Smart Lighting Cost

How Much Does Installing Smart Lighting Cost?

What are smart lighting systems?

Smart lighting systems are lighting setups that let you control your home's lighting remotely using your smart device, through voice commands, or through automated routines.

So, what is the cost to install smart lighting?

It's relatively cheap to install light fittings with conventional LED bulbs, but smart lighting offers many advantages, including more customisation and control over your lighting - and, arguably, better value for money.

The cost of fitting smart lighting depends on a whole host of factors, such as the type of smart home lighting, size of installation area (i.e., how many smart lights you want to install), ease of access, and even where you live. Your location is relevant since labour prices differ from region to region across the UK.

On average, smart lighting costs around £85 to install.

Smart Lighting Installation Prices

The overall cost of smart lighting installation is primarily made up of labour and supply costs. Take a look at some smart light fitting costs:

Supply Cost of Smart Lighting

As for the cost of smart lighting supplies only, these are the prices as if you were to purchase directly from the retailer. These costs would be especially relevant if you were to undertake the work DIY.

Additional Smart Lighting Installation Costs

When having smart lighting installed, you may decide to have other work undertaken on the same day (or days if you were installing smart lighting throughout your entire property). Let’s have a look at some popular examples:

Smart Meter Cost

Smart meters track real-time energy usage. A smart meter can be provided for free from your energy supplier, with the only expense for the installation relating to the cost of labour, which would be around £20 to £40.

While the cost of having a smart meter would be added to your bill (just as is the case with a conventional energy meter), it is generally a lower overall cost when you factor in the real-time energy readings, instead of estimates from traditional meters.

By accurately monitoring your energy use with a smart meter, you can save the following on your energy bills:

• 250 kWh energy use monthly - £35 per month.
• 500 kWh energy use monthly - £70 per month.
• 750 kWh energy use monthly - £100 per month.

Smart Thermostat Cost

The purpose of a smart thermostat is to provide intelligent control over a heating system. These WiFi-enabled systems are not only smart in how they manage your heating system, but they allow you to remotely control your heating system.

For instance, most smart thermostats let homeowners turn on their heating or heat up water for a bath while they're not at home.

Smart thermostat installation costs around £280, with the job generally taking 1 to 2 hours to complete.

Removing Gas and Electric Meter Cost

By adding a new smart meter to your home, you'll need to remove your old gas and electric meters. To remove your old energy meters costs £400 to £1,000 depending on the ease of access and the complexity of the job, and should only be completed by a professional electrician or Gas Safe engineer.

Smart Lighting Installer Cost & Timescales

The average cost of labour per hour for smart lighting installation is £40 to £50, with electricians charging around £200 to £250 per day.

Smart lighting generally takes an hour or less to install, such as in the case of having a smart bulb unit or a single smart hub unit installed. However, if you were to have smart lighting fitted throughout your home, you can expect the work to take 1 to 2 days.

The cost of labour and timeframe can vary depending on the number of smart lighting units being installed and ease of access. Again, location can also affect the labour price, with prices in the capital and other large cities being higher than smaller areas in the north of the UK.

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Factors That Impact Smart Lighting Installation Costs

There are many price factors involved in fitting smart lighting. Let’s have a look at what you should keep in mind:

Type of Smart Lighting

There are various options when it comes to the type of smart lighting.

The lowest-cost options are smart bulbs, costing £10 to £50 in supply costs. If you want to have smart light strips installed instead, these can cost anywhere from £20 to £100, depending on the brand and the size of the light strip.

Within smart bulbs are different styles, too, with simple pear-shaped white bulbs - most closely mimicking traditional bulbs - being the cheapest. At the other end of the scale are ombré or multi-coloured bulbs in different shapes or with filaments being more expensive.

Area of Installation

The larger the area, the higher the price - so, if you want your entire home kitted out with smart lighting, you'll pay anywhere from £3,200 to £10,500, while individual bulb installations cost closer to £50 to £100.

Location of Property

Where you live in the UK will shape the overall price of installing smart lighting. Electricians tend to charge more in the southeast, while labour prices are usually below the UK average in the north of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Ease of Access

The more accessible the work area, the less time the work will likely take, and vice versa. This is because ease of access tends to correlate with a quicker job.

If you're having smart lights installed on a particularly high, period property ceiling, for example, this will cost more than a standard light bulb swap at a standard ceiling height.

What's Involved in Installing Smart Lighting?

It’s critical to fix your new smart lighting in place correctly for both safety and operational reasons.

For this reason, most homeowners choose to hire a professional. You can receive multiples quotes from local smart lighting installers using MyJobQuote, which are fast, free, with no-obligation to go ahead.

Let's take a look at the steps taken to install smart lighting:

Before the Job Starts

• Electricity is Turned Off — Electricity will be turned off at the mains. This is vital for your safety as electrocution can be lethal.

During the Job

• Smart Light is Fitted — Your smart lighting installer will remove the old light fitting and install the new one. More work may be required to replace the lighting unit correctly.

After the Job

• Power is Turned Back On — When the new smart lighting installation is fully complete, your power will be turned back on at the mains.
• Waste Removal — At this stage, you’ll want to remove any items that are left over. You should check with your smart light installer as to whether they’re happy to deal with waste removal. This may or may not come with an additional fee if agreed upon.

Building Regulations & Planning Permission for Installing Smart Lighting

There are no specific building regulations or planning permission rules for having smart lighting installed. However, if you are having additional electrical work undertaken on the same day, then rules and regulations may apply.

On average, building regulations approval costs around £100 whereas you’d look at spending about £200 for planning permission approval.

When planning permission is needed, it can take up to 8 weeks for an application to be approved, although it generally doesn't take quite this long.

Types of Smart Lighting

There are many types of smart lighting. Let’s take a closer look at the most popular options:

Smart Bulbs

A smart bulb is a WiFi-enabled LED bulb that can be controlled remotely. Users will have the ability to control the scheduling and customisation of these light bulbs remotely. One downside, however, is that they do not last as long as conventional LED light bulbs.

Smart bulbs have about 40% of LED light bulbs' life expectancy. You won’t need a large budget for most smart bulbs, with most costing between £10 and £50.

Smart Hub Lights

These lights are essentially smart bulbs that are specifically connected to a smart hub. The differentiation here is that this installation requires the purchasing of smart hub hardware and its set up. Some smart bulbs are not enabled for a smart hub specifically.

The obvious downside of smart hub lights is that the installation as a whole is a bit more expensive.

The cost of a smart lighting system would likely be between £20 and £100 in terms of the standalone costs (i.e., excluding the labour cost for installing the system). Don’t forget that smart lighting isn’t just for indoors, and there are smart outdoor lighting options, too.

Motion Sensing Lights

As the name suggests, these lights turn on in response to a motion. Some options, known as occupancy sensor lights, can also turn off if it detects that a room/space is unoccupied.

Broadly speaking, a motion sensor light will cost a bit more on average than a smart bulb or even a smart hub light. The supply cost of the average motion sensing light is approximately £15 to £60.

Checklist: Hiring a Smart Lighting Installer in the UK

Before hiring an electrician to fit smart lighting, there are a variety of considerations worth taking into account. By doing so, you can maximize your chances of finding one of the best contractors in your area for the job.

You can use MyJobQuote to get free, no-obligation quotes from local smart lighting installers. It's fast, easy, and connects you with local professionals.

Here's what you should consider when hiring a local smart light installer:

• Are they a qualified electrician? They should be fully qualified and preferably registered with a UK Competent Person Scheme, such as NICEIC or NAPIT.
• What prior experience do they have? Ensure they have plenty of experience and can provide evidence of their previous work.
• Are they insured? Look for public liability insurance, to protect you in case of any accidental damage or injury during the job.
• Do you have an itemised quote? Ask for a breakdown of what is included in your quote, and check if there are any additional costs.
• Is waste removal included? Ask your electrician if they handle the disposing of waste, or recycling of old lightbulbs, and if this is included in your quote.
• Do they offer a guarantee? Find out if your electrician provides any guarantees, and what that covers.
• Do they have positive reviews? Check their MyJobQuote profile and see what feedback they have received from other homeowners.

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