Philips Hue WiFi lighting set up - what do you have?

The high horse brigade

Spent my Christmas bonus on home automation. Ordered 3x b22 white, 2x dimmer switches and a motion sensor to add to mine. Already had sitting room and landing with dimmer switches and sensors, now will have hallway and kitchen also.

Panrich

Only started with smart stuff a month ago and am hooked and poorer already.

Initially got Amazon echos and to plugs but now have 6 b22 philips bulbs, a dimmer and a motion sensor as well as a couple of Innr ambience bulbs.

It’s all very addictive and I’m already thinking of replacing the rest of the lights in the new year. I might look at some led strips as well although that might be the straw that earns me a divirce.

Stoner

Ok I've the Ikea Lamps sorted.

No need for the Ikea bridge or a PC or flicking a switch, just an Android phone unsure of it's on IOS

So I have the Ikea lamp touching the hue bridge

Have the hue app on the background in lamp set up
There is an app called hue essentials


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.superthomaslab.hueessentials

Follow the steps to link it to you hub. Make sure you are on the same network

Install it it has a similar lamp set up to hue but it has a simulated touch link button.

Have no other hue lamps on
With the lamp touching the bridge hit the touch link button.

When the lamp dims hit the search on the hue essentials app for lamp
Flick over to lamp set up on the hue

So again the trick is to have both apps running. The essentials app puts the lamp into link mode, the search for it in the essentials app, pop into the hue app add new lamp and it will appear.

For some reason I could not get the essential app to find the lamps, but it took three taps on the link button per lamp,.but it is very fast, I paired 8 in 10 minutes.

I'd say that very soon the essentials app will complete the while thing, but for now I need the two apps.

You see very quickly that the essentials app works as you'll get the Ikea lamp responding to the touch link button

Stoner

One thing, great value at 7 euro and they dim very well.

But the range is not great so you might need a Philips hue lamp between it and the hub.

The one Ikea gu10 lamp not reach the hub from my porch from the dining room untill i powered the hue lights up in-between

The high horse brigade

Is there an Android app similar to iConnecthue that allows me reprogram a dimmer switch

TitianGerm

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Is there an Android app similar to iConnecthue that allows me reprogram a dimmer switch

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.renewahl.all4hue

The high horse brigade

emmetkenny wrote: »

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.renewahl.all4hue

Tried this earlier but didn't think much of it, clunky. Will this allow me set a 5 min timer to a dimmer switch on button

TitianGerm

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Tried this earlier but didn't think much of it, clunky. Will this allow me set a 5 min timer to a dimmer switch on button

I'm not sure. I only used the free version to assign two different rooms to the same Switch.

The high horse brigade

emmetkenny wrote: »

I'm not sure. I only used the free version to assign two different rooms to the same Switch.

I have 3 rooms on my switch using the official Hue app?

AndyBoBandy

Ordered a colour E27 bulb to replace a gen 1 colour bulb in a bedroom bedside lamp (there was a mismatch of 1 new and 1 old bulb in the 2 lamps).

The old gen 1 colour bulb will then replace a white only bulb in the main bathroom. I'll send that white only bulb down to my mothers house to add to the 9 she already has. This now leaves me with only 5 white only/Lux bulbs left in my set up of around 48 active bulbs, 3 in lamps in the attic (guest room), 1 outside in the front porch, and the 1 Lux bulb with broken glass in the back/side laneway.

The gen 1 bulbs are not great for the 'Wake up' routine, as when they first come on, they come on at about 30% brightness, which if you are just waking up can be quite harsh on the eyes. The latest gen bulbs come on much lower and a lot easier on the eyes.

eamondunphy

Has anyone any good apps for the Philips motion sensors, I'm trying to get the sensor to do separate things to the bedroom and the en suite but the functionality isn't there on the Philips app. Any good 3rd party apps?

AndyBoBandy

eamondunphy wrote: »

Has anyone any good apps for the Philips motion sensors, I'm trying to get the sensor to do separate things to the bedroom and the en suite but the functionality isn't there on the Philips app. Any good 3rd party apps?

A lot of people say good things about iConnectHue

I don't have it myself, but I believe it does what your looking for.

The high horse brigade

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

A lot of people say good things about iConnectHue

I don't have it myself, but I believe it does what your looking for.

It's an Apple only app. I'm in the same boat, I want to add a timer to a dimmer switch action. I've tried all4hue on Android but it doesn't give me any options to modify dimmer switch.

eamondunphy

i'm on android so unfortunately iconnecthue isnt available to me, was hoping there was a good 3rd party app that would have more functionality as i find the sensors limited as they currently are

bk

Maybe you guys have a family or friend with an iOS device that you can temporarily use. Also don't forget iPad will work too.

AndyBoBandy

There are now some good formulas in Hue Labs that solve the problem of sensors overriding scenes that you already have running in a room (turning lights off 5/10/20 minutes after detecting no motion)

You can have snooze periods for the sensors (where they become inactive), you can also have lights return to the previous scene as opposed to turning them off when no motion is detected. And you can set up weekends where the sensors react differently on days you designate as weekend days.

The Hue Labs is the test bed for beta testing of new features, but it’s available to all from within the main Hue App.
Usually after some time, the good features are added to the main app.


There’s also huge updates available for all bulbs to bring them up to Hue Entertainment spec/speed. I updated 39 of 49 bulbs yesterday and it took about 24 hours for all the updates to download (after it had shown the bulbs were updated). I started updating another 4 bulbs this morning and it’s at about 90 minutes and counting for the downloading to finish!

Yamanoto

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

There’s also huge updates available for all bulbs to bring them up to Hue Entertainment spec/speed. I updated 39 of 49 bulbs yesterday and it took about 24 hours for all the updates to download (after it had shown the bulbs were updated). I started updating another 4 bulbs this morning and it’s at about 90 minutes and counting for the downloading to finish!

Is there a way to manually push that update? Hue app is telling me no updates are available.

micks_address

Yamanoto wrote: »

Is there a way to manually push that update? Hue app is telling me no updates are available.

Hi folks,
I asked this in the Google home thread but might get answer here. Do you need the hue hub to control hue bulbs via Google home?
Thanks
Mick

wingnut32

I am thinking about adding another two hue spots for the hallway. The only problem is they are an MR16 connection. Will a simple MR16 to GU10 adapter do the trick or will they have to be rewired?

RobbieTheRobber

micks_address wrote: »

Hi folks,
I asked this in the Google home thread but might get answer here. Do you need the hue hub to control hue bulbs via Google home?
Thanks
Mick

Yes you will need a hue hub to control the bulbs.

nialldinho

What bulbs/fittings do people have in their bathrooms?

I like the idea of the motion sensor there but we only have one of these 4-pin fluorescent fittings.

AndyBoBandy

nialldinho wrote: »

What bulbs/fittings do people have in their bathrooms?

I like the idea of the motion sensor there but we only have one of these 4-pin fluorescent fittings.

My bathroom & Ensuite have these Ikea ones installed since we moved in, they take 1 E27 bulb, and I have a colour Hue bulb in each one.

Both rooms will probably need renovating in the next 2/3 years, and at that point, I'd probably like to put spots in each one, 4/5 in the bathroom and 2/3 in the ensuite.

copacetic

I have 4 bathroom gu10 type fittings with the Osram lightify gu10s in them. Fiddly with the fan to be leaving them powered for control and they don’t play very well with the hue control and sensor. So just have them currently as dumb lights, have the same gu10 lightify in kitchen, utility and downstairs loo.

Stoner

wingnut32 wrote:

I am thinking about adding another two hue spots for the hallway. The only problem is they are an MR16 connection. Will a simple MR16 to GU10 adapter do the trick or will they have to be rewired?

Rewired and removal of the transformer is required

AndyBoBandy

As Stoner says, you’ll need to swap the MR16 for a GU10 connecter, the actual fitting that holds the bulb should still hold a GU10 bulb.

I had to do it in my kitchen when I installed 10 GU10’s

Bought 10 fittings on eBay for about €3, and 1 by 1 swapped them with the GU5 (in my case), while also removing the individual transformers at each fitting.

Each one takes about 3/4 minutes to do.

bk

Yes, most of the light fittings in my apartment were originally MR16's, changed them all out for GU10's.

Relatively straight forward job, as always take the usual precautions with electricity.

I was actually delighted to get rid of the MR16's, they were such a headache having to frequently change bulbs (like every 6 months or so!) and burned out transformers were a real pain to change.

ctlsleh

To the Hue experts out there, I was looking a GU10 models and there seems to be two different White ambiance versions, a 5.5W and a 6.5W.........can anyone tell me what that equates to in a normal build?

Also, the 6.5 looks larger than the 5.5, almost like it would protrude from a normal GU10 fitting, can anyone help me understand that?

I’m thinking of installing them in a ceiling, so wouldn’t want them protruding at the same time, I’d want as much light as possible.

They are also going into a kitchen, so don’t want them as spots, want as wide angle as possible beam from them, is that possible and what’s people’s experince with them from that perspective?

Thanks in advance for the feedback

micks_address

Hi folks,
Which of the hue setups would you recommend to replace a corner lamp in a room?
Thanks,
Mick

The high horse brigade

micks_address wrote: »

Hi folks,
Which of the hue setups would you recommend to replace a corner lamp in a room?
Thanks,
Mick

What bulb does the lamp take?

micks_address

The high horse brigade wrote: »

What bulb does the lamp take?

https://www.woodies.ie/philips-plusline-240w-bulb-1061883

That shape... Thinking of replacing the lamp altogether.. Would the hue go give enough light?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00TPKQ6DG/ref=pd_gwm_simh_0?pf_rd_p=65b7e0dd-f899-4e87-9d0f-a0838e16bb6c&pf_rd_s=blackjack-personal-1&pf_rd_t=Gateway&pf_rd_i=mobile&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=K6HGAM7R3KMRQWDRGPJ6&pd_rd_wg=8Z6Rq&pd_rd_r=K6HGAM7R3KMRQWDRGPJ6&pf_rd_r=K6HGAM7R3KMRQWDRGPJ6&pf_rd_p=65b7e0dd-f899-4e87-9d0f-a0838e16bb6c&pd_rd_w=lHQte&pd_rd_i=B00TPKQ6DG