If you just received a new set of smart light bulbs or are looking to maximize the potential of your existing setup, you've come to the right place. Smart lights are among the most popular smart home devices. But there is much more they can do than simply use their voice to turn them on and off or schedule their usage time.

Once connected to the smart home platform of your choice, you can program the lights to respond to specific triggers. For example, if a person walks past a motion sensor, the lights will automatically flash or change color in response. Going a little deeper, the lights can be made to react to live information, such as the progress of a soccer game. Below are five ideas for making more use of smart lighting.

Use the smart home platform's automation tools (such as the Alexa skill) to create a routine of turning on the smart bulbs in the bedroom at 1 percent, usually a few minutes before you wake up. Then set the brightness to gradually increase to full power by the time the alarm goes off. For example, if you wake up at 8:00 a.m., set the light to turn on at minimum brightness at 7:45 a.m. and to reach 100 percent by the time you wake up. This gentle lighting effect mimics a natural sunrise and starts the day off slowly. It is much more comfortable than a blaring alarm and cheaper than buying a sunrise alarm clock. At night, you can also create a wind-down routine, slowly turning off the lights with a sunset-like effect.

Sports broadcasts can be used as triggers to switch colors when a game starts, at halftime, or when the game is over. For example, you can have the lights throughout the house flash your team's colors when the game starts, or have the smart speaker blow the whistle at halftime, etc. With the Alexa app, you can select the "Sports" trigger, choose the team you want to follow, and at what point in the game you want the lights to activate. You can easily do this by simply deciding. If you want to go deeper, you can use an advanced smart home platform like IFTTT to program light bulbs and light fixtures to flash or change color when a team scores. For example, the NHL has an open API that can act as a trigger for lights to fade in and colors to flash in real time when a goal is scored.

If the smart home platform or lighting app has an away mode, it can be enabled to automatically turn smart lights on and off in different rooms to make it appear that people are present. This security feature is an excellent deterrent to ward off potential burglars while you are away. Each light can also be controlled manually using the smart home's scheduling feature.

Lighting can be integrated into existing notification routines. For example, I have created an automation that plays a sound when the washing machine completes a cycle, sends a notification, turns the lights green, and instructs me to take out the wet laundry. In addition, if a motion sensor is installed in the mailbox, the lights can change color or blink to indicate the arrival of mail.

One of the easiest ways to celebrate the holidays is to adjust lighting colors accordingly. It's easy to set a smart light to ambient white light mode and forget about it, but even today's cheap light bulbs are multicolor for a variety of options. In winter, they can give a room a warm green and red glow. Or, on the Fourth of July, you can put red, white, and blue lights throughout your home.