It is and it isn't. It's definitely on the "you don't need it" side of the scale, but if done thoughtfully it can make everyday life just a bit easier.
Some of my favourite automations:
1. Whenever someone arrives home and it's started to get dark outside, automatically turn the hallway lights on if they're off
2. When turning off the TV in the lounge, and it's dark outside, and the lights are dimmed, bring them up to 100% warm white so you can see where you're going
3. Motion sensors in the hallway and landing to turn the lights on when they detect motion at night.
Do I NEED any of these? Of course not. But I like having them.
Talking about preferences I hate motion sensor lights I usually rather to walk in dark and get my eyes used to darkness. I still turn on lights when I get to bathroom or I get a glass of water in the end but somehow it feels better if I turn it on at the destination.
Other thing is I hade all kinds of status LEDs - it is just insane with the bright ones. I know it is nice for quick troubleshooting during the day to know if the internet is on or not - but in the middle of the night they should be lowest brightness on all appliances or turned off. But not all vendors provide the option.
> Talking about preferences I hate motion sensor lights I usually rather to walk in dark and get my eyes used to darkness. I still turn on lights when I get to bathroom or I get a glass of water in the end but somehow it feels better if I turn it on at the destination.
I agree, it'd be super annoying if it turned the lights on full power. I had a motion sensor light in my old apartment. It was part of a Hue system and it would turn on a single bulb in the hall or bathroom (can't remember which) to the very lowest dimness level if someone was walking to the bathroom at night.
I use electrical tape to tape over bright LEDs, especially ones in the bedroom. The light generally will still be visible and you can add layers to get the brightness you desire. The tape also comes in many colors so you can match the device you are fixing.
I love the status lights on Caseta switches, there's no 'ambience' to them, you can see it's on, but even in a dark room it's not obtrusive, not even remotely (it's like a barely lit off white LED, and I do mean barely).
On my office desk with my computer setup, I have a pair of Vanatoo Transparent Zero speakers, which had a bright blue obnoxious LED that was way over the top... until I looked in the manual for some other reason and discovered you could actually hold one of the rear switches and turn a knob to dial the intensity all the way down, or off. I love that.
I have six can lights in my living room, 2 x 3 layout.
My partner has a corner desk and works from home 3 days/week. I also have a backlight "rope light" behind the TV.
During the day, when she's working in that space, the lights are 100% intensity daylight white, and the backlight a cool turquoise. At sunset the lights go to about 70% warm white.
Automations are also hooked up to my Harmony (I really hope someone dives in to this space, but I don't hold up hopes - there are a couple of options, but right now no-one seems interested in picking up from Logitech unless you're going to the ultra heavy, and ugly, last I checked, offerings from Creston, etc.), such that if you turn on the TV, then it turns off the front row of lights (parallel to the TV wall) so there's no reflection, and the second row, which is just behind the couch back, goes down to about 10-15%, slightly warmer still, giving a movie theater vibe. And the backlight on the TV turns off. I debated the Hue accessory to match color to HDMI output, but I think that seems like more of a distraction than an aesthetic.
Some of my favourite automations:
1. Whenever someone arrives home and it's started to get dark outside, automatically turn the hallway lights on if they're off 2. When turning off the TV in the lounge, and it's dark outside, and the lights are dimmed, bring them up to 100% warm white so you can see where you're going 3. Motion sensors in the hallway and landing to turn the lights on when they detect motion at night.
Do I NEED any of these? Of course not. But I like having them.