The best outdoor lighting for Halloween offers creepy, customizable ambiance
We're about to enter spooky season. Halloween is just weeks away, and if you've been thinking about how to create some serious haunted house vibes in your backyard, it's time to start planning now. A good way to do that? Use lighting tricks to liven up your space with some of the best outdoor smart lights you can buy. You get a safely lit backyard, so no one is tripping all over themselves when they come over and hang this fall, and you can give it a creepy makeover thanks to their customizable settings.
You can use your customizable lights in plenty of fun ways. Line your sidewalk and driveway with lights, so that trick-or-treaters can get to your door without drama. Or make a mini haunted house with spooky lighting, strobing, and other fun color effects. Whether you're a newbie or a pro with smart home technology, you can use flood lights, string lights, and other smart bulbs to take your lawn from horrifically boring to scary cool this Halloween.
We've got the lights you want and need to complement your outdoor Halloween decor.
The best outdoor smart lights in 2024
- Best outdoor smart light: Philips Hue Lily White & Color outdoor spot light base kit
- Best budget outdoor smart light: Feit Electric BR30 smart floodlight bulb
- Best outdoor light strip: Philips Hue Smart outdoor light strip
- Best outdoor string lights: Govee Outdoor string lights
- Best outdoor flood lights: Govee Outdoor flood lights
- Best outdoor ground lights: Govee Outdoor ground lights
- Best outdoor path light: Ring Solar Pathlight
Philips Hue Lily white and color outdoor spotlight base kit
Versatility and smart-home compatibility make this Philips Hue base kit one of the best outdoor lighting options we've seen. Even better: It's Earth-friendly.
You get three spotlights with 16 million color options and dimmable white light, so you can create the ideal atmosphere for any occasion.
The base kit is compatible with smart-home systems such as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant, which lets you add voice control seamlessly into your smart home setup.
In addition to bright lighting even on the darkest night, this light boasts reduced energy consumption, making it an eco-friendly and cost-effective option.
Feit Electric BR30 smart floodlight bulb
Don't need any bells and whistles, just a simple smart light to use outside as you please? This budget-priced light is just the thing.
It's a floodlight that you can get for less than $10, but it outperforms even more expensive competitors when it comes to brightness. It doesn't require a smart hub to set up and offers a variety of settings to choose from, including scene control, fun lighting effects, and additional colors to choose from besides white.
If all you need is a reliable, bright light that can come on whenever someone passes by, or at a certain hour of the day, this bulb is your best bet. Plus, it's affordable enough for you to get a few, so you can completely illuminate your yard if need be.
Philips Hue Smart outdoor light strip: $103 (21% off)
The Philips Hue Smart outdoor light strip is a great choice for adaptable and customizable outdoor lighting. Because of its flexibility, you can shape and cut the strip to fit any outdoor space.
You get a 7-foot strip to work with here, so you'll need to buy multiples if that isn't enough length. Each LED is capable of 16 million colors and adjustable white light, allowing you to create the perfect ambiance for any occasion. It's compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant, and supports voice commands.
Overall, it's the best strip light option you can find. Philips Hue can help you turn a drab outdoor space into a fun and inviting one.
Govee Outdoor string lights
Who doesn't like hanging lights – especially those with cost- and energy-efficient LED bulbs?
Govee outdoor string lights offer warm white light, multiple colors and dynamic effects, so you can customize your outdoor lighting situation for parties, hangout sessions and more formal occasions, too.
The lights' Bluetooth app lets you change modes and brightness, plus set timers from your smartphone. They also boast an IP65 waterproof rating, which means they can withstand various weather conditions.
Govee Outdoor flood lights: $70 ($30 off coupon)
These fun floodlights are quirky little square-shaped lighting options with a wide range of color temperatures (2700-6500K) and RGB color options.
Designed for seamless integration with smart-home systems, these floodlights are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant -- they can be controlled with your phone or your voice.
With a few taps, the dedicated Govee app lets you set schedules, adjust brightness and change colors. The floodlights come with an IP66 waterproof rating so they work in rain, sleet and snow.
Govee Outdoor ground lights
Govee outdoor ground lights are great for giving your outdoor spaces a splash of fun and color.
They're a top choice to spruce up your garden or backyard, especially if you like funky hues. They're designed to withstand a variety of weather conditions and have an IP65 waterproof rating, so they're good to go even in the elements.
Whether you want to highlight particular areas or set the mood for outdoor get-togethers, these multi-color LED lights have your back, especially with their included app, which lets you set timers and schedules.
Ring Solar Pathlight
The Ring Solar Pathlight is an eco-friendly solution for lighting up those darker areas around your yard.
Its solar-powered design harvests sunlight during the day so you have plenty of power at night for all your outdoor get-togethers. This light also features an integrated motion sensor, which detects movement and automatically turns on the light to help you find your way.
You can hook this light up to the Ring Bridge as well and manage it through the Ring app, making it easy to fit in your Ring ecosystem if you already have the brand's other products.
What is the best outdoor light?
Setting up outdoor lighting can be difficult, but it's well worth it. See where you're going in your yard at night, set the mood for parties, or just create a great-looking space. Like most smart lights, they can be controlled via a variety of methods, including an app, remote control or vocal commands. That's especially useful if you want to use special scenes with different colors for individual seasons, like orange and purple for Halloween, for example. It can all be changed with your voice or a simple button press.
You should consider how you would want to control your new smart lights. Would you prefer an app or voice-based control with support for smart home assistants, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit?
A voice-activated outdoor light enables you to adjust your outdoor illumination by speaking. It connects to a digital device that "listens" to commands, such as a speaker. When an order is received, an audio sample is sent to a remote server to "understand" the request. The instructions are then transmitted back to the smart device to execute the command. Using Google Assistant on a device such as a Google Home, for example, you could say, "Hey Google, turn on the porch light," or something similar. Typically, these lamps are linked via Bluetooth, a smart light switch, or a smart hub.
You must also consider whether your outdoor lighting design requires a smart plug or a hub. Some outdoor lighting is Bluetooth-enabled and can be controlled directly. Others, however, may require a hub for complete functionality, such as scheduling, dimming options, and color adjustments.
The rest of the setup is really up to you. Popular lighting additions include security floodlights, path lights to illuminate your yard and general mood lighting. You can be as creative as you want. It's your space, after all.
