Philips Hue and Living colours

[realnumber 1]

Got to say after 3 years of having my hue lights I am still very impressed. Out of 8 Iris' 5 blooms and 4 of the dish shaped ones non of them have broken, they work just as well as the day I bought them. I use them at least 8 hours a day too.
There are some cool things you can do with them. I use IFTTT to interface with them too which means I can get one or two of the lights to blink once when the boiler starts and stops (linked to nest). One light blinks red 5 times when the wifes phone is within 500m. The entrance lights turn on when I am close to home at night. I have profiles set up for watching films, white light, sunset light and a profile for when I am away that keeps one or two lights on randomly to make it look like someone is home.
I have the tap remote in the lounge to turn the lights on and off - its a bit limited in functionality and wouldnt mind a more advanced remote.
Alexa is fairly good, dont use it for the lights that much but its useful to tell her to turn the heating temperature up to 23 or whatever.

The dimmer switches are better than the tap. They do 5 scenes and dim and come off the bracket to use as a remote. Only £20 too.

 

[N0ddie]

I thought it was the other way round ? D'oh don't know which to get now ! Alexa is based on bing search engine which is shite but I don't like saying Ok Google which sounds garbage.

Nearly all of the reviews say that Alexa is the better smart home device. It comes down to the fact that it's compatible with so much more than Google's Home. Google Home is the better entertainer/media player though.

Google will catch up. They've been going at it for nearly 2 years. Amazon have had Alexa for 4. I do think the Google Home will eventually overtake Alexa in everything due to the power of Google but at this moment in time, if the main priority for you is smart home capabilities, Alexa is the one for you.

 

[riz]

silly question but with these smart bulbs i assume the light switch needs to stay on for them to work. Just thinking about guests etc.

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[Gus]

silly question but with these smart bulbs i assume the light switch needs to stay on for them to work. Just thinking about guests etc.

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Yes that's right, if you buy the light bulbs then the switch has to be on all the time.

 

[realnumber 1]

silly question but with these smart bulbs i assume the light switch needs to stay on for them to work. Just thinking about guests etc.

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You can get various faceplates for the dimmer switch from eBay that go over a normal light switch.

 

[N0ddie]

You can get various faceplates for the dimmer switch from eBay that go over a normal light switch.

After a quick Google I can't find these for sale?

 

[realnumber 1]

After a quick Google I can't find these for sale?

These are the ones!

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-Hu...Switch-Adapter-Cover/263335155972?_mwBanner=1

 

[N0ddie]

Cheers. The dude is outta stock.

 

[realnumber 1]

Yeah, had some the other day and says he's printing them daily so should have more soon.

 

[N0ddie]

Anyone a British gas customer? Login to your account, go to rewards then you can redeem a voucher for 2 HIVE smartbulbs and a bridge. Will cost you nothing. First 39000 customers only.

Anyone know if these work with the HUE bridge?

 

[realnumber 1]

Don't think they work, unless they've updated them.
The new Ikea ones are meant to work and are cheaper. They only do white ambience ones so far though.

 

[riz]

You can get various faceplates for the dimmer switch from eBay that go over a normal light switch.

oh ok thanks but no thanks. My wife bought fancy switches a while back.

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[shiftspark]

@N0ddie Dont know if it's of any interest to you but you can add a skill to Alexa that will let it use googles search engine, works well apparently.
Think I may get a couple now.

 

[realnumber 1]

Brilliant deals on hue and echo at the moment.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/browse/r...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=X29M2Q7V8S23C6K7YFWQ

 

[Breamy]

Really want some hue stuff. Had anyone used the downlighters?

 

[Matt Cup]

£90 Philips Hue White and Colour Ambiance Wireless Lighting E27 Starter Kit, 3 x Philips Hue 10W E27 Richer Colour Bulbs, 1 x Hue Bridge 2.0, Apple Home Kit Enabled, Works with Alexa

Can’t link it for some reason....

 

[boultonn]

£90 Philips Hue White and Colour Ambiance Wireless Lighting E27 Starter Kit, 3 x Philips Hue 10W E27 Richer Colour Bulbs, 1 x Hue Bridge 2.0, Apple Home Kit Enabled, Works with Alexa

Can’t link it for some reason....

Bought that kit at full price a while back, so can vouch for how good it is, and £60 off rrp is decent too.

 

[realnumber 1]

£90 Philips Hue White and Colour Ambiance Wireless Lighting E27 Starter Kit, 3 x Philips Hue 10W E27 Richer Colour Bulbs, 1 x Hue Bridge 2.0, Apple Home Kit Enabled, Works with Alexa

Can’t link it for some reason....

Thats a cracking deal. Would've gone for it my self if I didn't already have enough bulbs... Shame they don't seem to be doing much with the Iris, blooms etc this year.

I also struggled to make that link I posted above work for some reason.

 

[Matt Cup]

Is there any benefits of having/using more than one bridge? Can they be used to boost WiFi through the house too?

 

[withoutabix]

Is there any benefits of having/using more than one bridge? Can they be used to boost WiFi through the house too?

Don’t think there’s any benefit to having a second bridge that’s the issue with the sets on offer atm have no need for the second bridge so seems a waste buying them with the bridge included, needed some deals on the iris and light-strips etc

Think I brought my light strips for £40 so was a good saving at the time!

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Just sell the extra bridges on eBay. They usually go for about 25 quid


Also, I think a bridge can only support 50bulbs, so you'd need an extra one if you went above 50

 

[withoutabix]

Don’t think I have 50 Bulbs in my whole house haha

 

[V6Dan]

I joined the hue club this Black Friday after following this thread with the colour starter kit and a 2 meter led strip. I've linked the strip and one bulb to my ambilight TV which is pretty cool.

 

[V6Dan]

Also purchased a couple of new lamps spent a bit of time looking for ones that I thought would work well and another little bonus I was bought amazon echo for my birthday.

 

[sn00p]

Amazon have a 3 for 2 offer on various hue bits and pieces.

 

[shiftspark]

My Philips starter kit arrived today with my Echo and I picked up a Nest V3 stat the other day although I think the Honeywell Evo home would be better.
Looks like I will be busy playing with it all for a while.

 

[Coby.]

Keen to get some of this to work alongside my Google Home, keen to get the light strip to stick inn the back edges of the tv.
Would I just need the light strips and a bridge?

How easy it to set up and use?

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Keen to get some of this to work alongside my Google Home, keen to get the light strip to stick inn the back edges of the tv.
Would I just need the light strips and a bridge?

How easy it to set up and use?

Yeah just a light strip and bridge mate. Dead easy to set up, just download the app and it'll find whatever lights you have

 

[DeeKay86]

Also purchased a couple of new lamps spent a bit of time looking for ones that I thought would work well and another little bonus I was bought amazon echo for my birthday. View attachment 1347327 View attachment 1347328 View attachment 1347329

I love that black stand with the light on top!

Where is that from?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[V6Dan]

I love that black stand with the light on top!

Where is that from?

Thanks in advance!!

Here’s a link to where I got it from. It is sold out now tho.
https://www.wayfair.co.uk/lighting/pdp/minisun-struttura-160cm-floor-lamp-msun1811.html

 

[Simon_16v]

Has anyone looked at LIFX bulbs? They work with HomeKit and don't need a hub like the Hue bulbs. Reasonably priced too, the selectable white are £25....

 

[malcolmgt]

Looking at these and really tempted.

Would https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0748MY3RX/?tag=cliospnet01-21 be okay or is this missing something?

Just keep buying bulbs?

 

[DeeKay86]

Looking at these and really tempted.

Would https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0748MY3RX/?tag=cliospnet01-21 be okay or is this missing something?

Just keep buying bulbs?

Looks good - all you need is a bridge and bulbs. That dimmer switch is a bonus.

All of the Hue stuff was on sale on Black friday, and it will all likely go on sale again around Christmas. So if you're not in a hurry, I'd wait, especially if you have loads of bulbs to buy!! We've spent a damn fortune on ours, but also saved a good amount buying a good few bulbs in the sales.

 

[boultonn]

IIRC each hub can handle 50 lights so yeh just keep adding bulbs and dimmer switches where necessary.
I’ve got a few of the £50 colour bulbs but mostly the white and ambiance ones as I don’t get enough use out of the colours to warrant £50 on every bulb.
The ambiance ones are regularly on offer for £15-20 so slowly building up the setup.
Might get one of the Hue standalone lights for Christmas if they’re on offer

 

[V6Dan]

Filament lights released now

 

[withoutabix]

Few new things coming out soon

Liking the look of the new TV hub / light sync’ing box, quite expensive but atleast you can now have the same effect of the Phillips TV’s on all.

Philips Hue box makes smart lights flash along with anything on your TV

The pricey realization of the Hue system dream.

www.google.co.uk

 

[CrippsCorner]

Do like the sound of this. Probably wait until I move out next year and up my game in the new house!

 

[sn00p]

Filament lights released now

I've got the innr filament bulbs because they were out before the Philips ones, really impressed with them and they're hue compatible. Would't hesitate to buy them again and as a bonus they're cheaper.

My hue system is out of control....

 

[Stay Puft]

Wanting to get involved in this..

Ive got two Alexa’s, one in the lounge and one in the main bedroom, and want a light controlled by voice in the lounge and bedroom.

I understand I need a starter kit.. why is one £35 on Amazon then others £80etc. I dont want a dimmer switch, just voice control.

 

[Oggy997]

You need a hub (Hue Bridge) to start things off, so the £80-100 kits will have that.
Alternatively you can buy them in eBay for around £25 as everyone sells them, as it's cheaper to buy a kit than bulbs most of the time.

A bridge will control up to 50 lights, but they need to be in its range, just in case you own a huge house, you may need two bridges to relay, like a WiFi repeater.

You link Hue to your Alexa account and she can control anything via the bridge.