Smart lighting fails most often when the intelligence is in the lamp but the wall switch can still cut its power. Deciding where control sits — lamp, switch or a wired system — determines whether the result feels seamless or annoying.
Smart lamps
Cheapest to start, no wiring changes, and easy to move. The catch is the wall switch: turn it off and the lamp is offline. Fine for a bedside lamp, frustrating for a main room unless the switch is replaced or retained as always-on.
Smart switches and modules
Control lives at the wall, so ordinary lamps stay ordinary and the switch still works for everyone in the house. Modules fitted behind existing plates need a deep enough back box, and some need a neutral at the switch — which is exactly the kind of thing worth checking before buying.
Wired systems
Best specified during a rewire or renovation, with dedicated wiring back to a controller. Highest cost, most robust, and by far the hardest to retrofit — which is why it belongs in the first-fix conversation, not the second.
Common questions
- Do I need a neutral at the switch?
- Many smart modules do. Older lighting circuits often do not have one at the switch position.
- Will it still work if the internet drops?
- Local control varies by system. We will tell you which behave sensibly offline.
- Can you install customer-supplied kit?
- Yes, we regularly fit systems chosen by the customer.
- Is it worth doing during a rewire?
- If you want a wired system, that is the moment — retrofitting later is far more disruptive.
Tell us which rooms you want controlled and we will advise the least disruptive route to it.
Related guides
- Getting LED Dimming RightMost LED dimming complaints are a compatibility problem, not a faulty lamp.
- Rewiring During a Renovation, How to Sequence ItA renovation is the cheapest time a house will ever be rewired.
- Planning Outdoor and Garden LightingGood exterior lighting is mostly about restraint, direction and IP ratings.