The Dark Side of Light (opens in new tab)

This is one area where I think smarter lighting and adjustable temperature LEDs has a lot of continuing potential as the cost comes down. I live in a somewhat rural area, and I used to leave lights on more for safety at night. Said lights, particularly when they became CFL, were fixed temp and bluer. Now with a bunch of Hue bulbs, a fairly comprehensive set of motion sensors, and the ability to shift colder or bluer with the time of day and season of the year (all the way down to deep dim orange/red at night), I have far less light emitted and what there is has a lot less blue. I don't think it pays for itself in terms of energy savings or anything like that, LEDs are so efficient anyway (though it probably does cancel out the minor extra constant energy use from the networking of them when 'off'). But I hope it does help the nearby wildlife, and for that matter it also helps me maintain a more regular schedule even in the middle of the winter when nights are long. I think technically they're not outdoor rated, but they've had no trouble surviving down to 30 below F over a good 4 years now so far. I hope eventually full RGB is just standard and cheap in general, and everyone away from the equator can easily adjust temperature.

Great org mentioned in the article: https://www.darksky.org