Hype the holiday hues

Hype the holiday hues Add chromatic charm to your home with color-changing lights this season

Holiday lights festooned around your interiors provide a bright, festive, and colorful sparkle to your seasonal decor. But the truth is that conventional string lights, bulbs, and related fixtures are downright dumb; on their own, they can’t be programmed or personalized to make for a custom Christmas celebration.

Here’s an illuminating idea: Implement colorchanging and voice-controlled smart lights into your indoor display this year. Thanks to a growing number of wireless, smart assistantactivated, and smartphone app-controlled devices available on the market, you can accent your holiday decorating, liven up December gettogethers, and even get some of these gadgets to sync to your favorite Christmas carols.

“There are things that the newest lights can do that no traditional string lights could ever do, and that means the experiences are richer, more impressive, and longer-lasting,” says Ignacio Rosenberg, director of business development for Chicago-based Lightswitch, Inc., a visual design firm. “Now, we can all expect much more sophistication and visual panache in our homes and during holiday parties.”

Tim Rider, consumer connected product marketing manager for Signify US, the Somerset, New Jersey-based parent company of Philips Hue, says color-changing lights can bring new life to your tried-and-true holiday decor.

“You can instantly create the perfect atmosphere, whether you’re having a family dinner, opening gifts, or enjoying your favorite holiday movie,” notes Rider.

What’s more, you can save money and safeguard your home using these LED products.

“LED lights use up to 90% less energy and have a lifespan typically up to 50,000 hours — depending on the brand,” says Eric Regan, CEO of Mission Painting & Holiday Lighting in Overland Park, Kansas. “Plus, smart LED lights are much less of a fire hazard; most burn around 86°F, compared to 334°F for most incandescent lights.”

One breakthrough in recent years is the increasingly affordable color light strip — a continuous and flexible circuit board strip sporting hundreds of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), usually equipped with adhesive backing for ease of hanging. Many of these strips can be cut and reconnected to make special shapes — such as a rectangle you can attach to the back of your TV set for a cool backlight glow effect on the wall behind. Made by brands like C by GE, Nexlux, Lifx, Govee, and TP-Link, today’s smart light strips boast millions of colors and can pulse or change colors to the beat of tunes playing, making them ideal for fun gatherings.

“You can use a flexible light strip to line your fireplace mantel and accent holiday displays, or weave one into a garland on a staircase to add a festive focal point,” says Rider, citing the Bluetooth-controlled Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus as a product capable of these feats.

Additionally, you can swap out the standard bulbs in your light fixture sockets with smart LED bulbs that, like smart light strips, operate via Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and mobile apps. Lifx, Philips Hue, Sylvania, Feit, Wyze, C by GE, and others all make quality color-changing smart bulbs that can be fine-tuned to display cozy Christmas colors.

One new twist on this formula comes in the form of LED light panels offered in various shapes, such as connecting triangles or hexagons you can hang on the wall.

“Nanoleaf sells multiple flat light panel shapes that can be built into patterns you can create different color themes for,” says Rosenberg.

Manufacturers are also creating small smart lamps that can add a unique colorful radiance to any room, such as the Amazon Echo Glow and Philips Hue Go.

“Lifx also now offers a smart bulb shaped like and mimicking the look of a candle flame,” Rosenberg adds.

If you’re simply looking for more convenient control of your non-smart lights — such as those old Christmas tree string lights — consider connecting them to a smart plug that can be operated by voice assistant or app.

Want to spice up your holiday happening even more? As mentioned, many of these smart lights can be synchronized to music, either using a built-in microphone (included in some strip lights) or with the help of an app. You can create a custom music-and-light show with Philips Hue lights, for instance, using computer and mobile apps like Hue Sync, Hue Disco, or Hue Christmas.