Philips Hue Lighting - owners thread

[JimbobVFR]

wjwren said:

^ I read somewhere that they plan to phase out BC eventually. Most of the lights even in British shops, not just Ikea are now ES. If you are stuck you can always get an ES/BC adaptor. About £2 on ebay.

I'm a spark and wish they'd hurry up and do this, not a fan of BC caps TBH.

It's actually fairly difficult to buy a standard loop in/out ceiling rose or batten holder that isn't BC. Sure most actual light fittings seem to be ES these days but I don't think it'll be that quickly for them to disappear.

[RammyMP]

There’s £10 off starter kits at Curry’s at the moment, at £50

[LeadFarmer]

Anyone manage to get Alexa to set their Hue lights to Colour Loop? My Alexa has started saying she doesn't know how, but she's done it before.

[ecsrobin]

GU10 at £37 on amazon apparently cheapest ever.

[dmsims]

ecsrobin said:

GU10 at £37 on amazon apparently cheapest ever.

Nope they were £28 in "the" sale

[jonobigblind]

Can’t even get my Phillips Hue bulb to connect to my echo plus (which it came with). Sticking point seems to be the skill wants to locate a Phillips bridge but I don’t need one given the supposed built in functionality in the Echo.

Works well as a regular bulb tough

[B17NNS]

jonobigblind said:

Can’t even get my Phillips Hue bulb to connect to my echo plus (which it came with). Sticking point seems to be the skill wants to locate a Phillips bridge but I don’t need one given the supposed built in functionality in the Echo.

Have you got the Echo plus? The regular echo and echo dot don't have smart functionality. Hue functionality is limited even with the Plus.

[Kitch88]

jonobigblind said:

Can’t even get my Phillips Hue bulb to connect to my echo plus (which it came with). Sticking point seems to be the skill wants to locate a Phillips bridge but I don’t need one given the supposed built in functionality in the Echo.

Works well as a regular bulb tough

Don't use the hue skill. Without the skill enabled, just ask alexa to discover your devices (with the bulb turned on).

[jonobigblind]

Cheers for the replies chaps, I do have the Echo Plus (and this bulb came free with it). I have tried getting Alexa to find the bulb both with voice and me going into the app and doing it manually. The Hue skill is a write off as it wants a Phillips bridge when apparently there isn't a need for one.

I can only think that it doesn't like the bulb being in a lamp (even when turned on)?

[JimbobVFR]

jonobigblind said:

Cheers for the replies chaps, I do have the Echo Plus (and this bulb came free with it). I have tried getting Alexa to find the bulb both with voice and me going into the app and doing it manually. The Hue skill is a write off as it wants a Phillips bridge when apparently there isn't a need for one.

I can only think that it doesn't like the bulb being in a lamp (even when turned on)?

If it's a metal shaded fitting it could, I suppose, be blocking the signal.

How far away from your Echo is the bulb, the ZigBee radio is actually quite low powered, although Philips bulbs will use other bulbs in a mesh network to extend the network, each bulb would then only need to be close enough to another bulb. My garage for example is far too distant from my Hue bridge but it works because it's close enough to other bulbs in my house. I'm not sure if this mesh functionality needs a Hue hub or if just works with other hubs too.

[wjwren]

What is the difference between the £7 and £12 ikea gu10's? Both are 400lm.
Also if I get the PIR sensor can this link up to Hue hub? Can I set the sensor to only come on when it's dark. Do I have to have the Ikea sensor or do I have to buy a Hue one?

[B17NNS]

wjwren said:

What is the difference between the £7 and £12 ikea gu10's? Both are 400lm.
Also if I get the PIR sensor can this link up to Hue hub? Can I set the sensor to only come on when it's dark. Do I have to have the Ikea sensor or do I have to buy a Hue one?

£12 are colour temp adjustable.

[Blue Oval84]

B17NNS said:

wjwren said:

What is the difference between the £7 and £12 ikea gu10's? Both are 400lm.
Also if I get the PIR sensor can this link up to Hue hub? Can I set the sensor to only come on when it's dark. Do I have to have the Ikea sensor or do I have to buy a Hue one?

£12 are colour temp adjustable.

You want the temp adjustable versions. My Hue GU10's alternate between colours depending on whether it's daytime (bright, cold, complements the daylight), or evening (softer, warmer, more relaxing light), the difference in tone and lighting mood is night and day. Boom boom, see what I did there?!

[ecsrobin]

Blue Oval84 said:

You want the temp adjustable versions. My Hue GU10's alternate between colours depending on whether it's daytime (bright, cold, complements the daylight), or evening (softer, warmer, more relaxing light), the difference in tone and lighting mood is night and day. Boom boom, see what I did there?!

What are you using to set the colour temps by time of day?

[wjwren]

How could I set the lights to come on daylight in the morning and warmer in the evening using the pir sensor? All via the hue app?

[dmsims]

ecsrobin said:

What are you using to set the colour temps by time of day?

Hue labs ?

[Blue Oval84]

ecsrobin said:

What are you using to set the colour temps by time of day?

At the moment, just the Hue light switch, one press of on = day scene, two presses = night scene, or the Google Home if I can't be arsed to get up.

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to program it in the app though or using IFTT or something. I just prefer to do it manually at the moment.

[ecsrobin]

Hue coloured bulbs at amazon £37.99 & £34.99 depending on fitting. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LVUZQNX?tag=hotukde...

[rat840771]

So Amazon are doing 25% off Phillips Hue starter kits, so around £125 for bridge, 3 bulbs and a dimmer switch.

So as I am new to this can I ask a few questions?

I will have 3 bulbs upstairs, 1 in each room, if I put the dimmer switch in our room can I control all 3 rooms using the same dimmer switch?

Can I control lights via Alexa and phone, can kids control their own bulb in there own room via phone?

What is the range of the bridge, if it is upstairs ( does it plug into hub?) will it reach to the opposite end of the house, does each bulb create a network ( like Sonos?)

I am after small bayonet ( B15?) Is this size available in Hue

Also what are the G10 Hue like as I could put these in the Kitchen

lastly, I am having a new kitchen fitted and I'm after under unit lighting are the Phillips Hue strips any good?

thanks

[B17NNS]

rat840771 said:

I will have 3 bulbs upstairs, 1 in each room, if I put the dimmer switch in our room can I control all 3 rooms using the same dimmer switch?

Yes. Not sure about independently but you can group bulbs into a room and control it from a dimmer or motion sensor.

rat840771 said:

Can I control lights via Alexa and phone, can kids control their own bulb in there own room via phone?

Yes

rat840771 said:

What is the range of the bridge, if it is upstairs ( does it plug into hub?) will it reach to the opposite end of the house, does each bulb create a network ( like Sonos?)

Bridge plugs into your router. Range is up to 30m. Will vary on the construction of your house. The bulbs create a mesh network.

rat840771 said:

I am after small bayonet ( B15?) Is this size available in Hue

Not seen one. They do a SES candle. Adapters are available.

rat840771 said:

Also what are the G10 Hue like as I could put these in the Kitchen

Expensive. If you don't need colour go with IKEA GU10's. Ikea bulbs are compatible with Hue bridge as are Innr.

rat840771 said:

lastly, I am having a new kitchen fitted and I'm after under unit lighting are the Phillips Hue strips any good?

Good yes. Expensive yes. Much cheaper solutions available. The Hue system is great but the bulbs are expensive. Buy the starter kit and add to it with cheaper compatible bulbs.