Philips Hue Lighting - owners thread

[dickymint]

ecsrobin said:

wjwren said:

can i set the hue pir so that it only turn one light on but if it doesnt detect anyone in the room then it turns OFF other lights that the kids leave on?

No. You might be able to using IFFT.

Maybe a workaround using two PIR's strategically placed?

[matrignano]

Has anyone solved the dodgy geolocation issue yet? Almost never works for me

[dapprman]

matrignano said:

Has anyone solved the dodgy geolocation issue yet? Almost never works for me

I find that every time I reboot my hone or the Hue app updates if I open up the app then the Coming Home function works fine, if I do not, it does not. Was not sure if it is a problem with the new style app not properly auto starting behind the scenes or my phone.

[dickymint]

matrignano said:

Has anyone solved the dodgy geolocation issue yet? Almost never works for me

Not seen a problem yet. Santa is still on schedule ........

[JimbobVFR]

wjwren said:

can i set the hue pir so that it only turn one light on but if it doesnt detect anyone in the room then it turns OFF other lights that the kids leave on?

Yes easily with a different app. Are you an iPhone or Android user? On Android Hue Essentials is pretty good IMO with a very flexible interface for programming accessories. All the config is stored on the bridge so you can continue to use the Philips app as well if you wished and just use HE for programming.

On iPhone I believe iconnecthue is one of the better options

[matrignano]

dickymint said:

Not seen a problem yet. Santa is still on schedule ........

That’s tado though, not hue!

[Chucklehead]

can anyone help me understand if i can achieve what i'm trying to do?

Today i have a wall switch for "the big light" in the living room - non hue. I have three lamps, all hue. I control the hue lamps with the push button kinetic switch near the door. I've seen there is now a Hue wall switch module, which comes at a good time as i'm about to redecorate that room.

I want to replace the single gang light switch in the living room with a two gang light switch. One side would be powered and continue to handle the big light, the other would not, and would have the hue wall module to control the lamps - effectively creating the perception of a lamp circuit on the wall switch.

Will that work? Or will the second switch be powered by the first and therefore not suitable?

[Trevatanus]

Chucklehead said:

can anyone help me understand if i can achieve what i'm trying to do?

Today i have a wall switch for "the big light" in the living room - non hue. I have three lamps, all hue. I control the hue lamps with the push button kinetic switch near the door. I've seen there is now a Hue wall switch module, which comes at a good time as i'm about to redecorate that room.

I want to replace the single gang light switch in the living room with a two gang light switch. One side would be powered and continue to handle the big light, the other would not, and would have the hue wall module to control the lamps - effectively creating the perception of a lamp circuit on the wall switch.

Will that work? Or will the second switch be powered by the first and therefore not suitable?

Why not just replace the bulb(s) on the big light, assuming that is an option?

[dapprman]

You can get third party wall switches that will effectively convert your main light in to a Zigbee one (through the switch panel itself) and have a second or third switch for Zigbee devices, however when I was looking for one of these for my kitchen I found most need an earthing wire, plus none of them have very good reputations review wise, and some of the feedback is rather scary with people seeing smoke and smelling burning. In the end, when the fluorescent tube started to go I used it as an excuse to change the light fitting to one that took Hue/Zigbee G10 bulbs (always hated the fluorescent tube).

[DoctorX]

My Hue app is very slow these days (iOS15/latest Hue software) and takes a while to connect. The Apple home kit app sees many of the bulbs (I've never specifically set that up) and reacts almost instantly so I don't think there's any networking issues. Anyone else have this issue?

[number2]

Probably won't help you if you need to maintain a wired switch for your main light (multiple specialist bulbs I guess), but these are excellent, if a tad pricey.

https://www.senic.com/products/friends-of-hue-smar...

Fully programmable and wireless.

Edit: noticed there are lots of similar out there now, highlighted on the Hue site. https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/explore-hue/work...

Edit again: annoying actually as some are better looking than the Senic I bought a 3-pack of last year!

Edited by number2 on Thursday 6th January 13:57

[kevinon]

number2 said:

Probably won't help you if you need to maintain a wired switch for your main light (multiple specialist bulbs I guess), but these are excellent, if a tad pricey.

https://www.senic.com/products/friends-of-hue-smar...

Fully programmable and wireless.

Edit: noticed there are lots of similar out there now, highlighted on the Hue site. https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/explore-hue/work...

Edit again: annoying actually as some are better looking than the Senic I bought a 3-pack of last year!

Edited by number2 on Thursday 6th January 13:57

Oooh, lots of great ideas there. And I'm not gonna look at the prices, because I have no real NEED, but a terrific want for these cool physical switches. Just need to do some man maths I guess, same as I always do.

[Chucklehead]

Trevatanus said:

Chucklehead said:

can anyone help me understand if i can achieve what i'm trying to do?

Today i have a wall switch for "the big light" in the living room - non hue. I have three lamps, all hue. I control the hue lamps with the push button kinetic switch near the door. I've seen there is now a Hue wall switch module, which comes at a good time as i'm about to redecorate that room.

I want to replace the single gang light switch in the living room with a two gang light switch. One side would be powered and continue to handle the big light, the other would not, and would have the hue wall module to control the lamps - effectively creating the perception of a lamp circuit on the wall switch.

Will that work? Or will the second switch be powered by the first and therefore not suitable?

Why not just replace the bulb(s) on the big light, assuming that is an option?

The big light is never on. I just want to have one for the big light and one for the lamps.

[dapprman]

dapprman said:

matrignano said:

Has anyone solved the dodgy geolocation issue yet? Almost never works for me

I find that every time I reboot my hone or the Hue app updates if I open up the app then the Coming Home function works fine, if I do not, it does not. Was not sure if it is a problem with the new style app not properly auto starting behind the scenes or my phone.

Adding to this one as I've just been reminded of something when I got back home this evening. Do you leave wifi on when you're out ? Part of the problem you may have is your phone trying to connect to someone else's wifi before you get close enough to home, preventing the software from sending the turn on signals.

[JimbobVFR]

Chucklehead said:

can anyone help me understand if i can achieve what i'm trying to do?

Today i have a wall switch for "the big light" in the living room - non hue. I have three lamps, all hue. I control the hue lamps with the push button kinetic switch near the door. I've seen there is now a Hue wall switch module, which comes at a good time as i'm about to redecorate that room.

I want to replace the single gang light switch in the living room with a two gang light switch. One side would be powered and continue to handle the big light, the other would not, and would have the hue wall module to control the lamps - effectively creating the perception of a lamp circuit on the wall switch.

Will that work? Or will the second switch be powered by the first and therefore not suitable?

Yes that would work. The hue module is battery powered and doesn't connect to any of the wiring, just the switch. I've not got one but I believe the module comes with a Wago alike connector to to power the light permanently.

[UTH]

Does anyone have any of the outdoor kit?

Tempted to look into something like this now that I'm pretty much all Hue'd up indoors!

https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/p/hue-white-and-...

[wjwren]

It's cheaper to buy a GU10 spot and buy the hue bulbs
Those outdoor lights are very over priced.

I've just had my flourish pendant replaced under warranty. It's a nice light buy also over priced. After looking inside all it is is led tape wrapped around a piece of plastic. £300!

[Carbon Sasquatch]

UTH said:

Does anyone have any of the outdoor kit?

I just put Hue bulbs in regular out door lights for most of mine. The only specific Hue sealed units I got were the floodlights and use those for lighting trees as the regular bulbs are not bright enough.

[number2]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

UTH said:

Does anyone have any of the outdoor kit?

I just put Hue bulbs in regular out door lights for most of mine. The only specific Hue sealed units I got were the floodlights and use those for lighting trees as the regular bulbs are not bright enough.

Same here and it works well.

I wasn't keen on:

a) the pricing of the outdoor kit
b) the fact that the bulbs are integrated in a lot of it and can't be replaced.

As above, I'll consider the flood lights when it comes to lighting up our trees but other options first...

[ecsrobin]

I managed to pick up the outdoor spots for about £120 on amazon once (pricing error perhaps) and impressed, a friend got his in a sale (not as cheap and they look good but could do with one of the XL lights on a big tree.