Home Automation

beachBOYken said:
Thank's.

Is the Hue iris or bloom any good as a reading lamp/bedroom light.
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Depends. They're designed to give off a glow rather than give direct illumination, the side of the light with the bulb is meant to be pointed at a wall or ceiling to reflect the light and it works quite well - but I'm not so sure how well it would work as a reading lamp for instance.
 
Scottland said:
Depends. They're designed to give off a glow rather than give direct illumination, the side of the light with the bulb is meant to be pointed at a wall or ceiling to reflect the light and it works quite well - but I'm not so sure how well it would work as a reading lamp for instance.
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Thank's for that. I only need something that gives off a little light as Im not a heavy reader or anything, just need something to save putting my main light on.
 
Pick one up from somewhere like Amazon where they have a good returns policy ;)

One good thing is that the Bloom is really tiny so easy to hide somewhere.
 
the_r_sole said:
Always interested in peoples motivations for home automation stuff, tbh I don't see the point for it in most houses - having lights that come on via movement is easily achievable with cheap, non-automated solutions, we have done it most hallways/stairs and cloakrooms for about 15 years!
If you are going for a nest alarm, that has a nightlight on it too...
Voice control for switching things on and off and dimming lights its pretty gimmicky imo, you'll end up just using the normal switches/remotes anyway.
It's really one of those things that comes into the bracket of just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should!

Have used the lutron system a few times which allows programmable lights/closes curtains/blinds/rooflights etc but that's an expensive option!
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A Voice controller isn’t always a gimmick. When you are cuddling up to your other half and you need to change the lighting levels voice control lets you without breaking the cuddle. When in bed reading we don’t have to disagree about whose turn it is to get up and turn the lights off, just speak. Or when watching our home chimera and a film starts it’s far easier to speak then find a remote or get up and press a switch. Plus its far easier to set a mood with voice control then finding the tablet and loading up the app. For us motion sensors do no work as they trigger at the wrong times. Voice control seems the best solution.

Home automation is not just about voice controllers for lights it’s more like a home AI. We do everything from setting timers while cooking to asking weather forecast. When visitors children come around they can ask the house questions, play games and have fun with mood lighting. Have you ever seen a young childs face when they realise they can talk to "a house" and get a response? Hours of easy entertainment.
 
We just had a full rewire of the house so i got fitted wall lights and switches above each bedside table in our room, so ive got a hue E27 in each of those. Kinda cool having my bedside light come on when my alarm goes off at 1am, doesnt wake the mrs up
 
Philips hue is a pain in the ass i would just go for fibaro hc2 and use the switches in the switch sockets which means you can use normal bulbs. far cheaper. The hive is like a closed box, hard to get any real integration and api into that thing. i would suggest the secure wall thermostat and receiving along with the danfoss living connector radiator thermostats to control each rad.

best sensors out there i think are the aeon labs multisensors and zwave
 
I decided to forget about Philips hue and went for a standard bedside lamp, I was going to get a hue Go and the bridge to start me off in the Hue ecosystem but I felt it was just to expensive, did not really want to get the hue bridge (yet another device to add to my network), already got enough devices to contend with.
And to get the best out of hue its needed.
 
As im going to be re-decorating the house i could always remove all the existing normal wall light switches and replacing them all with the Hue switches to use with Hue bulbs.
That way people can still use it as normal using the switch.

Is this a good or bad idea to do away with the traditional wall switches(taking plates off, taping up wires, covering with a blank wall plate or similair so they can be relocated in the future) and replace them with the Philips ones?
 
Picked up hue lighting kit with the hub and three coloured bulbs for £80, two echos for £79.99 each and a few other bits.

Most switches will be converted to lightwaveRF or similar over time, but I want to control some lamps via hue, for things like sunrise wake up etc. For non colour lamps I'll be using innr rather than Philips and have my first two on the way.

Going to be getting some dots, Bluetooth ceiling speakers for the bathroom and some other bits like smart radiator valves so we can switch off certain rooms.

Also have an Arlo Q to keep an eye on the cat.

All works well and I'm happy at the prices I got them at. I can't see myself paying full price for a lot of this gear, were paying for development rather than production costs at the moment.

I'm specifically not selecting any product that requires an internet connection for day to day operation (except for cameras) because an internet outage shouldn't mean I can't control most of my gear from inside the same building they're located.

I also don't want loads of different brands so I'll be keeping this to a minimum (things that play well together now might no do so in the future).

I agree that most of this stuff isn't necessary and is even a little gimmicky, but so are the lights on our ram, our i7s for gaming etc

This is as much a hobby as a pursuit of convenience, and as technology lovers it's an easy sell. I love it!
 
photoshop said:
As im going to be re-decorating the house i could always remove all the existing normal wall light switches and replacing them all with the Hue switches to use with Hue bulbs.
That way people can still use it as normal using the switch.

Is this a good or bad idea to do away with the traditional wall switches(taking plates off, taping up wires, covering with a blank wall plate or similair so they can be relocated in the future) and replace them with the Philips ones?
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Personally I'd avoid removing the original switches as you have no backup in the event of the hue hub/system failing. What Philips needs to do is release something like this:- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1454110

Switch covers or a replacement switch plate that can also host the remotes.
 
Why do you need a Hue bulb with lightwave switch? Sounds like doubling of price for little reason, unless you NEED the colour change as well?
 
Amp34 said:
Why do you need a Hue bulb with lightwave switch? Sounds like doubling of price for little reason, unless you NEED the colour change as well?
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Because I would need a hue dimmer switch anyway so my guests and other people can use the hue system and I would rather have one light switch than two. Plus then I could use the colour bulbs too.
 
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