Just about everyone knows you can set your smart home lights up so that you can control them with an app, or give them voice commands.
But those tired old outdoor lights can also be updated to fab new smart ones.
Quick version: the #1 garden lights in 2024 is the Philips Hue Turaco Pedestal – Amazon. These outdoor lights are easy to setup and cutomise and are easy to integrate with your smart home and other smart devices.
Using your home WiFi network and any one of the modern smart garden lights available now, you can bring your outside lights up to date and enjoy the benefits of controlling them with your smart phone or voice.
This guide will cover everything you need to know about smart outdoor lights and how you can get them set up in your garden or outdoor spaces. Protect your property or just create some gorgeous ambient lighting. Lets dive in and learn how to get started with smart outdoor lights.
What’s the UK’s Best smart garden lights in 2022?
Like the sound of getting some smart outdoor lights? The next bit of our guide looks at the current best products out there and helps you pick ones that are right for your garden.
![Philips Hue Econic White and Colour Ambiance Led Smart Garden Wall Light [Square Porch Light]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xldeLntaL.jpg)
The top products we recommend are:
- Philips Hue Turaco LED Smart Outdoor Garden Pedestal
- Philips Hue White and Colour Ambiance
- Arsvita Smart Table Lamp
- LE iLUX 10W RGB Flood Light
- Arlo ALS1101 Smart Home Security Light
- Philips Hue Turaco LED Smart Outdoor Garden Wall Lantern
#1 – Philips Hue Turaco LED Smart Outdoor Garden Pedestal
So how can lights be smart? Well lets look at the Philips range of outdoor lights, like these fab pedastol lights in their Hue product range. One of the smart things they do is to use home or away to turn the lights off when you’re not there and have them on for when you get home.
Another clever old thing these lights can do is to learn schedules. A simple example is getting your smart garden lights to turn on the at sunset, and turn off at sunrise. You’ll need to get these lights wired into a mains supply but once fitted they will bring a super-smart glow to any path or walkway.
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- IP44 waterproof
- Tough aluminium that can take punishment from UK weather
- Can be dimmed
- Control these smart lights with Alexa
- Easy to set up timers
See more at Amazon
#2 – Philips Hue Impress Wall Lantern
The Philips Huge ‘Impress’ is a simply lovely light with a strong aesthetic you’ll want to show off. It can be set to emit normal light which you can dim to the perfect level for you, or it can also do any one of 16 million colours. Great for outdoor entertainment and parties. It works with other Hue products you might have, or on it’s own and can be controlled with the app – or Alexa if you have one. It looks good and it’s also very robust… and lots of FUN!
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- Bright 1200 lumens display
- Easy to tune light to your level
- App control
- Alexa control
- High quality materials only
See more at Amazon
#3 – Arsvita Smart Table Lamp
Do you love a cheap gadget? Me too – as long as it’s good! How about a smart light that doesn’t cost the earth. If you’re looking to dip your toe into the world of smart garden lights, but don’t want to spend a fortune trying it out, then take a look at the awesome little Arsvita Smart Table lamp. It works with Alexa, can be controlled with the feature packed free app, and works a treat outside. Slap it in the center of the table on nights in the garden and amaze your guests.
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- Cheap outdoor smart light
- Works with Alexa
- Has a great app
- No setup
- Cool ‘EGG’ shape design
See more at Amazon
#4 – LE iLUX 10W RGB Flood Light
if you think you have seen flood lights before, you really need to check out these fantastic flood lights from Lighting Ever. They come in a pack of 3 and although they’re only 10w, they’re ridiculously bright. The LED bulbs don’t ever need changing and you can link up to FIFTY of them together. (If you want your house to look like something from a Spielberg movie set…) You can also sync the lighting with music for some mind-blowing party effects. It’s all controlled with one simple app. Oh, the boring stuff – it’s also IP65 waterproof!
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- Air quality, motion and sound alerts
- Multi-coloured remote control night light
- Play audio or talk to baby
- Up to 6 hours full HD recording
See more at Amazon
#5 – Arlo ALS1101 Smart Home Security Light
if you’re looking for some serious protection for your property then fitting a good security light is definitely one of the smart choices you can make. And this outdoor smart light from Arlo is a brilliant way to keep your property safe. Unlike a lot of lights, the Arlo one is really easy to setup because it’s wire free. It’s got the latest motion sensor built in, with live updates being sent out to your mobile wherever you are. The super bright LED can bet set to different colours and everything is controlled the smart way with the free downloadable app.
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- No wires!
- Smart controlled with the Arlo App
- Lots of options – flash, change colour, beam width and more
- Add more lights to the system if you need to
- Link your camera with your light easily
See more at Amazon
#6 – Philips Hue White LED Welcome Garden Floodlight
The next light you might want to look at is a more practical floodlight that’s 100% compatible with your Alexa smart speaker. This smart garden light has a very robust maintenance-free design along with a very strong light output. It uses smart geo-fencing to detect where you are so it can turn on and off intelligently for when you need it. Connects to your existing Hue bridge (which you’ll need to buy as an extra, if you don’t have it. This product is very popular at the minute and a great buy for anyone not sure which outdoor smart light to go for.
What’s awesome about this outdoor light?
- Control your light even if you’re not home
- Works with Philips Hue hub system
- Set schedules easily
- Go hands free with voice control
- Easy dimming
See more at Amazon
Smart Garden Lights, lighting of the future!
Some cool stuff you can do with your new smart garden outside bulbs
Have you ever had those outdoor lights with those HUGE ugly sensors on them that ping on when when you get near them? Did yours ever flash on and off every time it was windy, and you have to mess around with the sensitivity slider underneath? If you haven’t then you’re lucky!
Modern smart garden lights mean you won’t ever have to mess around with things like that. They use more advanced tech to make life a bit easier. Forget clunky sensors. Smart outdoor lights can use the internet and track your location to see where you are, and turn on the lights for when you get home.
- Change brightness and dim your lights
- Set the colour of the lighting
- Control everything from your phone
- Save power and only turn on when really needed
- Use your voice to control outdoor lighting
Hub or no hub?
Some outdoor smart lights require a ‘hub’ – a bit of hardware, similar to a WiFi router, that connects all the separate outdoor lights together. Examples of this are the Philips Smart Hue system.
“Thankfully outdoor smart lights tend to feature lovely new LED bulbs that, in many cases, won’t ever need changing.”
If you’re buying separate bulbs, check to see if a hub is required. It’s normally stated in the product description. The majority of smart garden lights won’t require a hub however, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
The joy of LED outdoor smart lights!
Does anyone ever look forward to changing bulbs? We’ve got a fairly old house and the amount of times I have to change bulbs that have popped. Outside ones are even worse! Figuring out how to get into the rusty casing and then making your way through the spider webs. Yuk! Thankfully outdoor smart lights tend to feature lovely new LED bulbs that, in many cases, won’t ever need changing.
Not only that, the other benefit to outdoor LED lights is they give off incredibly strong light at really low watts. You’ll save a lot of money getting an LED light system for your garden and outside your property.
Different kinds of smart outdoor lighting
There’s actually a decent range of smart outside lights on the market today that will look great in any modern garden. Some popular ‘types’ are:
Wall Lanterns – Lights that are attached to the wall and give off lighting are a great way to add a modern, stylish lighting to ourside any home. They don’t take up much space and look great.
Lamp post / bollard style smart lights – these gorgeous free-standing lights don’t just look elegant, they throw lighting in every direction around them. They’re great for illuminating those dark corners of the garden.
Smart flood lights – These are lights that can be adjusted to light up any outdoor space just how you want it. The workhorse lights that are ideal for driveways and paths, or for those dark corners where the bins go. Traditionally used to as part of security systems for outdoors.
Garden pedestal lights – These shorter, low-level lights are normally used along paths and ideally you’ll need several of them to get the right effect. Useful for brightening up a gloomy walkway or garden path. They can look fantastic in any garden.
Smart spot lights – Got a feature of your garden you want to highlight? Want to cast fantasy style blue lighting onto your pond at night? Spot lights are the way to go. These lights direct strong light at a specific area and are great for picking out parts of your outdoor space you want people to notice.
Some other things to think about with your new smart garden lighting
Voice control with Alexa?
One of the most common uses of smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Dot is to control your smart home’s lighting with voice commands. But you can also control your outside smart lights with Alexa too. You can do anything from basic commands like ‘turn the garden lights off’, up to pretty crazy stuff like ‘turn the garden purple’, or just ‘dim the garden lights to 40%. If you own an Alexa device, then definitely check whether your new outdoor lights support Alexa!
Philips are one of the best brands to go for
Actually, Philips are one of the major brands making quality outdoor and indoor smart lighting. While other companies are playing catch-up, or are yet to dive into smart lighting, Philips have a whopping range of great products, all compatible with each other, that work with Alexa and can be controlled with either a free app on your smart phone or via smart speaker. Their outdoor lighting comes under the same make as their indoor smart lights – namely the Hue range. And it covers all types from pedestals to wall lights.
Waterproofing
“Anything from IP4 waterproofing upwards is perfectly suited to handle the worst of the UK’s weather.”
It goes without saying that if you’re buying smart outdoor lighting for a UK property – its bloody well better be WATERPROOF! While every product is going to claim it’s waterproof, how can you be sure you’re not going to find water has gotten inside the housing and ruined your lovely new smart light?
What you need to look out for is the IP rating of the product. IP rating is a measure of how well protected a product actually is against everything from liquids to dust. Liquid goes on a scale from 0 (not protected) up to 8 – immersion of up to 1m. Anything from IP4 waterproofing upwards is perfectly suited to handle the worst of the UK’s weather.
Let me know in the comments down below how your smart home is coming along. Did you use any of these products? Which smart garden lights are you using that you think our readers will love?
