Hue - Is there a compatible dimmer available for 'normal' bulbs

[samcat]

Looking to move over to Hue, but we have some fancy Edison style LED bulbs on a normal twist dimmer like these:

Now, for a matter of style I would like to retain these bulbs, but add them into the Hue system, as such I need a hue compatible wall plate dimmer/similar solution

Is such a thing available/does it exist? My hunting around is turning up lots of noise but no real answer.

If Hue ever made full RGBW edison style bulbs I would be all over them, that would be fantastic!

 

[DampCat]

I doubt it. The hue bulbs work via WiFi built into the base of each bulb. The dimmer then syncs to the bases and tells them what to do.

Your bulbs won't have to associated base on, so I can't see how they'd sync. Perhaps if there's a hue compatible adapter, likes to go from one screw thread size to another? But I've not seen one.

 

[samcat]

Pretty sure Hue uses ZigBee.. ZigBee Light Link to be precise.

I was thinking it would go in place of the existing light dimmer switch on the wall, providing the interface to the Hue from there (instead of in the base of the bulb) and outputting like a normal dimmer.. Even better if the wall plate provided functionality such as slide up/down to brighten/dim and tap for on/off.

Hunting around it feels like a gap in the market, and as ZigBee Light Link is an open standard then someone could bring it to market... Hmmmmm

 

[samcat]

And just bumped into this, which sounds like it fits the bill:

http://www.busch-jaeger-catalogue.c...ogramm=1011161&gruppe=1060440&produkt=1051295

So you replace existing wall mounted light switch with the above, sync/link it to your hue system and there you go... Existing lights/bulbs can be dimmed by Hue as if they are Hue bulbs. In theory.

Expensive though.

Need to do some more reading, and if one company are making it then I bet others are too.

 

[DampCat]

You already know way more than me but be sure to update what you find as it would be interesting to know

 

[RoyMi6]

While you won't be able to control them with the Hue app, the lightwaverf dimmers look good and work well.

It depends on how you plan on using them though...

I personally hate controlling lights/devices with apps. They're slow to load, crash before you get a chance to do the command you want to do, and generally are just much slower than physically getting up and pressing the switch.

If you plan on changing colours on a daily basis then does it really matter that the fancy bulbs aren't in Hue as they can't be changed anyway?

At present you might have to resign yourself that you need something that groups two ecosystems together - like a samsung smartthings hub or an Amazon Echo.

I love my Echos because I can say "get ready for a movie" and it turns off my ceiling lights (lightwaverf) and Sonos (if it's on) and turns on my lamps (hue) and then turns on the TV (Logitech Harmony).

 

[samcat]

Some food for thought there, wasnt aware of these ways of grouping things together.

Wont be changing colours on a daily basis etc, its more for just creating a handful of scenes/setups and being easily able to recall them (Lots of light, movie time, reading, guests, crazy 70's disco... that sort of thing).. So being able to dial in brightness is useful.

Upstairs the landing light is going to be red after about 8pm, gradually getting less bright till roughly bed time, with a motion sensor so if you get up in the night to use the loo there is some subtle light to find your way.

Just looking for a nice way to tie it all together, and those sound like a nice way of doing it.

Thanks for the input!

Still waiting on Hue bridge and a few bulbs to be delivered, expecting this to be a slow/gradual thing so baby steps, solve one problem at a time etc.
Will update/post as I learn things.