Product Review - Belkin WeMo LED Lighting Kit - 2 out of 5 Stars

I recently reviewed Belkin's WeMo Insight Switch (January 2, 2015).  As I mentioned in the Insight Switch review, I am a huge fan of LED light bulbs.  In a typical household, 30% of the electrical bill is lighting.  I replaced approximately 30% of my incandescent light bulbs with LED light bulbs.  I first replaced those in the most trafficked areas of the house - mudroom, living room, media room, bathrooms and kitchen and places where my sons leave lights on.  In a few months, I have realized a return on that investment.  So, this time I decided to add extra LED lights more as a theft deterrent than energy savings.  Because the price of theses bulbs - $30 per bulb, with its wifi link were not the average price of my replacement bulbs - $7.28 per bulb, I don't expect the quick pay backs as on the other bulbs.

Product review: Belkin WeMo LED Starting Kit and One Extra Bulb
Cost: $122 for three LED light bulbs and a wifi link plus shipping and tax
Rating: 2 out of 5
Pros:

• Apple app is attractive and functions well, as it is the same software operating the Insight Switches.  The apps can operate the light bulbs from the smartphone or tablet from anywhere using the existing wifi network and mobile internet.
• The LED has a soft lighting and is easy to read by.  It is equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb (800 lumens) and only consumes 10 watts of energy.  The company says that the life expectancy is 23 years based on 3 hours of daily usage.  
• The app has a section that calculates the estimated monthly cost and cost today, average watts running through the device and time that the device was on.  This is nice, but I would like to see an additional line or two, showing me the calculated savings.
• The Link is supposed to be able to support up to 50 WeMo Smart LED light bulbs.  Each bulb can be individually programmed or as a group.
• The Link is about the same size as the Insight Switch, making it also possible to use the bottom socket.  

Cons:

• Android app is less reliable than the Apple IOS app.  It is slow and does not have the exact features that the Apple app has.
• Apps only have a vertical orientation.  I would like to see a landscape orientation as well.
• There is no computer app/browser interface, which, typically for most products are more robust and allow for easier and more customization.
• Loading rules for automatic turning on and off, is not simple and straight forward, especially when setting "rules" for more than one device, which is located on a separate tab.  I would rather see the "rules" associated with the edit function of each device.  A firmware upgrade could correct all of these problems.
• While the company says that the LED bulbs are supposed to give off less heat than traditional light bulbs.  It is cooler, but much, much hotter than my Cree LED light bulbs.
• So far, I have experienced a large number of "not detected" error messages despite the wifi working (though in all fairness, we have had problems with CenturyLink).  I have also experienced "the device won't appear until it becomes active again."  These error messages are annoying and firmware upgrades are needed here.

Conclusions:

I like the idea of controlling the outlets and some lights (for security reasons), but the product needs some firmware upgrades.   I am not sure that I will be able to generate a savings return in excess of its costs (I will write a follow up review, once I have some data).  This device is more about convenience, some savings, and security peace of mind (lights going on and off as if someone were home), than it is about a fast pay back.  I would give this product more stars, if the firmwares could eliminate the "not detected" messages.