I've just bought a Hue kit - what can it do?! :)

[Scott W]

Yes.

Make sure you get the IKEA bulbs with the latest firmware though otherwise you need the IKEA hub to update the firmware on them. You can take the hub back to IKEA afterwards though.

[B17NNS]

wjwren said:

Just to clarify - can you use the Ikea or inner bulbs directly with the Hue bridge and no need for the Ikea or Inner bridge?

Frustratingly my Amazon order which was due today has now been pushed back to the 8th. Guess they had a run on starter kits on Black Friday.

[hostyle]

JimbobVFR said:

Do yourself a favour then, when specifying make sure the switches use the deepest backbox possible and is wired to include neutral not just live and switched. This opens up so many options that are normally difficult to do in the UK.

I'm not in the UK, but when doing DIY electrics I've allready gone for the deepest back boxes available. WIll make sure the builder uses the same. Thanks for the tip.

What do you mean with a neutral wire? And what are the extra options?

[JimbobVFR]

hostyle said:

I'm not in the UK, but when doing DIY electrics I've allready gone for the deepest back boxes available. WIll make sure the builder uses the same. Thanks for the tip.

What do you mean with a neutral wire? And what are the extra options?

The advice was mainly for UK based people as it was before I was aware you were over the pond. US electrics will have neutral available at the switch. Over here it's quite common to only have live at the switch and our backboxs are generally really shallow for switches (some of mine are 16mm depth)

[hostyle]

Ah, thanks. I guess we have more or the less the same issue in The Netherlands. Wires are ran from a central box to switchboxes. For light switches that will be brown for live and black after the switch going to the light(s). No blue (neutral) going to the switch. Good idea to put in the blue/neutral to the switch box aswell. Could be usefull when changing a switch to a (usb-)socket.

Got a chance to play with the Hue kit last night. Installation and set-up was a breeze. Getting my first set of lights working with the app was easy enough. Then I connected Apple's Home Kit and started to play around more, easy but not so intuitive working together with the Hue App and bridge pairing.

The "fun" began only when I found out that Apple's Home Kit only supports one admin. And I had set everything up on my phone. There's no way to transfer it to the iPad I wanted to use for further admin duties. So I had to make a new home on my iPad, delete the old one on my phone, etc...

What I couldn't find yet was geofencing with multiple devices. I want my lights to turn off when my gf or I leave the house, but stay on when one of us is still at home. Any ideas?

ETA: never mind the above... found this: Inside iOS 11: HomeKit gains multi-person geofencing, conditional triggers. Will have a play around tonight.

Edited by hostyle on Tuesday 5th December 10:39

[B17NNS]

This looks like a good solution if you want some ambient lighting to work with movies/TV/music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-If4SkQrAI

https://www.dreamscreentv.com

[Blue Oval84]

B17NNS said:

This looks like a good solution if you want some ambient lighting to work with movies/TV/music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-If4SkQrAI

https://www.dreamscreentv.com

That's pretty good!

[hostyle]

Just to quote myself here...

hostyle said:

ETA: never mind the above... found this: Inside iOS 11: HomeKit gains multi-person geofencing, conditional triggers. Will have a play around tonight.

It didn't work... for us. Our iPad is a 4 and isn't supported to upgrade to iOS 11. So to go around it, I installed iConnect Hue on all devices. I had to set-up the iPad as the admin device for Apple's Home Kit and then I added our 2 phones as the trigger devices in iConnect Hue. Took a bit of figuring out, but relatively friendly to set-up.

I guess I'm now well and truly bitten by the smart lighting bug. This weekend I'm going to make a plan for outlets for the builder and will integrate the four group masterswitches for the hue groups aswell as blanked of gangs where switched would normally go (as a just in case for more sockets or if we're fed-up with hue and want traditional lights and switches).

[gr1340]

Great value set on Amazon.es but only has 10 hours to go:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/philips-hue-white...

With express delivery it came to £57.70 and will be coming 12th December.

That's 3 bulbs, bridge and dimmer switch so I think that is a bargain. I just used Google translate in Chrome and logged on with my UK account. On Amazon UK, the bridge and 2 bulbs is £50.

[JimbobVFR]

Are the bulbs fixed or colour changeable white?
The colour bulbs are a frippery that's nice to have but colour temperature white is well worth having for areas you use a lot.

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

Are the bulbs fixed or colour changeable white?
The colour bulbs are a frippery that's nice to have but colour temperature white is well worth having for areas you use a lot.

I think if you want to change colour temp you need the Ambience white, not just White bulbs.

[JimbobVFR]

I couldn't quite see what they are and the translation is a bit unclear.

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

I couldn't quite see what they are and the translation is a bit unclear.

Actually come to think of it, I'm certain about it, I have the same shape bulbs and all they do is dim. The Ambience that let you change temps are the same shape as the Ambient colour bulbs (more flat and less rounded). They definitely don't make it obvious though.

[JimbobVFR]

That would fit, they're definitely the same shape as the couple of white Philips ones I've got in the hall and bathroom. My CT ones are either GU10 and E14 or innr bulbs.

[B17NNS]

They're just dimmable whites. Still a good deal though. Curry's want £50 for a bridge and just two bulbs.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/smart-tech/smart-tec...

[Esders]

I have ordered. It appears to be just a warm light kit and I suspect that I will need to get a UK plug for the Bridge but it still a great deal. Thanks for the heads up. I suspect that this is the start of a slippery slope.....

[B17NNS]

Esders said:

I have ordered. It appears to be just a warm light kit and I suspect that I will need to get a UK plug for the Bridge but it still a great deal. Thanks for the heads up. I suspect that this is the start of a slippery slope.....

You don't need to buy any more Phillips products from now on unless you want to. Ikea or Innr colour bulbs work perfectly with your bridge.

Oh, and an echo dot to tell them what to do

[hostyle]

Just bought two more E27 dimmable only lights for outside lighting. I've got a light fixture at the backdoor door with an indoor regular switch but no sensor. Will use automation to get that running while we're away and the sun's down. For the other light I'll have to put up a fixture near the shed, should be easy to do. Master switch inside and have a rule for the light itself.

[gr1340]

Esders said:

I have ordered. It appears to be just a warm light kit and I suspect that I will need to get a UK plug for the Bridge but it still a great deal. Thanks for the heads up. I suspect that this is the start of a slippery slope.....

According to the customer pictures, the bridge comes with 2 pin and UK 3 pin adapters.

[dickymint]

B17NNS said:

Esders said:

I have ordered. It appears to be just a warm light kit and I suspect that I will need to get a UK plug for the Bridge but it still a great deal. Thanks for the heads up. I suspect that this is the start of a slippery slope.....

You don't need to buy any more Phillips products from now on unless you want to. Ikea or Innr colour bulbs work perfectly with your bridge.

Oh, and an echo dot to tell them what to do

Apart from this.......

“Important note: Wirelessly dimmable. Works with Amazon Echo Plus or a bridge & app from Philips Hue*, Osram Lightify or Innr (sold separately). *does not work with Apple HomeKit”

Not a problem, just saying