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

[Blue Oval84]

I've taken advantage of a small saving on Amazon's black Friday to get five Hue bulbs and bridge for my living room. Plan is to kit out the rest of the flat over time, but right now the MK1 lightswitch works fine everywhere else.

Google Home mini is on it's way for Christmas, so there will be an element of voice control soon which I understand works with Hue, as well as Chromecast Audios positioned throughout the flat, phone is Android.

My main priority is to take advantage of the so called synching with movies and music.

My music will mainly be Spotify played over the Chromecasts once they arrive. I do have a traditional CD player etc. but it's more for show now, I think usage is going to all but stop!

What I'm struggling with from my searches is how to get Hue to do the synchronised strobe lighting thing. There is an Android app but it seems to use the phone microphone to listen to the music in the room and then control the lights accordingly. Needless to say the reviews mention things like the light show stopping when the phone screen goes off, or you use the phone.

Is there an app that is clever enough to sync in with Spotify and adjust the lights automatically, without relying on the microphone?

Also, where to even start with getting it to sync with movies? I have Netflix and Amazon movies, which I currently watch on the PS4, would I need a TV Chromecast to get this going? So confused about how that bit works, but I'm going to be eagerly awaiting DPD tomorrow with my new toys regardless

Oh, also, once funds permit I can't wait to start playing with LED light strips, but are there any colour changing ones that work with Hue (and therefore Google Home) other than the Phillips one? It's all a bit vague as to what works and doesn't...

[Blue Oval84]

Thanks for the advice guys, it arrived today and I've been playing with it just as soon as I could get enough plug adaptors!
Absolutely thrilled with it I've got the Hue Disco app now and have been figuring out what it can do-
Colour changing theme-


Full brightness


Northern lights theme-


Engrossing movie night theme-


The chrome lamp is also on Hue, but as it's a white bulb I excluded it and the other white one (just out of shot) from any of the changing themes, just having them go up and down in brightness makes it a little too much like a Poltergeist is visiting...

E36 Guy - if you happen to be reading this, those LED wall lights are still looking great too

[Blue Oval84]

Thanks! Pleased you like

I used these to hold the bulbs-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clip-Bulb-Holder-Off-Func...

Unfortunately as the bulbs I had to buy were screw cap (in order to get the 4 for 3 offer on black Friday) I also needed to use some little adaptors to convert them to bayonet fit, but as they're out of sight it doesn't matter, just needed something to make it light up!

I have to say that even in the daytime it's much better in here now, although one whole side of the room is glass, the flat faces east so is actually quite dull in the afternoon, with everything turned up max it's a lot brighter

[Blue Oval84]

Easternlight said:

It's given me a migraine just looking at the pics!



Old fart leaves thread---->

I've got to be honest, that funky colour changing mode in the GIF is not going to see a lot of use on a standard night in front of the TV, most of the time it'll be white or a subtle colour. But you've got to play with new toys haven't you?

That orange glow is actually very subtle in real life and probably will see quite a lot of use with movies and such like

[Blue Oval84]

Sat and watched a film last night and the movie mode worked well, I know it looks quite garish in the picture but it's actually just a soft orange glow and it worked nicely to give an ambient light to the room.

I'm very, very pleased with it, definitely worth putting on your Christmas list, even if you have to buy it yourself

[Blue Oval84]

cb31 said:

I think they are quite cool but I just can't get over the cost. While I don't mind paying £40 for a bit of electronics I baulk at paying that for a light bulb, no matter how smart it is. Every time a bulb blows due to a power surge or something it costs £40 for a new one? Madness. If they were in my bedroom wall lights I would need a direct debit to Philips with the amount of times bulbs blow.

Allegedly the LED bulbs last much, much longer than either incandescent or even the regular low energy ones, time will tell.

Worth noting that once you've got the Hue Bridge, you don't need to buy Hue bulbs, you can get cheaper versions from Innr or Osram which work more or less the same (YouTube suggests that Innr ones struggle with disco style instant colour changes, but are otherwise as good)

[Blue Oval84]

Ved said:

Get yourself an Amazon Echo and a sensor or two. Mine react to time of day and ambience which is quite good.

I'm thinking about the sensor as a neat little add on when funds allow, but Echo is a non-starter as I'm going for Google Home instead, I want the Chromecast audio etc. As far as the lights go I think Google will do the same as the Echo?

[Blue Oval84]

I think I can see a SmartThings hub in my future as well then. I understand that the Samsung can operate alongside a Hue hub as well, so I won't feel like I've wasted my money (unless it turns out that the Samsung hub literally does everything that the Hue does, even then the hub probably only cost me about £40)

Loving the disco lights wjwren!

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

Realistically could the colour hue bulbs produce a decent white light. None of rhe other RGB stuff I've got is good as a light so is supplemented by other white lights.

They produce a white light that's as good as the regular white-only Hue bulbs, and I'd certainly say it's an improvement on the old LED bulb I had in the table lamp previously. Added advantage is you can choose any colour temp you like.

In the second pic I've posted I've got them set pretty much on pure white. Obviously it's not as obvious because the bulbs are tucked behind the sofa.

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

I may or may not have just spent a fortune on shed loads of hue stuff, whoops
I think you're partly to blame so I hope you're happy with yourself

Well done, I don't think you'll be disappointed! It's good fun setting it all up and choosing the colours

[Blue Oval84]

TheAngryDog said:

I aren't sure I get the point? Can someone enlighten me so that I might understand. Please?

What don't you understand?

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

When we did our kitchen diner I spent ages designing the lighting layout, 13 GU10 split into 3 zones all controlled by a 4 gang Varilight touch and IR dimmer (4th zone for under cupboard lights in the kitchen)

Since fitting Hue I've realised having 13 zones and dimmers (and full control over white tone and 3 colour bulbs) is a massive improvement.

The old light switch has been replaced by a nice varilight screwless blanking plate with a Hue dimmer switch attached. The dimmer is setup to give me access to multiple scenes, start and stop a colour cycling effect. I'm a big fan as you can probably tell, I'm running out of lights to change over.

Oh I like what you've done with that! Is that a double width blanking plate in order to accommodate the Hue dimmer? I'll need to do something similar when I get all the bulbs in the room and hallway moved across to Hue.

Can it be taken on and off easily as required if I needed access to the underlying switch?

Unfortunately since starting this thread one of my expensive LED wall lights has failed, so now it looks like instead of being a permanent part of my decor, they're going to be replaced with regular wall lamps and Hue colour ambience bulbs. More expense than I wanted, but it does remove the problem of having three "non-Hue" bulbs on the wall...

[Blue Oval84]

JimbobVFR said:

Yes it's a Varilight branded blanking plate from Screwfix, there's no switch behind there just the original switch wires terminated together with some Wago connectors.

This switch actually has a separate master switch for all the kitchen lights so I still have a switchi in this room should I need it.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/varilight-2-gang-blanki...

I see, I thought it was more of a cover for the existing switch that could be easily removed if you needed to use the underlying physical switch.

No matter, it still makes sense, the Hue stuff seems reliable so far **crosses fingers**, I'd definitely still consider it rather than ending up with a Hue dimmer AND a regular switch next to each other.

[Blue Oval84]

I'd personally be reluctant to completely delete them, unless by that you just mean blank them off?

I think I'd want a way to reinstate them with relative ease, for example in case I moved and didn't want to leave the Hue kit behind, or in the event that the hub throws a hissy fit for a while.

[Blue Oval84]

hostyle said:

This is exactly the reason I'm asking, lol.

I'm not to concerned about moving, we'll be here for quite a while. I'm more after the hissy fit solution. Blanking plates are an option and easy to revert to 'normal' if you're moving out. But when the bridge is down, what do you have for options to turn the light on and off?

I've not had the problem yet, it's worked flawlessly since fitted so I'm hopeful it's just me being cautious, but I think my only remaining option would be to use the trip switch on the lighting circuit to get them to come on lol.

I might give it a few months before making any radical changes, just to see how much I trust it. Taking a blanking plate off is fine if it fails once every few years, not so much if it's every few weeks...

[Blue Oval84]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Dude, I like your fire place thing. Does it actually heat or is more for show? I love how minimal it is.

Cheers!

It really does heat, it runs on bio-ethanol and on top whack it can make the living room extremely warm. I normally turn it down a bit so the fuel lasts longer and I don't slowly bake on the sofa.

Thing I liked about it was how easy to fit it was, and no flue required etc. which is essential when you basically live in a concrete box. I'll take a little video of it running at full pelt tonight so you can see it better

[Blue Oval84]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Dude, I like your fire place thing. Does it actually heat or is more for show? I love how minimal it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR0etzBf63c

There you go, when the video opens it's on a low setting, I crank it up with the little poker thingy so you can see the difference. Even on low it generates some heat, on maximum it's really quite warming. It does have a glass front as well that clips into the little chrome holders, but I'd taken it off for cleaning, and to be honest I don't think it'll be going back on...

Purchased from www.imaginfires.co.uk/

[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!

[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.

[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.