Philips Hue Lighting - owners thread

[Carbon Sasquatch]

dmsims said:

https://labs.meethue.com/news/three-ways-to-get-mo...

Seventyseven7 said:

Any advice for the indoor sensors.

I have one in my lounge area, it turns the lights on as I walk in which is great and |I have set it to turn them off after 5 minutes of inactivity. The problem is, if I sit down to watch football etc, it then has no activity and turns the lights off

I don't want to set the no activity to 60 minutes for example as when | actually leave the room they will wait an hour to turn off. Any suggestions on how to set this up, I assume I'm doing something wrong?

I've not tried it yet, but there are some formulae that might help -

https://labs.meethue.com/formulas/huelabs/three-ti...

Edited by Carbon Sasquatch on Thursday 2nd July 07:27

[fourstardan]

I bought Hue bulbs for ceiling lights in my front room, but I find it really annoying when you turn the switch it loses colour settings.

Is this still the case with them?

[Carbon Sasquatch]

fourstardan said:

I bought Hue bulbs for ceiling lights in my front room, but I find it really annoying when you turn the switch it loses colour settings.

Is this still the case with them?

I believe it was a safety thing - after a power failure they came back on full white.

It's changed - IIRC it's still the default, but you can change the behaviour when returning from a power failure - the other options are off and last known state.

[LeadFarmer]

Anyone manage to get 'colour roll' working with their coloured Hue bulbs, where the bulb cycles through all of its colours? I've only managed to get it to work a couple of ties, the rest of the time Alexa says she doesn't understand.

[272BHP]

I bought 7 coloured hue GU10 bulbs for one room that was connected to a dimmer switch. they worked perfectly for a week but then it appears the dimmer switch has burnt out and they no longer work.

The lights did not work unless they were switched on and then could be controlled via Alexa or App but we did keep forgetting and kept operating the light switch out of habit. When it stopped working I opened it up to check it wasn't a connection issue and could smell burning.

Do I just need a new switch? the last one was rated at 10A do I need the same or a beefier one?

[Carbon Sasquatch]

272BHP said:

Do I just need a new switch? the last one was rated at 10A do I need the same or a beefier one?

Just get a regular switch - or some terminal block and a blanking plate.

You need to leave Hue bulbs permanently on - and dim them with your phone, by asking Alexa/Siri or getting a Hue dimmer switch

[272BHP]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Just get a regular switch - or some terminal block and a blanking plate.

You need to leave Hue bulbs permanently on - and dim them with your phone, by asking Alexa/Siri or getting a Hue dimmer switch

Thanks. We know not to use the switch but it is force of habit I guess!

[JimbobVFR]

You definitely shouldn't be using a dimmer switch with Hue bulbs as it can can damage them, hopefully the bulbs are OK and will be fine on e the switch is replaced.

[dapprman]

It's a shame you can't use the Philips dimmer switch with more than one bulb without a hub else that would be ideal - especially as you can get a third party base plate that covers your normal light switch. I've a few round my house.

[272BHP]

JimbobVFR said:

You definitely shouldn't be using a dimmer switch with Hue bulbs as it can can damage them, hopefully the bulbs are OK and will be fine on e the switch is replaced.

Ah, dammit, I didn't know that, a full set of 7 for the room was quite expensive so I hope they are not kaput.

[dapprman]

272BHP said:

Ah, dammit, I didn't know that, a full set of 7 for the room was quite expensive so I hope they are not kaput.

Perhaps it's worth keeping an eye open for when a Philips Hue Hub and bulb set is at a very good price (I picked up a spare hub and 3 colour bulbs for less than the reduced cost of a twin pack of the coloured bulbs ... - cost me £70) and then get a Philips Hue Smart Dimmer Switch (these occasionally drop to a tenner on Amazon) and a Samotech Cover to go over your light switch - note these fit neatly over modern switches but I found an older while one from the 1970s/early 80s the swicth bits themselves were too high).

[phil4]

I just popped the lightswitch cover open, and used Wago 2/3 way clips to join the wires and bypass the switch. I then took the switch out, and put a blanking plate over, and popped a hue dimmer next to it. No more accidentally turning them on/off. There's one in the "gym" which I did after and had run out of blanking plates, that just has a switch that does nothing.

[Hobnobgti]

LeadFarmer said:

I like those Hue Welcome lights, but from google images they look like they might be difficult to fit flush to the wall as it has a rear cable entry hole. Did you encounter this problem?

[url]

Sorry for a delayed reply. Yes another smart home product designed to replace an existing device and designed to go over an existing hole for a light fitment. Quite annoying as I have added additional products that many are designed that way, such as the Nest Hello expecting you to have pre-existing door bell wiring and chimes etc. As another poster said I used the mortar line in the brick to give some more space, you would probably be able to screw the back plate over some wire on a flat wall anyway. It comes with a waterproof grommet for the cable hole or could do some additional silicone round the edge?

I have since finally got round to painting the wall and fixing the cable to the wall properly!

[threadlock]

Any of you know of a good (i.e. cheaper) source for Lightstrips? I need two plus an extension. Most places with stock are £70+ and most places priced at £60 or better are out of stock. I know, I know: supply/demand etc. but just thought I'd ask :-)

[BigBen]

threadlock said:

Any of you know of a good (i.e. cheaper) source for Lightstrips? I need two plus an extension. Most places with stock are £70+ and most places priced at £60 or better are out of stock. I know, I know: supply/demand etc. but just thought I'd ask :-)

you can make your own Hue compatible light strips with a few bits from AliExpress and a bit of buggering around. I made a 5m strip for around £20 iirc and it looks as good as the real thing.

[threadlock]

BigBen said:

you can make your own Hue compatible light strips with a few bits from AliExpress and a bit of buggering around. I made a 5m strip for around £20 iirc and it looks as good as the real thing.

Thanks for the suggestion - that idea has occurred to me in the past but I've tried non-Hue light strips and bulbs before and although they do work they're just not as good as the real thing.

For example I've got two Innr multicolour E27 bulbs. When they're dimmed or turned off they react more slowly than the Hue bulbs in the same zone, and they change brightness in visible steps. I've got two 4m Innr light strips. At the end of every evening all 19 Zigbee bulbs/strips in our house are set to start dimming over 30 minutes and then turn off. One of the Innr strips goes suddenly from its default bright blue to bright red, then changes over 2 minutes to white, then starts dimming. Sometimes the Innr bulbs don't react to a room-change instruction. I can't set what they do when they're turned off and back on at the switch. Etc etc.

IMHO the cheaper options aren't worth the saving. The Hue just works perfectly.

[BigBen]

threadlock said:

Thanks for the suggestion - that idea has occurred to me in the past but I've tried non-Hue light strips and bulbs before and although they do work they're just not as good as the real thing.

For example I've got two Innr multicolour E27 bulbs. When they're dimmed or turned off they react more slowly than the Hue bulbs in the same zone, and they change brightness in visible steps. I've got two 4m Innr light strips. At the end of every evening all 19 Zigbee bulbs/strips in our house are set to start dimming over 30 minutes and then turn off. One of the Innr strips goes suddenly from its default bright blue to bright red, then changes over 2 minutes to white, then starts dimming. Sometimes the Innr bulbs don't react to a room-change instruction. I can't set what they do when they're turned off and back on at the switch. Etc etc.

IMHO the cheaper options aren't worth the saving. The Hue just works perfectly.

In that case your best bet is to wait for one of the many 3 for 2 offers on Hue that seem to happen very frequently.

I will also point out that the above has not been my experience and my home rolled light strip performs seamlessly, but then it is only for accent lighting above some kitchen units so I suppose I may not have been looking at it with a critical enough eye. It certainly hasn't done any weird bright blue to bright red st.......

Ben

[ecsrobin]

BigBen said:

In that case your best bet is to wait for one of the many 3 for 2 offers on Hue that seem to happen very frequently.

I will also point out that the above has not been my experience and my home rolled light strip performs seamlessly, but then it is only for accent lighting above some kitchen units so I suppose I may not have been looking at it with a critical enough eye. It certainly hasn't done any weird bright blue to bright red st.......

Ben

On now at the Philips shop.

[threadlock]

ecsrobin said:

BigBen said:

In that case your best bet is to wait for one of the many 3 for 2 offers on Hue that seem to happen very frequently.

I will also point out that the above has not been my experience and my home rolled light strip performs seamlessly, but then it is only for accent lighting above some kitchen units so I suppose I may not have been looking at it with a critical enough eye. It certainly hasn't done any weird bright blue to bright red st.......

Ben

On now at the Philips shop.

Thanks for the tip, but the lightstrips are neither on offer nor in stock
https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/p/hue-white-and-...


Edit to add:
I think at the moment we're in the cross-over between V3 of the lightstrips and the new V4 that's been announced (e.g. https://www.engadget.com/philips-hue-leaks-show-ne... )
Maybe the old stock is all run out and the new products aren't yet in full production. It would certainly help me to run these lightstrips under my kitchen wall cabinets if the strips can be disconnected from the controllers in the new version.

Edited by threadlock on Wednesday 8th July 12:30

[dxg]

ecsrobin said:

BigBen said:

In that case your best bet is to wait for one of the many 3 for 2 offers on Hue that seem to happen very frequently.

I will also point out that the above has not been my experience and my home rolled light strip performs seamlessly, but then it is only for accent lighting above some kitchen units so I suppose I may not have been looking at it with a critical enough eye. It certainly hasn't done any weird bright blue to bright red st.......

Ben

On now at the Philips shop.

Thanks for point this out! That's the spotlights for the kitchen sorted...