bulbs, but it does usually meaning adding yet another device, so even more cost on the smart bulb side.

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