Philips Hue Lighting - owners thread

[shep1001]

Hobnobgti said:

Haven't seen a mention of these but went for a Hue Welcome colour light for the back garden. We did have an old light but I re-did the wall with a new outdoor socket and fused spur for the light (I will get round to painting over the gap!). Very impressed with it, colours look great and the 'energise' setting lights the whole garden up very bright.

I have 5 of these on the garage & back of the house, very good lights if you can get them cheap. I like the fact they can be controlled from anywhere using the sensor then set into groups to turn on off giving you better coverage of a big space.

You don't need to run this light through. fused spur unless you want to, I checked with Philips.

[durbster]

I've been trying to find a solution for a doorbell for ages. We have an office in a separate building so there's no chance of hearing the front door.

I wanted something with smart features but letting silicon valley companies harvest data on everyone who visits my house feels a step too far for me. However, I seem to be a rare breed because there doesn't seem to be a viable smart doorbell without a camera.

Then last night I had a brainwave - a Hue outdoor motion sensor that sends a notification to our phones when it triggers. Anyone tried something like this?

I ordered one last night so let's see how well that works.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

They do a smart button too - though you'd need to secure it somehow to stop people walking off with it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Button-Wireless-C...

I just use a Ring though - I don't really care if other people can potentially see what's happening at my front door.

[durbster]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

They do a smart button too - though you'd need to secure it somehow to stop people walking off with it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Button-Wireless-C...

I just use a Ring though - I don't really care if other people can potentially see what's happening at my front door.

I did look at that but it's not weatherproof.

I've put the camera ones in a basket on several occasions then decided not to pull the trigger, so depending on how this goes I might end up with one but for a fifth of the price it seems worth a go.

[JimbobVFR]

It's worth mentioning that Hue on its own won't be able to do the notification part. I used to have a sensor doing a similar job but blinking selected lights for a silent notification.

If you want an actual notification on your phone then you'll need some other device or system. I believe Apple Homekit could do it if you're an iPhone user, however to be reliable Homekit needs a device to act as a hub of sorts (an iPad or Apple TV can be used for this I believe)

durbster said:

I've been trying to find a solution for a doorbell for ages. We have an office in a separate building so there's no chance of hearing the front door.

I wanted something with smart features but letting silicon valley companies harvest data on everyone who visits my house feels a step too far for me. However, I seem to be a rare breed because there doesn't seem to be a viable smart doorbell without a camera.

Then last night I had a brainwave - a Hue outdoor motion sensor that sends a notification to our phones when it triggers. Anyone tried something like this?

I ordered one last night so let's see how well that works.

[Baron Greenback]

If you don't want a amazon echo I would go a raspberry pi solution. If not good in programming/wiring you may need to sweet talk somebody to help! https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t...

No expertise here just thinking sideways

[Carbon Sasquatch]

ITTT probably has something if you can be bothered.....

Ring & Echo work for me - Alexa announces all round the house that there is somebody at the door - Echo Show will also let me see - just a shame the video doesn't;t display automatically.....

[durbster]

JimbobVFR said:

It's worth mentioning that Hue on its own won't be able to do the notification part. I used to have a sensor doing a similar job but blinking selected lights for a silent notification.

If you want an actual notification on your phone then you'll need some other device or system. I believe Apple Homekit could do it if you're an iPhone user, however to be reliable Homekit needs a device to act as a hub of sorts (an iPad or Apple TV can be used for this I believe)

Ah yeah, I should have added we have a couple of echo dots so I was able to prove the concept last night with a motion sensor I already have.

Now the Echos announce, "somebody is in the shoe cupboard" whenever somebody opens the door (which I find highly amusing so have left it switched on )

Edited by durbster on Wednesday 27th May 12:24

[dickymint]

durbster said:

Carbon Sasquatch said:

They do a smart button too - though you'd need to secure it somehow to stop people walking off with it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Button-Wireless-C...

I just use a Ring though - I don't really care if other people can potentially see what's happening at my front door.

I did look at that but it's not weatherproof.

I've put the camera ones in a basket on several occasions then decided not to pull the trigger, so depending on how this goes I might end up with one but for a fifth of the price it seems worth a go.

Or you could couple the outdoor sensor to this..............

https://www2.meethue.com/en-gb/p/hue-smart-plug/87...

and plug anything you want to switch on/off.

[durbster]

dickymint said:

Or you could couple the outdoor sensor to this..............

https://www2.meethue.com/en-gb/p/hue-smart-plug/87...

and plug anything you want to switch on/off.

I've got a spare smart plug that I used for the Christmas lights.

I wonder if you can you get plugin air horns? That'd do the trick.

[Trevatanus]

dxg said:

So, those "Friends of Hue" smart switches we discussed here *ages* ago have started, finally, showing up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VRDKD8S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnwC6UYG-ng

I like the idea and the appearance, but £60 for a switch is a bit too much even for this house where Hue is otherwise everywhere...

It's £49 at the moment if anyone was waiting for the price to drop a bit.

[juggsy]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

ITTT probably has something if you can be bothered.....

Ring & Echo work for me - Alexa announces all round the house that there is somebody at the door - Echo Show will also let me see - just a shame the video doesn't;t display automatically.....

I just bought the outdoor sensor to control some new outdoor lights fitted with Hue GU10s. It seems though the system is locked down to use sensors for the ‘IF’ part, which is annoying. I was hoping to do more with the sensor than just trigger the lights.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

juggsy said:

I just bought the outdoor sensor to control some new outdoor lights fitted with Hue GU10s. It seems though the system is locked down to use sensors for the ‘IF’ part, which is annoying. I was hoping to do more with the sensor than just trigger the lights.

I've not really played with it beyond an initial browse. I thought it also let you do things like turn lights on when your phone connected to your home wifi AKA you arrive home ?

What else do you want to do with it ?

[durbster]

durbster said:

I've been trying to find a solution for a doorbell for ages. We have an office in a separate building so there's no chance of hearing the front door.
...
Then last night I had a brainwave - a Hue outdoor motion sensor that sends a notification to our phones when it triggers.
...
I ordered one last night so let's see how well that works.

I set this up a few weeks ago and I'd say it's been a partial success.

The motion sensor works great and I've set up a routine to make an announcement on the Echo devices which is proving reliable and useful as long as somebody is in earshot.

The bit that doesn't work is notifying the phones. I hadn't factored in that the Alexa app is not running permanently. If I'm actively using the phone then it all works fine, but for the majority of the time when the phone is in my pocket or sat on a desk for a while, the app goes into a sleep state (presumably) so the notifications don't fire until I pick the phone up.

Still, considering all I had to buy was the motion sensor, it's still pretty good and we haven't missed any deliveries

[JimbobVFR]

Are you an iOS or Android user?

If you're an apple user I believe Homekit can do a notification. You will however need an iPad or AppleTV to act as a hub.

durbster said:

I set this up a few weeks ago and I'd say it's been a partial success.

The motion sensor works great and I've set up a routine to make an announcement on the Echo devices which is proving reliable and useful as long as somebody is in earshot.

The bit that doesn't work is notifying the phones. I hadn't factored in that the Alexa app is not running permanently. If I'm actively using the phone then it all works fine, but for the majority of the time when the phone is in my pocket or sat on a desk for a while, the app goes into a sleep state (presumably) so the notifications don't fire until I pick the phone up.

Still, considering all I had to buy was the motion sensor, it's still pretty good and we haven't missed any deliveries

[dickymint]

Nice Hue Sync software update - I can now turn it on and off using my TV remote. Can't get Alexa to do it yet though.

[durbster]

JimbobVFR said:

Are you an iOS or Android user?

If you're an apple user I believe Homekit can do a notification. You will however need an iPad or AppleTV to act as a hub.

Android. I think I can get around it by using IFTTT rather than the Alexa app so that's the next plan.

[MrThomo]

Hobnobgti said:

Haven't seen a mention of these but went for a Hue Welcome colour light for the back garden. We did have an old light but I re-did the wall with a new outdoor socket and fused spur for the light (I will get round to painting over the gap!). Very impressed with it, colours look great and the 'energise' setting lights the whole garden up very bright.

Do you have an image of the brightness in the dark? I am very close to purchasing a couple but looking for a real world example of the illumination

Thanks

[Carbon Sasquatch]

MrThomo said:

Do you have an image of the brightness in the dark? I am very close to purchasing a couple but looking for a real world example of the illumination

Thanks

It's hard to take a picture that reflects reality.... I'd say somewhere between 150w & 300w halogen if that helps.

However, that's on white setting - if you use a colour, any colour, then the 'brightness' seems to drop off massively IMHO

I use one to illuminate a tree - it's about 15m from the house & is perfect on white, but I can hardly see it on any other colour.

[MrThomo]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

It's hard to take a picture that reflects reality.... I'd say somewhere between 150w & 300w halogen if that helps.

However, that's on white setting - if you use a colour, any colour, then the 'brightness' seems to drop off massively IMHO

I use one to illuminate a tree - it's about 15m from the house & is perfect on white, but I can hardly see it on any other colour.

Thank you yes appreciate it’s difficult to capture the true effect at night. My plan was to replace a std PIR light next to garage with this in addition to two lights next to front door and link them with motion sensor.

Sounds like if set to white it would be a suitable replacement but if colour its for ambiance rather than functional lighting to light the driveway?