Sconce & Socket earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we pick. Full disclosure.
| # | Product | Best for | Lumens | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Philips Ultra Definition A19 LED, 60W equivalent, 2700K The default bulb for almost every lamp in a home | It is a bulb. Swap it, keep the old one, put it back when you leave. | 800 lm | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn |
| 02 | Enbrighten 18 in. Plug-in Under Cabinet Light Bar (82785-T1) Kitchen counters, no wiring, no compromise on color | Plugs in. Mounts with the supplied adhesive or two screws - adhesive keeps the deposit. | 1,245 lm | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn |
| 03 | TP-Link Kasa Matter Smart Plug EP25 Making a lamp smart without changing its bulb | Plugs in. No wiring, no switch change, nothing fixed. | n/a - controls a lamp, does not light | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn |
| 04 | WiZ WiZ Connected Color A19 Smart Bulb The cheapest way into hub-free smart lighting | A bulb swap on your own Wi-Fi. No hub, no wiring, no switch change. | Not published | Check price on Amazon #ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn |
Specifications are the manufacturer or retailer published figures, compiled by hand. We have not measured them, and where a figure is not published we write "Not published" rather than guess.
01
The thing to do on day one, not moving day
Everything on this page is easy except one item, and that item is decided at the start of a tenancy rather than the end.
Keep the original bulbs. In a labeled box, in a cupboard, from the day you swap them. It costs nothing and it is the only genuinely irreversible thing in a plug-in lighting plan - if you throw away the builder-grade bulbs, you cannot put them back, and taking your CRI 95 bulbs with you means leaving empty sockets.
The same applies, less critically, to the original shade if you swapped one, and to the small parts that come with linkable fixtures. Jumper cables for an under-cabinet run are the classic loss: the bars survive three moves and the jumpers vanish after the first.
02
The order to undo it in
| Step | What | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Factory reset every smart device | Do this while they are still powered and on your network |
| 02 | Swap the original bulbs back in | The box you kept on day one |
| 03 | Unplug and coil lamps and bars | Keep jumper cables with the bars, not loose in a box |
| 04 | Warm and remove adhesive mounts | Hairdryer, slow pull parallel to the surface |
| 05 | Remove cord channel and clips | Same technique; residue lifts with isopropyl alcohol |
| 06 | Fill and touch up any screw or hook holes | Five minutes, and it is what make-good means |
| 07 | Refit the original shade if you changed one | The reason you kept it |
Step one is worth doing before anything else and while the devices are still on your network. A smart plug or a smart bulb that has been unplugged and boxed is considerably more annoying to reset later, and an un-reset device holds your Wi-Fi credentials.
03
What is yours and what became the property's
This is the part with a genuine legal edge to it, and it is worth being clear about because it decides whether you are packing something or leaving it.
Anything attached to a property is generally treated in law as a fixture, and a fixture belongs to the property rather than to whoever installed it. That means a hardwired fitting you paid for and installed may not be yours to remove at the end of the tenancy - which is one of the two reasons this site steers so hard toward plug-in solutions.
Everything in tier one and tier two is unambiguously yours: lamps, plug-in bars, smart bulbs, smart plugs, adhesive-mounted sconces, cord channel. It plugs in or peels off, it leaves nothing behind, and nobody has a claim on it. The full framework is in can you change a light fixture in an apartment, which carries the general-information-not-legal-advice caveat that this subject requires.
The picks
The products behind this page
01
The default bulb for almost every lamp in a home
Philips Ultra Definition A19 LED, 60W equivalent, 2700K
#ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn
800 lumens at 2700K with a published CRI 95 for the price of an ordinary bulb - the single easiest upgrade in this entire category.
| Lumens | 800 lm |
|---|---|
| Color temperature | 2700K |
| CRI | 95 |
| Power source | Screws into a standard E26 socket (8W) |
| Dimmable | Yes |
| Renter-safe method | It is a bulb. Swap it, keep the old one, put it back when you leave. |
What it gets right
- CRI 95 at a mainstream price, which almost nothing else manages
- 2700K matches the warm light most rooms were designed around
- Dimmable and rated flicker-free
What it costs you
- 800 lumens is one bulb's worth - a dark room needs several
- 2700K is too warm for detailed kitchen task work
- R9 is not published, so deep reds are an unknown
Spec source: Home Depot listing - retrieved September 3, 2026.
02
Kitchen counters, no wiring, no compromise on color
Enbrighten 18 in. Plug-in Under Cabinet Light Bar (82785-T1)
#ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn
1,245 lumens at 92 CRI with five white settings from 2700K to 6500K, on a plug - the rare renter-safe fixture that beats most hardwired ones on light quality.
| Lumens | 1,245 lm |
|---|---|
| Color temperature | 2700K-6500K, five settings |
| CRI | 92 |
| Power source | Plugs in |
| Dimmable | Yes - full range |
| Renter-safe method | Plugs in. Mounts with the supplied adhesive or two screws - adhesive keeps the deposit. |
What it gets right
- 92 CRI, so food and worktops read true rather than gray
- Five color temperatures means you tune it to the room, not the box
- Full-range dimming, not a two-step hi/low
What it costs you
- The cord has to reach an outlet and then be hidden
- 18 inches is longer than some cabinet sections allow
- One more power adapter on a kitchen outlet
Spec source: Enbrighten product page - retrieved September 3, 2026.
03
Making a lamp smart without changing its bulb
TP-Link Kasa Matter Smart Plug EP25
#ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn
Matter native with no hub and built-in energy monitoring, at roughly the price of one smart bulb - and it works with whatever high-CRI bulb you already chose.
| Lumens | n/a - controls a lamp, does not light |
|---|---|
| Color temperature | n/a |
| CRI | n/a |
| Power source | Plugs in between the lamp and the outlet |
| Dimmable | No - switches only. Dimming stays with the bulb. |
| Renter-safe method | Plugs in. No wiring, no switch change, nothing fixed. |
What it gets right
- Matter native, so it answers to Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home and SmartThings with no hub
- Energy monitoring built in, which is how you check a running-cost figure yourself
- Works with any bulb, so light quality stays your decision
What it costs you
- Switches rather than dims - a dimmable lamp still needs a dimmable bulb
- Occupies the outlet, which matters on a crowded power strip
- Energy monitoring on budget plugs is approximate, not metering-grade
Spec source: Engadget best smart plugs (attributed) - retrieved September 3, 2026.
04
The cheapest way into hub-free smart lighting
WiZ WiZ Connected Color A19 Smart Bulb
#ad No live price right now, so we show none. How we earn
Wi-Fi and Matter with no bridge to buy, at roughly the price of two ordinary bulbs - the sensible default when you are lighting a rental you may leave next year.
| Lumens | Not published |
|---|---|
| Color temperature | Tunable white plus color |
| CRI | Not published |
| Power source | Screws into a standard E26 socket |
| Dimmable | Yes - in app |
| Renter-safe method | A bulb swap on your own Wi-Fi. No hub, no wiring, no switch change. |
What it gets right
- No bridge, no hub, nothing extra plugged into the router
- Matter support, so it is not locked to one ecosystem
- Cheap enough to do a whole apartment rather than one room
What it costs you
- Wi-Fi bulbs each take an address on your network
- CRI and lumen figures are not published per SKU
- Anyone flipping the wall switch takes the bulb offline
Spec source: PCWorld smart bulb guide (attributed) - retrieved September 3, 2026.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
+What should I do with smart bulbs when I move out?
Factory reset every one before you unscrew it. An un-reset bulb stays bound to your account and carries your Wi-Fi credentials, which is a nuisance for whoever gets it next - including you, when you try to add it to a new network.
+How do I remove adhesive light mounts without damaging paint?
Warm the adhesive with a hairdryer on low for twenty to thirty seconds, then pull slowly and parallel to the wall rather than straight out. Pulling perpendicular is what lifts paint. Residue comes off with isopropyl alcohol and patience.
+Do I have to put the original light bulbs back?
It is the safe assumption, and it is why keeping them matters. Bulbs are generally treated as tenant upkeep rather than fixtures, so a landlord is unlikely to object to better ones being left - but if you want to take yours, you need the originals to put back.
+What lighting can I not take with me?
Anything that became a fixture. Something attached to the property is generally treated in law as belonging to the property, so a hardwired fitting you installed - even one you paid for - may not be yours to remove. Plug-in and adhesive-mounted items are unambiguously yours.
Sources
Where the numbers came from
- Justia - Improvements, alterations and fixtures in landlord-tenant law
- The Homes I Have Made - Changing light fixtures in a rental
- Brick Underground - Do you need landlord permission for minor upgrades?
All sources retrieved September 3, 2026.
Next
Read these next
About the author
Sawyer V. An enthusiast who reads the spec sheets and does the arithmetic. No lab, no test bench.