Smart Home Lighting System Using Arduino: Complete Guide

With the passage of time smart homes are progressing towards more necessity rather than luxury. Among many other solutions smart home lighting system are becoming more popular now a days. These smart home lighting systems using Arduino boards have very simple circuits which save energy, improve our comfort level and enhance home automation.

Using Arduino boards, anyone can build a low cost but powerful smart home lighting system. These home lighting systems work through sensors, smartphones and even with voice assistant integrations.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

In this detailed we will cover the smart home lighting system using Arduino; how to build them, components, circuit diagrams, and even coding which it requires through Arduino board. Lets understand why do we need Arduino board for smart home lighting system.

Arduino for Smart Lighting: But Why?

As we know Arduino boards are widely employed in different DIY automation and electronics. Read more about DIY smart home security system here. Their usage is prominent because they are simple to use, they are affordable and above all they are flexible.

Lets understand why Arduino boards are are perfect for smart home lighting system.

• Lower costs: Arduino Uno cost is very low as we compare with commercial smart home controllers.
• Simple to learn: These boards are very simple to learn even the beginners can program them through Arduino IDE.
• Customization: Arduino boards are customizable. You can add light dependent resistor(LDR), PIR sensors or even wi-fi modules for IoT applications.
• Scalability: You can take start with single room but the later on you can expand it to many others. In this way you can even complete your smart home automation system.

Now that we understand the requirement of smart home lighting system using Arduino; lets explore which components we will require to build complete smart home lighting system.  

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Components for Smart Home Lighting System

We have summarized a list of components which you will require to build a smart home lighting system using Arduino.

Component	Purpose	Example Models
Arduino Board	Main controller	Arduino Uno, Arduino Nano, ESP32 (for Wi-Fi)
Relay Module	Switches AC lights on or off	1-channel or 4-channel relay
Sensors	It will detect light or motion	LDR, PIR sensor, IR sensor
Wi-Fi Module	remote control & IoT integration	ESP8266, ESP32
LED / Bulb	Lighting load	220V AC bulb or 12V LED strip
Power Supply	Provides 5V or 12V	Adapter or USB
Smartphone App	User interface	Blynk, Arduino IoT Cloud, Google Home

Lets understand the circuit diagram of a typical smart home lighting system using Arduino.

Connections

Circuit diagram of Arduino smart home lighting system involves below connections which you can follow to make your own DIY project.

1. Arduino board digital pin is connected to the Relay which controls the lighting or bulb.
2. Analogue pin is connected to the light dependent resistor (LDR) which detects the brightness levels and provide basics for relay operation according to Arduino code.
3. The other digital pin is connected to PIR motion sensor which detects motion in the area and sends signals to turn on and turn off the lighting.
4. Then there is wi-fi module which is connected via UART. This module enables the circuit for operation through voice assistants or mobile application.

Lets understand the working principle of smart home lighting system using Arduino by taking a general scenario.

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Working Principle:

• If there is no lighting in the room, as the motion is detected in the room; the light turn on automatically.
• Lets say if there is no light and also no motion in the room; the lighting will remain off.
• Now there is a third scenario when user can override the circuit using his smartphone app or by using voice commands.

Lets write the code for smart home lighting system using Arduino.

Arduino Code for Smart Home Lighting

We will write the Arduino code through which we can control the lighting using PIR and LDR sensors.

int ldrPin = A0;   
int pirPin = 2;    
int relay_Pin = 8;  

void setup() {
  pinMode(pirPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(relay_Pin, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  int ldrrecord = analogRead(ldrPin);
  int motion = digitalRead(pirPin);

  if (ldrrecord < 400 && motion == HIGH) {
    digitalWrite(relay_Pin, HIGH);  // It will Turn on the Light
    Serial.println("Light ON");
  } else {
    digitalWrite(relay_Pin, LOW);   // It will Turn off the Light    
Serial.println("Light is OFF");
  }
  delay(500);
}

This code can be further extended using IoT platform like google assistant, Arduino Iot cload and Blynk. Read out detailed guide on home automation using IoT for further understanding.

IoT and Voice Control Integration

In order to make you smart home lighting system using Arduino more smart, connect your circuit with internet.

• Wi-Fi Control: you can use ESP8266 or ES32 to connect the Arduino board with Arduino IOT cloud, or with Blynk.
• Voice Control Setup: you can integrate circuit amazon Alexa, or Google using IFTTT.
• Scheduling Turn on  or OFF: You can schedule the circuit to turn on and off at specific intervals automatically.

If you are interested in finding a smart home automation company, you can follow our detailed guide right here.

Common Troubleshooting Tips

• Relay not working properly? Check the AC rating of relay either it is rated AC voltage.
• PIR sensors malfunctioning? If PIR sensors malfunctioning, try increasing the delay or just try to use multiple sensors at different locations.
• Wi-Fi disconnecting? Check your internet connection stability and try ESP32 for better connection reliability.
• App not configuring? Cross check your API keys and configuration of IoT platforms.

FAQs on Smart Home Lighting System using Arduino

Conclusion

So, as we summarize our thoughts on smart home lighting system using Arduino, we can say that it is affordable and very easy to implement even if you are a beginner. It is scalable, you can increase its size according to your needs. You can save energy usage of your premises by just combining Arduino, relays, sensors and IoT platforms.

Hope you have liked reading this article. We always try to cover topics which are easy to follow guides and anyone can implement project circuits by following the basics building blocks.

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