My New Favorite Light Bulbs
Today I’m sharing a peek at the new smart light bulbs we’re using in our house, and sharing why they’ve totally changed the game for us when it comes to making our home feel cozy and welcoming!
This post is sponsored by Bulbrite Solana
One thing I feel like I’ve talked a lot about since we moved into this new house is lighting.
Good lighting is so important, y’all. This is a truth that I ignored for a very long time – neither of our first two houses had much of a priority on good lighting that was cozy and inviting.
And, let me be clear – when I say we didn’t focus on lighting I’m not saying we didn’t have good light fixtures. I mean, we built an incredible DIY chandelier in our first house and had the dining room light of my dreams in the second house. We did okay with light fixtures…but there’s so much more that goes into good lighting than just that!
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you really should have multiple sources of light in every single room. Ideally, you should have an overhead light plus secondary lighting through lamps or sconces. That’s where I’ve really faltered over the years – I just worried about the overhead lighting, threw some light bulbs in, and called it a day.
Well, I’ve officially seen the error of my ways…and I’m determined to fix it in this house!
So, it only felt natural to give a big enthusiastic yes when the kind folks at Bulbrite reached out and asked if we wanted to share our honest opinion of their Solana Smart LED Bulbs. Because, as excited as I am about focusing on lighting in this house, Corey’s equally excited to focus more on smart features!
It’s like these were made for us.
Bulbrite Solana smart led bulb review
The reason I was so excited about the Solana light bulbs from Bulbrite is that they don’t require any sort of additional hubs, plugs, or fancy devices. The bulb itself is smart and can be controlled with your phone, Alexa, or Google Assistant. All of the other smart lights we’ve tried in the past need a hub to connect, and I don’t love the idea of bringing more stuff into the house than we have to. It was a huge perk to me that all I needed was the new bulbs!
The other thing I really love about the Solana lights is that everything about them is adjustable. You can adjust the brightness, you can adjust the warmth, and you can even set up “scenes” in the app so you can get the perfect lighting for various times of day.
For example, I have an “evening” scene in my app that is scheduled to automatically begin at sunset each night. So, as soon as the sun goes down and my house starts to get dark, the dining room lamp turns on, and the pendants above the island turn on to 50% brightness. It’s cozy, sets the tone for the evening, and instantly makes our house feel inviting and homey.
You can also set up a schedule so your lights automatically turn off at the same time you leave for work, or have them gradually get brighter as your family wakes up for the day.
I love the ability to set up different scenes, because you can create the exact feeling you want for specific parts of the day. If the boys have gone to bed and Corey and I are watching tv in the living room, maybe we just want the dining room lamp on set to 25% brightness – and a little warmer than usual for a cozy glow. But if it’s breakfast time and I need to energize the kids and get everyone dressed and out the door, I might want things a little brighter and I may want the temperature a little on the cooler side.
The options are endless when it comes to how you can set your Solana Smart LED Bulbs up, and I fully intend to use them for every fixture in our house as we begin replacing things!
I wanted to show off some of the versatility of the bulbs, so I set up a few different scenes for you. Currently in our great room, we just have the bulbs above the island and in the dining room lamp. Most of our light fixtures in the great room are canned recessed lights, but we’ll eventually also have smart bulbs in the main living room light (once we replace the fan), and once we add a chandelier to the dining room.
Let’s take a look at our kitchen throughout the day, so you can see how the lights shift and change to meet our needs!
example one: breakfast time
Here’s a look at how we might have things set up for breakfast. I’ve got the pendants above the island on full blast for a nice “time to wake up” mood and I’ve set the temperature to the perfect, cozy glow that isn’t going to make anyone sleepy. I have our schedule set so that this scene starts up at 6:30 every weekday morning as we are waking up, so we get to come into the kitchen for breakfast with the mood already set! Our weekends move a little slower, so I don’t have them come on automatically on those days.
example two: Midday
Once Jackson is off to school and I’m settled in for the work day, I don’t need quite as much light. I like to have the pendants on if I’m working in the kitchen, but our house gets a ton of natural light all day, so I don’t need much. Here, I have the island bulbs set to 25%, which gives me just enough light to see if I’ve managed to get my counters clean, but not so much that I feel like I can’t enjoy the sunlight streaming in.
example Three: early evening
Finally, once the day is over and we’re starting to wind down for the evening, I like the lights to get a little bit dimmer and a little bit cozier. So while Corey is cooking dinner, we usually have the island lights set to about 50% brightness, and the lamp in the dining room is glowing as well. It’s hard to capture the feeling perfectly in pictures, but it’s cozy and inviting, and sets the mood for a relaxed family dinner so well!
I could go on all day about how nice it is to have smart light bulbs (I can turn them off from afar if I accidentally leave the house with the lights on! I can turn the lights on from my car if I get home late and need to see when I get inside! I can have my bedside lamp on and ready for me when I get out of the shower and am ready to read a book!), but I think you get the idea.
solana light bulbs: The specs
If you’re curious about some of the details (because I know some of us get reeeeeal nerdy about our light bulbs) here’s everything else you might want to know:
I tried out two different Solana light bulbs. The first is their Standard Smart LED (which is clear, and perfect for fixtures where the bulb will be visible) and the second is their Standard Smart LED Frost Bulb (which is brighter and good for fixtures where the bulb won’t be visible.
Here are the specs on each bulb:
Smart LED Standard
- Brightness: 600 lumens (40 watt equivalent)
- Light appearance: Offers a range between 2200K – 6500K
- Life: 13.8 years (based on 3 hrs/day)
Smart LED Standard Frost
- Brightness:: 800 lumens (60 watt equivalent)
- Light appearance: Offers a range between 2200K – 6500K
- Life: 22.8 years (based on 3 hrs/day)
Bulbrite also has a pretty wide range of other bulbs, including some that can be turned fun colors, and both globe and Edison-style bulbs! They also offer bulbs for recessed lighting, but our fixtures are all one piece and the bulbs can’t be replaced – so we’re stuck with what we’ve got for now.
Now that I’ve experienced the joy of having smart bulbs in my house, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back! It already annoys me that I only have a few fixtures in my house that I can control with my phone or with Google, so I can assure you we’ll be snagging a few more bulbs soon as we start replacing light fixtures so that we can control our entire house this way.
We’re living in the future, y’all. I feel so fancy!
If you want more info on Bulbrite’s Solana bulbs, just click right here to be taken to their website for all the details on what they offer and where you can purchase.