IKEA has announced a new range of affordable, energy-efficient smart lighting products which homeowners will be able to remotely control via their smartphone.
Products in the Swedish home furnishing giant’s Smart Lighting Collection, which arrives in UK stores next month, include LED bulbs, lighting panels and doors which come complete with a new phone app enabling users to personalise and more efficiently manage the lighting in their home.
IKEA said it was the latest step in its ‘Home Smart’ initiative to encourage energy efficient behaviour among more homeowners.
Prices in the range start at £15 and consumers need only change their traditional lightbulbs to TRÅDFRI LED bulbs to immediately begin remotely managing their lighting, according to IKEA.
In the Autumn, the phone app will be updated with an ‘away from home’ function allowing users to set lights to timers, check to see if they remembered to turn off lights while away from home, and remotely turn lights on if their plans change.
The Swedish firm said it had recently undertaken research which found small changes in lighting can have a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and intellectual abilities, with cold lighting reportedly more suited for learning and warm for relaxing.
Helen Akinsete, lighting sales leader at IKEA UK and Ireland, said the range was a response to research suggesting many consumers perceive such home smart lighting technology as too expensive or difficult to understand.
“With IKEA Home Smart we aim to improve everyday life at home by making it more convenient and comfortable,” said Akinsete. “Our first offering, wireless charging, was hugely successful and smart lighting was a natural progression as our second launch. We’re busy exploring new ways of implementing technology in the home and will continue to develop ranges in the years to come.”
Earlier this year, the retailer announced a surge in sales of its sustainable products range, as well as achieving a 90 per cent recycling rate for the waste it produced in the year ending in August 2016. Last month, IKEA also launched a new range of sustainable kitchen fronts made from recycled PET bottles and reclaimed wood.
Source: businessgreen.com
