I wrote this after a good amount of friends and acquaintances reaching out to me to ask about Nanoleaf’s groundbreaking Aurora smart lighting product. This is to help friends and probably many more others who they’ll influence and will be picking up a Nanoleaf Aurora with the Rhythm attachment.

This is by no means an official set up guide (hence my calling out that it’s unofficial), and is useful after you’ve followed their official instructions included with the product.

So let’s just get this out of the way. I’m a huge Nanoleaf fan and now own the official maximum supported panels of 30. 😍 I first cold emailed them just for kicks to see if I could get a response, typos, run on sentences and all.

Below is my email to them back on January 17, 2017.

Subject: Toronto Startup Deal?

Hey guys!

I work at Taplytics in Toronto, and I walk buy your goddamned awesome display at MaRS everyday. It TAUNTS ME to buy it. I may have considered stealing it…. BUT.. I’ve left my life of crime and look to pursue a legitimate lifestyle.

Soo.. I’m pretty much SOLD on your Aurora LED Panels.

Can I buy from you guys directly? I’d rather support you guys directly rather than going to Best Buy.

Looking to recreate some of the magic from Burning man in my own bedroom with your Aurora LED panels 🙂 https://www.instagram.com/p/BPYSIrVAiMN/

Also, if I buy now, can I buy the Rhythm upgrade as an add on? I’d hate to have to wait until summer to be able to have stuff sync to music.

It would be awesome if you guys take me seriously.. but if not let me know what my next steps are, because you guys have something amazing going on and I can’t wait to have your product in my home 🙂

Cheers,

Will

With that said, let’s get onto setting, they really do make the effort to help you out in terms of customer support and answering all of your questions online. You can check out their FAQ or give the Nanoleaf Sub-Reddit a peruse to see how other folks are using the Aurora and their other products.

Checklist for your new Nanoleaf Aurora Kit

Having been an owner for almost a year, here are a few things I’ve learned and picked up along the way.

• You’ll be compelled to re-arrange your panels, so it’s best that you get some 3M Command strips (the ones that look like Velcro) so you can apply and re-apply to different parts of your home or elsewhere without having to shell out more money to stick them back on your panels.
• Get inspired and check out some patterns on the Nanoleaf blog. 
• If you want to go out and create a pattern on your own with whatever number of panels you own, lay them out on the table on or the floor to see how it might look or sketch out pen to paper on what you think might be cool.
• Pick up flexible linkers. While not mandatory, you will at some point be compelled to have your Aurora span from wall to ceiling. It should be about $10 USD or $13 Canadian. You can get them on their website or you can get them through Best Buy and other prominent online retailers.

Once you’re ready and committed to the design you want to put on your wall

• Have a ladder handy if you want your Aurora set up that’s taller than you.
• Pencil – to mark where you want to place your Aurora panels.
• Measuring tape. If you’re especially anal-retentive about how your installation might look and how much space your this will come in handy.
• Leveller (you can search the App Store and download a free one) or use real one.

Where to place your Nanoleaf Aurora

One of the first things you’ll notice is when you place your Aurora somewhere near the middle of a wall is that you’ll see the unsightly cord from the Aurora controller to its power source, while unavoidable, there’s a few ways to get around it.

• Use a lamp to block the full length of the cord
• Place it behind your couch
  Start from the ground up if you have a good amount of panels for your design
• If you have the flexible linkers, you might want to start with setting up your installation at the 90 degree angle first where your wall meets your ceiling and then design from the ceiling, and then finally switch back your design on your wall.

For those with more than 9 panels.

You might want to link up two panels in advance and and have the 3M command strips ready to go and linking them up 

The TL/DR is they’re not cheap, but they’re infinitely configurable to fit your life and home. They’re especially cooler with the Rhythm attachment they released back in August 2017, which seems to be included as part of the standard Nanoleaf base package.

Coming soon.

Getting your Smart Home Automations to work…