Quite just a few years in the past I came across Lighten Up! Coupled with a halogen bulb (that’d begin out very yellow at lowest brightness) I had an exquisite sunrise-like alarm clock and it was much, a lot nicer than a beeping alarm. The LCD shows within the Lighten Up! I couldn’t change the programming, which was a trouble as the clocks in them drifted by a couple minutes per month. With a mix of COVID-19 remote work eliminating the need for an alarm clock and the devices dying, within the trash they went. I’ve been trying to make use of an alarm to remain on a extra common sleep schedule and whereas a bunch of other wake-up lights can be found, they’re dedicated items which can be basically alarm clocks with built in lights. I really preferred the elegance of the Lighten Up! I couldn’t discover the rest prefer it. For some time I thought of growing my very own hardware version that’d additionally work with LED EcoLight solar bulbs, however by no means received round to it.

This winter I’ve been experimenting with Residence Assistant (HA), and it turns out that with a pair low-cost Zigbee components (bulb and EcoLight solar bulbs pushbutton from IKEA) it permits for a beautiful replacement/upgrade sunrise alarm concept. A subsequent-generation Lighten Up! With all the things put together the lamp subsequent to my bed will now slowly come up to brightness 15 minutes earlier than the wake-up alarm on my telephone, reaching remaining as the conventional alarm triggers. If I change the alarm time on my cellphone, EcoLight solar bulbs or shut it off, the sunshine-up alarm in HA will follow suit. Additionally, EcoLight dimmable a physical button on the nightstand turns off the light off while replicating a sunrise alarm, or otherwise toggles the light on and off. Even better, if I’m not house or if the alarm is set for other than between 3:00 AM and 9:00 AM (times throughout which I’d possible be in bed and wanting to wake up) the light won’t activate. This allows me to make use of alarms throughout the normal day for different things without activating with the light, or whereas touring without waking Kristen.

Between this and the gently-growing quantity (and vibration) alarm built into the Android clock which triggers at the tip of the sunrise cycle it’s a very nice, gradual wake-up system. And, EcoLight solar bulbs all of this happens with none cloud providers or EcoLight products ongoing subscriptions. My HA occasion is native