Smart lights. What a world of difference coming home to my lights being on either from them automatically triggering, or me turning them on remotely.
Or, being able to take a shower knowing my lights will be able to turn themselves off on whatever timer I set. It's been an excellent expereince
Not "In the shower persay" I have the Phillips hue lights and I have a set of them in my bathroom
With Alexa, or any app to access them, I can set timers on the lights meaning I could have a 30-minute timer while I'm in the shower or whatever else I'm doing.
They turn themselves on, turn themselves off.
Light timers have been great. I feel having the ones in my bedroom work like a daylight alarm has been very helpful, and as you said, you never come home to a dark house, which is helpful if you've got arms full of groceries or such.
Also the smart thermostat in conjunction with smart outlets lets me turn on the room fans and AC when I'm on my way home.
Even having the ability to change color temp is nice so you can have harsh bright white if you need to see something you're working on, but the majority of the time you can have nice warm or soft light.
I've been in the home automation business for over 25 years. Can confirm that smart lighting is the absolute best investment.
I've installed and programmed lighting systems for over $100k but have personally spent less than $250 for Ikea devices for my apartment. Just the ability to dim and set the color of the lights at certain times of day is key for me.
Controlled Lighting isn't only about convenience, it's about setting a mood. You can set a warm dim scene to be more calming or a bright white scene for cooking or cleaning.