Are you doing anything with Hue?

GeX · 23 Jan 2019 at 18:13

Simmz said:
Has anyone tried the 'random times' setting in routines yet? Wondered if it would be any good to turn on when on holiday?

I use https://labs.meethue.com/formulas/huelabs/presence-mimicking when the house is empty.

Martynt74 · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:55

Whilst it's expensive. I've ended up buying the Hue outdoor motion sensor. I was getting delays of around 4-5 seconds when trying to use Stringify with my Nest cameras for motion detection and whilst it's not a long time when you think about it, it feels like an age when you're actually walking around and want light.

Hoping the Hue one is instant!

matt100 · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:57

Marvt74 said:
Whilst it's expensive. I've ended up buying the Hue outdoor motion sensor. I was getting delays of around 4-5 seconds when trying to use Stringify with my Nest cameras for motion detection and whilst it's not a long time when you think about it, it feels like an age when you're actually walking around and want light.

Hoping the Hue one is instant!

You get the same or worse with ifttt.. just not workable for anything you want to be quick.

Martynt74 · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:58

Yeah, i tried IFTTT but couldn't work out how to get it to auto turn off after a set amount of time so ended up with Stringify.

If this ends up working nicely then i think i'll pick up another for at the back of the house. Although that'll requires buying 3 new bulbs for the rear outside lights!

matt100 · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:59

I've got a house full of smartthings to take care of my automation

Semple · 29 Jan 2019 at 14:00

Simmz said:
Has anyone tried the 'random times' setting in routines yet? Wondered if it would be any good to turn on when on holiday?

I've found the random thing more of a pain. IIRC from last time i was playing around with it, you set your desired time and then random can be a minimum of 15 mins either way? - during winter months if i'd set the lights to come on for 4pm, with the random setting that could be 4:15 at which point it'd be pitch black. Personally i think the randomness needs more flexibility - 5 min incrementals, and 'only upto desired time' rather than either side.

GeX said:
I use https://labs.meethue.com/formulas/huelabs/presence-mimicking when the house is empty.

This looks more promising though! Thanks will take a look at this as well.

tom01 · 4 Feb 2019 at 21:19

I bought in to the Hue ecosystem a while ago and I must admit I absolutely love it, the colour range and brightness of the bulbs definitely appears to be better than those that my friends have purchased from Ikea etc however does anyone else find it incredibly frustrating that you cannot seem to be able to buy a multi-pack of colour bulbs without having to buy the starter kits which include an unnecessary bridge?

I really want to buy around 10+ bulbs but for love nor money cannot seem to find any retailers that stock anything other than individual bulbs or starter kits and it's driving me insane! Do they exist?

VincentHanna · 4 Feb 2019 at 21:23

Second hand is your friend, considering they last for many years.

RJC · 4 Feb 2019 at 21:26

tom01 said:
I bought in to the Hue ecosystem a while ago and I must admit I absolutely love it, the colour range and brightness of the bulbs definitely appears to be better than those that my friends have purchased from Ikea etc however does anyone else find it incredibly frustrating that you cannot seem to be able to buy a multi-pack of colour bulbs without having to buy the starter kits which include an unnecessary bridge?

I really want to buy around 10+ bulbs but for love nor money cannot seem to find any retailers that stock anything other than individual bulbs or starter kits and it's driving me insane! Do they exist?

I have merged your thread with the main Philips Hue thread.

Martynt74 · 5 Feb 2019 at 12:57

tom01 said:
I bought in to the Hue ecosystem a while ago and I must admit I absolutely love it, the colour range and brightness of the bulbs definitely appears to be better than those that my friends have purchased from Ikea etc however does anyone else find it incredibly frustrating that you cannot seem to be able to buy a multi-pack of colour bulbs without having to buy the starter kits which include an unnecessary bridge?

I really want to buy around 10+ bulbs but for love nor money cannot seem to find any retailers that stock anything other than individual bulbs or starter kits and it's driving me insane! Do they exist?

The option most people go for is to buy the starter kit and then there's a good resale market for the hub.

Otherwise wait for the inevitable 3 for 2 deals.

RedvGreen · 5 Feb 2019 at 14:40

Officially had new Bathroom 'cans' put in which allow the colour G10 Hue bulbs to go inside. Pretty fiddly to refit the screw on caps as the bulbs didn't flag up - had to use serial number ID. Really funky though for the bathroom!

Also installed the outdoor wall Hue lights which are really good - set to turn on at Sunset, and off at Sunrise.

Also, admittedly not Hue, but we've got a powered Bed (4 x USB and 2 x LED strips) which, due to the missus 'forgetting' to turn it off in the morning, I've decided to hook up to an Alexa Smart Plug. It is the only Alexa plug in the house that forgets it's routine so sometimes fails to come on. Very annoying.

jpaul · 5 Feb 2019 at 15:04

RedvGreen said:
but we've got a powered Bed (4 x USB and 2 x LED strips)

erh ... you mean you have 6 controlled lights in your bedroom.

RedvGreen · 5 Feb 2019 at 15:08

jpaul said:
erh ... you mean you have 6 controlled lights in your bedroom.

Nope, the bed has 2 x USB ports and 1 x LED strip integrated within it on each side. The USB ports are used for mobile device charging and a USB powered book-light.

The Bed
The LED book-lights

The bed has a single plug to power this, which is what the Alexa Smart Plug interfaces with.

Cleisthenes · 16 Feb 2019 at 11:19

Hoping you guys can help me.

Complete novice with regard to smart bulbs as I've only just moved out of my folks place.

I'd like to have a few lamps with smart functionality so that I can turn them on based on a schedule or just remotely on my way home for example.

I'm not fussed about RGB, but having the ability to change the temperature of the white would be nice.

What's the easiest (read: cheapest) way of getting this functionality?

One thing that worries me is being completely limited to using an app to turn them on and off. Some apps look less than idea. I'd like to be able to turn the lamps on manually if I wanted to, is this possible with smart devices?

Thanks in advance!

UberTiger · 16 Feb 2019 at 11:55

Cleisthenes said:
One thing that worries me is being completely limited to using an app to turn them on and off.

You can get physical switches Hue now, I think for the Ikea ones too. Of course they still rely on connecting to your wifi network and bridge to send the signal though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=lighting&field-keywords=hue+switch

If you search for the Hue white bulbs, you'll get the white temperature control without going full RGB too.

Cleisthenes · 16 Feb 2019 at 12:28

UberTiger said:
You can get physical switches Hue now, I think for the Ikea ones too. Of course they still rely on connecting to your wifi network and bridge to send the signal though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=lighting&field-keywords=hue+switch

If you search for the Hue white bulbs, you'll get the white temperature control without going full RGB too.

Thanks for the info.

That does still seem like quite an expensive way of doing it as wouldn't I need the bridge to make it work at all? Or does the bulb actually link to the wifi so I'd just need the app?

UberTiger · 16 Feb 2019 at 12:35

You need a bridge regardless. Some packs come with one included.

matt100 · 16 Feb 2019 at 12:41

Cleisthenes said:
Hoping you guys can help me.

Complete novice with regard to smart bulbs as I've only just moved out of my folks place.

I'd like to have a few lamps with smart functionality so that I can turn them on based on a schedule or just remotely on my way home for example.

I'm not fussed about RGB, but having the ability to change the temperature of the white would be nice.

What's the easiest (read: cheapest) way of getting this functionality?

One thing that worries me is being completely limited to using an app to turn them on and off. Some apps look less than idea. I'd like to be able to turn the lamps on manually if I wanted to, is this possible with smart devices?

Thanks in advance!

If you want to use physical switches then you're probably wasting your time going smart.

Personally I've given up on switches altogether and gone with motion sensors and voice assistants so I never have to go into the apps.

Pricey to set up I guess but once you have the hub it's a one time thing.

Cleisthenes · 16 Feb 2019 at 14:42

Hmm, have any of you tried smart plugs? Just wondering whether they'll do what I want or whether they might be a faff too.

Thanks for the input.

utajoker · 12 Apr 2019 at 23:19

we have just got the keys to our new house today and im hoping to get some smart stuff in straight away, starting with phillips hue stuff.

Wheres best place for deals on bulbs?

Can all the bulbs be set to different light levels or do they have to state dimmable?