Saving electricity with smart dimmable light bulbs

A while ago I swapped all my light bulbs with smart dimmable ones. It was a choice dictated by convenience, as I was looking for both dimmable lights and a solution to control them remotely, without the need for traditional switches.

While I usually adjust the brightness based on the practical necessity to have more or less light during specific activities, it is important to consider that a lower setting also results in a lower power consumption.

I was quite curious to find out the exact amount of energy used in relation to the brightness, so I measured it using a Watt meter.

I was honestly impressed discovering that setting the light at 20% of its maximum brightness saves 88% of the electricity that would be required to run the same lamp at 100%.

Using it at 5% brightness, which is just enough of a filling light when I work at the computer, saves 93% energy in total.

Compared to the past, lights are now quite efficient in terms of consumption, so even though dimming the lights reduces power consumption in a relatively significant manner, just a few lightbulbs will have just a minor impact on the final bill, where other larger appliances weight much more.

The drawback of smart bulbs is the “phantom power” that they need to operate even when switched off, as they are still running in the background waiting for inputs from the home network. Testing this scenario, I observed that the consumption had dropped to just 0.4kWh.

It’s definitely not nothing, but at the end of the day the numbers suggest a clear verdict.