With cutting-edge technology, everything becomes advance and smart. It is the same with light bulbs. Many people consider house automation. Applying smart bulbs is the first step of house automation for most people. However, you should also have knowledge about smart bulb troubleshooting when you are applying smart bulbs to your household.
You can always request the help of a mechanic for smart bulb troubleshooting but if you have a ground knowledge in smart bulb troubleshooting you might be able to do it yourself and save a lot of trouble, money, and time too. So in this article, we are going to talk about smart bulb troubleshooting.
How do Smart bulbs work?
To get into the topic of smart bulb troubleshooting, let us first learn how the smart bulb works.
The smart bulbs receive signals to their inbuilt transmissions from your smart devices. The signals are the commands on what behavior is expected from the bulb. You can turn on and off, change colors or dim the lights using the devices connected to the smart bulb.
Why aren’t my smart bulbs working?
To start smart bulb troubleshooting, you should first figure out the reason why the bulb is not working. There can be different reasons for that and it can be internal problems of the bulbs due to their complex building mechanism or can be external problems. Here, we are going to get into details about some of those causes.
The external causes for a smart bulb to stop working are such as,
- Power fluctuations
- Faulty electrical installations
- Incompatible dimmers
- Unsuitable transformer for low voltage lamps
Or it could be simple as your bulb has exceeded its life expectancy. Get these facts confirmed to start smart bulb troubleshooting. However, there are defects you can see with the above-mentioned underline causes.
- Lamps faulty after a little period of time
- The ceiling light does not work
- Lamps go on and off
How to start smart bulbs troubleshooting these defects?
If these kinds of things happen to your smart bulbs and you wish to do a smart bulb troubleshooting, here are the steps you should follow. First, you have to confirm that there are no external influencers as to why this is happening. Also, check whether the bulbs are working and the holders are working. You can simply connect the smart bulb to a different place and check it. These simple steps are important for smart bulb troubleshooting. If it is not the case, check whether your lamps are standard and quality products. Replacing no-name lamps is the recommended smart bulb troubleshooting measure in that case. Then check if the problem is with the operations of the dimmer. Your smart bulbs and the dimmers should be marked as dimmable if you want to operate the bulbs on a dimmer.
Then check the transformer. Problems of old halogen transformers often occur when switching old light sources to Smart LED bulbs. Replacing the transformer will be the way of smart bulb troubleshooting for this issue. If you have motion sensors in your smart bulbs, you should check if they have defects and choose a suitable motion detector.
These steps will help smart bulb troubleshooting on your own if the problem is not that severe.
Why is my smart bulb not connecting?
If your smart bulb is not connecting to the platform or devices here are some tips on smart bulb troubleshooting for that problem. As always, for smart bulb troubleshooting, we should identify the cause of the problem.
First, check if you have entered the correct network and correct passwords. Smart bulb troubleshooting can be as simple as correctly entering a password.
If your Wi-Fi network is not a 2.4GHz network, then the smart bulb will not connect to your Wi-Fi Network. Also if there is a VPN app running in the background of your device, the connection will not be established between the smart bulb and the Wi-Fi network.
Also, it could be a problem with your Wi-Fi network and coverage, so make sure to test your Wi-Fi network on another device too.
If the bulbs are out of the network coverage of your Wi-Fi, the bulbs will not connect. You can do the smart bulb troubleshooting by upgrading the router or adding a range extender to the router.
If your smart assistant like Alexa or Siri cannot discover the problem, you can try resetting the device. You can get the instructions specific to the device you use from the company app or website. Follow through the steps as instructed and connect the device again to the smart bulb and probably it will do the trick on smart bulb troubleshooting. Learn about which smart bulbs works with Alexa.
Can I use smart bulbs without a hub?
You can in fact use smart bulbs without a hub. There are smart bulbs designed that connects directly to the Wi-Fi network. You can buy these bulbs from your local shops or smart bulbs amazon or other online shops. These bulbs can be controlled via your smartphone, voice, or smart assistants. Therefore, you do not have to install a hub to control these types of smart bulbs.
Can I use smart bulbs without WiFi?
There are smart bulbs in the market that do not require a Wi-Fi network to be controlled. Normally these bulbs use Bluetooth and Z-Wave technology. Turn on the Bluetooth connection in your smartphone and it will automatically detect the bulbs. Then you can connect them to your phone and control them. Bluetooth-connected smart bulbs do not require an internet connection to function. So for these smart light bulbs WiFi is not a requirement.
You can choose and order any of these types of smart bulbs from amazon smart light bulbs.
Can you link two smart bulbs together?
You can link or group your smart bulbs to function together. Many smart bulb controlling apps offer this function. This is a great option if you want to turn on and off several smart light bulbs at once. As an example, if you have four smart bulbs in the kitchen, after grouping them in the app, you can turn them all on at once as one unit. Also, the bulbs themselves work as a network by transmitting signals from one bulb to its next nearest bulb.
How do I get my smart light back online?
You can begin smart bulb troubleshooting this problem if the Wi-Fi light status is offline. Also, if the lights are flashing, it means the bulbs are offline. This could normally occur because of a power outage or when a bulb is disconnected from the router service due to an interruption to the network. Following the steps on the user manual will do the smart bulb troubleshooting for this issue.
For the ease of your smart bulb troubleshooting process, here are the instructions and steps you have to follow.
This is smart bulb troubleshooting by manually resetting the smart bulb.
First, you have to turn off the smart bulb. Keep it turned off for 2 seconds. Then turn it on and keep it turned on for 2 seconds. You have to repeat this process three more times, meaning that the process will have to happen a total of 4 times. When the fourth time is completed, the bulb will flash. The flashing of the smart bulb indicates that the resetting was successfully done. This process is the way of smart bulb troubleshooting for many issues with smart bulbs.
How do I reconnect my smart bulb?
If you have disconnected the smart bulbs or if they have been automatically disconnected, you can follow these instructions for smart bulb troubleshooting.
First, make sure you have the right app downloaded to your phone and if there are updates to do, make the necessary updates.
Check your internet and Wi-Fi connection. The bulbs need a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network. You should connect your mobile phone or device to the internet too. Wrong WiFi network will prevent the smart bulb troubleshooting.
If all these things are working properly, you can go into the next step of smart bulb troubleshooting and re-set the Smart bulbs. You can do this by turning it on and off three times from the main switch. When the smart bulb flashes, you would know that the procedure is completed.
Then enter your Wi-Fi wireless network name and password. Confirm these details and press connect and the smart bulb troubleshooting will be completed after that.
What are Google smart light bulbs?
Google smart light bulbs have many features to make your life and smart bulb troubleshooting easier. It is compatible with your Google Assistant. You can give voice commands and ask if you have left the lights on in any room. You can also adjust the dimming, change the colors, and set timers and schedules. It even has the option to adjust warmth. You can set routines for the bulbs. As an example, you can set the bedroom lights and turn on the desk lights when you say “Hey Google, let’s go to work”. According to the customer reviews, the followings are the best smart bulbs for google home.
- Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit
- Sengled Smart Wi-Fi LED Multicolor Bulb
- LIFX Mini White Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb
- SEALIGHT Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb
When it comes to troubleshooting, you can learn the cause of the problem most of the time via google assistant. So troubleshooting is pretty easy with Google smart bulbs.
With the basic knowledge of smart bulb troubleshooting, you can figure out what is wrong with your smart light bulbs on your own. Most of the time these are very trivial problems and do not require serious or professional smart bulb troubleshooting. However, if you are not familiar enough to troubleshoot, you can ask a professional mechanic to help you. We hope the article helped you with and wish you to enjoy your smart life.
