I saw an ad for the GE Link light bulb starter kit while watching a show on Hulu this weekend. It's $25 for two bulbs and a small hub you plug into the wall. Since these LED bulbs normally cost $10 apiece without any smart features, I figured I'd give a set a shot.
So far they seem to work well given the cost. This is a basic setup that I think is meant to let you see what's possible. I got two kits -- one for my parents' house, one for mine -- and got them set up fairly easily. It's not the easiest thing in the world, but I figured out the little quirks.
It uses the Wink app, which can be used to control a ton of stuff. You gotta buy a Wink hub -- a little more expensive version of the Link hub that this came with, and yes I know how confusing the naming is -- to use the other stuff. But for now I have a pair of LED bulbs I can turn on/off from wherever with my phone.
They're 60W equivalents but yet seem brighter than that. I've got a table lamp and floor lamp in my den that I am using them for, and it's neat to be able to easily dim those lights or turn them off/on. There's a "robot" for turning them off/on whenever I either leave or come home. I've set it up to turn them on 100 percent when I arrive home, so I guess I'll see whether that works tomorrow.
I'm curious if others have experience with stuff like this. Apparently the Wink hub allows you to tie in to Philips Hue stuff, Nest, and a lot of other things. I'd love to replace my door locks with the smart ones since my front door's knob won't open with a key and the back door barely opens. But damn, that's at least $200 for any of the smart locks I have seen.
So far they seem to work well given the cost. This is a basic setup that I think is meant to let you see what's possible. I got two kits -- one for my parents' house, one for mine -- and got them set up fairly easily. It's not the easiest thing in the world, but I figured out the little quirks.
It uses the Wink app, which can be used to control a ton of stuff. You gotta buy a Wink hub -- a little more expensive version of the Link hub that this came with, and yes I know how confusing the naming is -- to use the other stuff. But for now I have a pair of LED bulbs I can turn on/off from wherever with my phone.
They're 60W equivalents but yet seem brighter than that. I've got a table lamp and floor lamp in my den that I am using them for, and it's neat to be able to easily dim those lights or turn them off/on. There's a "robot" for turning them off/on whenever I either leave or come home. I've set it up to turn them on 100 percent when I arrive home, so I guess I'll see whether that works tomorrow.
I'm curious if others have experience with stuff like this. Apparently the Wink hub allows you to tie in to Philips Hue stuff, Nest, and a lot of other things. I'd love to replace my door locks with the smart ones since my front door's knob won't open with a key and the back door barely opens. But damn, that's at least $200 for any of the smart locks I have seen.