Introduction
Great circadian lighting disappears into the background. It nudges you awake gently, keeps afternoons crisp, and lets evenings exhale—without you hunting through apps.
This guide shows the few hardware choices that matter, the curves that feel human, and the small safeguards that keep everything calm instead of twitchy.
Light is a 24-hour signal
Your body treats light as information: intensity and spectrum drive alertness, mood, and sleep. Good smart lighting respects that rhythm and stays out of your way.
VeaLive scenes blend presence, time, and ambient sensors, so the home shifts on its own—brighter, cooler mornings; softer, warmer evenings; and truly dark nights.
‘Natural’ doesn’t mean complicated. Two or three well-named scenes with smooth ramps beat a dozen brittle automations that fight the occupants.
Hardware that makes it easy
Look for high CRI (≥95) and ‘sunlike’ spectra in key rooms. Avoid flicker at low dims; 1% smooth dimming matters more than headline lumens. For switches, prefer decoupled relays so power remains to smart lamps.
Control glare as much as brightness. Indirect fixtures and larger emitting surfaces feel gentle at night, while focused task lights keep counters useful without washing out the room.
- Bedrooms: warm-bias (1800–3000K) with ultra-low dim
- Kitchens: high CRI task lights; motion + counter scenes
- Work nooks: indirect, glare-free with cool boost on focus
Sensors: presence + ambient lux + time
Presence is the trigger, ambient light and time are the context. Combine mmWave presence with a ceiling lux sensor, then let a scheduler set the target scene curve across the day.
Calibrate once over a week: note moments that felt ‘too blue’ or ‘too dim’, then nudge the curve a little. Small edits preserve predictability.
Designing curves that feel human
Instead of hard switches at 7PM, use ramps: 20-minute transitions feel like the sky changing. Add ‘rainy day’ overrides when outdoor lux drops early. The goal isn’t accuracy; it’s comfort.
End the evening curve slightly earlier than you expect—sleep quality improves when the house winds down before you do.
Failsafes and manual affordances
Map one physical button to ‘full bright’ and another to ‘night path’. If sensors misfire, people still have agency. Store last manual state briefly to avoid fighting the user.
A tiny ‘how lights work’ card near the door helps guests and preserves the vibe you designed.
Case study: two-bed apartment
We replaced four scenes and three apps with one daily curve and two physical presets. The result: hands-free mornings, calm evenings, and no one asking, “how do I turn these off?”
Energy use also dropped—no more overshooting brightness on cloudy afternoons. Comfort first; efficiency follows.