Smart lighting has a reputation for being complicated and expensive. Ripping out switches, replacing every globe, buying into a proprietary hub that locks you into one brand forever.
We install smart switches that drop directly into your existing wall plates — same cutout, same wiring, same physical location. No globes replaced. No rewiring. No sparky needed for most switch swaps. The switch still works as a switch. But behind it, every light in your home is now connected to Home Assistant, responding to presence, time of day, weather, security events, and whatever automation logic makes sense for how you actually live.
Smart lighting done right is invisible. You don’t notice the system. You just notice that the right lights are on when you need them and off when you don’t.
The backbone of our lighting installations is the Sonoff or equivalent Zigbee smart switch range — available in single, double, and four-gang configurations that fit directly into standard Australian wall plates.
No neutral wire required on most models. No hub beyond your existing Home Assistant server. No cloud dependency — everything runs locally via your Zigbee network.
For rooms with existing smart globes you want to keep, we integrate those too. Philips Hue, LIFX, Sengled, IKEA Tradfri and most major Zigbee globe brands connect directly into the same Home Assistant instance as your switches — one platform, one dashboard, one automation engine.
The most useful thing a smart lighting system does is remove the lights from the list of things you have to think about.
We build presence-based automations around your PIR sensors, door contacts, and phone-based presence detection. Lights respond to occupancy — not timers, not manual switches, not habits you have to maintain.
Every room’s behaviour is configured independently. The bedroom handles itself differently to the garage. The bathroom has a timeout. The living area follows the evening routine. The outdoor lights respond to sunset and security events rather than a fixed schedule.
Individual light control is the foundation. Scenes are where the system starts feeling genuinely useful.
A scene sets every light in every relevant room to a defined state simultaneously — brightness, colour temperature, which are on and which are off — triggered by a single command, button press, or automation.
Morning— Gradual brightness increase across bedrooms and kitchen starting before your alarm. Warm white. Easy transition out of sleep, not a shock.
Leaving— All lights off. Outdoor security lights to standby mode. Triggered automatically when the last person leaves or manually from the dashboard before you walk out.
Evening— Living areas shift to warm, lower brightness as sunset approaches. Automated by actual sunset time, not a fixed clock — so it adjusts across the year without you touching it.
Movie— Living area dims to a low ambient level. Backlight strips activate if installed. Triggered from a dashboard button or voice command.
Goodnight— All lights off except a low-level bathroom nightlight. Triggered by voice, routine, or a bedside button. Bedroom door sensor integration optional — light comes on dimly if you get up overnight.
Security— All exterior lights to full brightness simultaneously. Triggered by alarm events, unexpected motion, or manually from the dashboard. Immediate perimeter illumination, no delay.
Every scene is built around your specific floor plan and your specific preferences. The names above are examples — what we actually build is whatever fits how you use your home.
Static lighting — fixed brightness, fixed colour temperature — is a missed opportunity.
We configure adaptive lighting across your smart switches and bulbs, which automatically adjusts colour temperature and brightness throughout the day to track natural light conditions:
Adaptive lighting runs automatically in the background. You don’t configure it day to day — it just adjusts. When you override a light manually, adaptive lighting respects the override and resumes its cycle at the next natural transition point.
For households where sleep quality matters — and especially where shift workers or young children are involved — adaptive lighting makes a tangible difference.
Outdoor lighting is where smart control delivers the most immediate security value.
We integrate your existing exterior lights or install new smart outdoor fittings, connected to the same Home Assistant system as everything else:
Sunset-triggered activation— Outdoor lights come on at actual local sunset time, not a fixed clock. They adjust automatically as days get shorter or longer through the year.
Motion-triggered response— Driveway, garden, and perimeter lights activate on motion detection from your cameras or dedicated PIR sensors. Visitors are illuminated the moment they approach — before they’ve reached the door.
Security coordination— Alarm trigger, unexpected camera motion, or a defined security event activates all exterior lights simultaneously to full brightness. Visible deterrent, instant and automatic.
Pathway lighting— Low-level pathway and garden lighting on a separate schedule or scene. Enough to navigate safely without the full security flood level.
We install smart switches on both Zigbee and Wi-Fi depending on your existing network, device preferences, and what’s already installed in your home.
Wi-Fi switches integrate directly into your network and Home Assistant with no additional hardware — straightforward, reliable, and perfectly capable on a well-designed network. Zigbee runs on a separate dedicated mesh that keeps smart device traffic off your main network entirely, which some customers prefer for larger installations.
Both protocols run fully locally through Home Assistant. No cloud dependency, no subscription, no manufacturer server required. We’ll recommend the right approach for your specific setup during your assessment — in many installations we use both.
Do I need to replace my existing light globes?No. Smart switches control your existing globes — LED, halogen, or fluorescent — without replacement. The exception is dimming: if you want dimmer functionality, LED globes must be dimmable-rated. We’ll identify any incompatibilities during your assessment.
Will the switch still work if Home Assistant is offline?Yes. Smart switches retain their last state and respond to physical button presses regardless of Home Assistant connectivity. The automation layer stops functioning when the server is offline, but manual control always works.
Can I mix smart and non-smart switches in the same house?Yes. We install smart switches where automation adds value and leave others as standard. There’s no requirement to convert every switch in the property — we build around what makes sense for your usage patterns and budget.
How many switches does a typical installation cover?Varies significantly by property. A focused installation covering main living areas, entry points, and outdoor perimeter typically runs 8–15 switches. Full-house coverage on a four-bedroom home is usually 18–25 switches depending on the layout and how many multi-gang plates are involved.
Can I control lighting by voice?Yes. Every light integrated into Home Assistant is controllable via Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Amazon Alexa. Individual lights, groups, rooms, or scenes — all accessible by voice through any connected device in the house.
Can you add smart lighting to an existing Control Freaks installation?Yes. Additional switches and lighting integrations can be added at any time. Contact us with your requirements and we’ll scope the extension.
Book a free assessment and we’ll tell you exactly what integration is possible for your existing panel — and what your security system looks like when everything’s connected.