Philips Hue FAQ

AndyBoBandy

an account will give you access to the system from any device you log in with (I have 4 iPhones & 2 iPads all controlling the same lights)

dendof

I have the Hue bridge along with some bulbs installed. I have them left on via the wall switch and use the Hue app to switch them off. But they keep coming back on. Seems to be at 15 mins past the hour they come back on. I have no routines set up. Have uninstalled and reinstalled app. Does anyone know what's causing this?

Shred

BigAl81 wrote: »

Interesting you mention linking the lights to your tv.

On the Hue starter kit box it says "link with movies and music" but I don't see anything in the official Hue app or anything to do this from Philips in the Google play store?

Is it only third party apps that do this do you know?

Thanks,
Al.

There's an IOS app called SyncMyLights that does this for select movies.

Shred

dendof wrote: »

I have the Hue bridge along with some bulbs installed. I have them left on via the wall switch and use the Hue app to switch them off. But they keep coming back on. Seems to be at 15 mins past the hour they come back on. I have no routines set up. Have uninstalled and reinstalled app. Does anyone know what's causing this?

It sounds like there must be an automation enabled there somewhere. I had one recently where my sitting room lights were turning themselves on at seemingly random intervals, I was getting work done in the house and the power was being disconnected/reconnected multiple times throughout the week and I thought it might be related to that. Once the work was finished I had a look into it and then remembered I'd enabled the 'turn my lights blue when it starts to rain' IFTTT applet a few weeks previous

dendof

Shred wrote: »

It sounds like there must be an automation enabled there somewhere. I had one recently where my sitting room lights were turning themselves on at seamingly random intervals, I was getting work done in the house and the power was being disconnected/reconnected multiple times throughout the week and I thought it might be related to that. Once the work was finished I had a look into it and then remembered I'd enabled the 'turn my lights blue when it starts to rain' IFTTT applet a few weeks previous

D'oh! That's exactly what's causing it - IFTTT applets. Thanks a million!

AndyBoBandy

I tried IFTTT for a few days or so, but quickly decided it wasnt for me, (I had one where the light in my office would flash when the ISS went overhead, and while nice at the beginning, it got a bit annoying after a few days)

I have the entire house set up on routines & sensors, and thats fine for me

Shred

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I tried IFTTT for a few days or so, but quickly decided it wasnt for me, (I had one where the light in my office would flash when the ISS went overhead, and while nice at the beginning, it got a bit annoying after a few days)

I have the entire house set up on routines & sensors, and thats fine for me

I had my sitting room setup for the ISS one until my wife came home one evening recently and, as she turned the corner of our cul de sac, it looked like there was a party going on in our house; I though it'd only run when the lights were on! I need to consider making use of the away functions but it's difficult as both of us leave at different times...if the Nest's away mode could be harnessed that would be perfect.

Roen

Shred wrote: »

I had my sitting room setup for the ISS one until my wife came home one evening recently and, as she turned the corner of our cul de sac, it looked like there was a party going on in our house; I though it'd only run when the lights were on! I need to consider making use of the away functions but it's difficult as both of us leave at different times...if the Nest's away mode could be harnessed that would be perfect.

The Nest away function can be used via the hue app. Friends of Hue section.

Shred

Well I mean specifically with IFTTT - enable particular Hue applet but don't run if Nest is in home mode.

Roen

Gotcha now.

Skerries

I am having a problem with my IFTTT settings as even when I turn off the lights the command for IFTTT rainbow mode kicks in eventually or even if I have it on a solid colour

uck51js9zml2yt

I've added an extra an extra room to my hub (sitting room ) with 2 lamps.
The hub can't connect to the lights.
Any ideas??
I've also a dimmer switch in the sitting room which though on the app won't control the lights... Presumably because they can't be found.

Edit: sorted ..Don't ask how

ferrigan101

Brenda Young Scapula wrote: »

I've added an extra an extra room to my hub (sitting room ) with 2 lamps.
The hub can't connect to the lights.
Any ideas??
I've also a dimmer switch in the sitting room which though on the app won't control the lights... Presumably because they can't be found.

Edit: sorted ..Don't ask how

By any chance did the bulbs come with the dimmer? If so, I know your pain and confusion :pac:

drunkmonkey

Happy Xmas

OU812

Anyone have any recommendations for extender leads? Have them going across the top of kitchen units, want to drop them down the ends and then loop back so they also serve as over counter lighting.

Was looking at some sellers online & with the current low price it would be cheaper to just run a meter or so that's hidden by a unit to extend it.

uck51js9zml2yt

ferrigan101 wrote: »

By any chance did the bulbs come with the dimmer? If so, I know your pain and confusion :pac:

No, bought them separately. Even have Alexa working them now.
Is it possible to get Alexa to manage brightness and scenes?

ferrigan101

Brenda Young Scapula wrote: »

No, bought them separately. Even have Alexa working them now.
Is it possible to get Alexa to manage brightness and scenes?

I've just set mine up with the Google Home Santa brought me and I've had to use ifttt for setting scenes. Brightness can be controlled by saying dim/brighten to whatever percent you want straight from the gHome. I would assume it'll be the same for Alexa.

roosterman71

Got my first Hue stuff today. Isn't Christmas super?!?!?!? I got the B27 starter kit, with the coloured bulbs. Few questions:

1. What are the best apps for controlling things on android? (the gen2 app doesn't work on my phone as Android version is too old)
2. Can you make scenes on meethue when you have an account?
3. Is it possible to have apps on different phones with scenes/alarms/etc synced?
4. Will the bulbs revert to the routines after power is switched off and back on again?

The Black Oil

Hall and landing sensors are working well. How does the daylight thing work? Is it that you have the switch on on the wall and the light will only come if there's insufficient daylight?

Also, in relation to rooms - I have 5 lights in a ceiling fixture and have set this up as a room. Is there a way of setting up a routine so that only 3 come on, for example?

ETA - for those of you with iOS, do you make much use of Homekit, if so, how?

AndyBoBandy

The Black Oil wrote: »

Hall and landing sensors are working well. How does the daylight thing work? Is it that you have the switch on on the wall and the light will only come if there's insufficient daylight?

the lights need to be always on, and the sensor will turn on the lights if it detects motion, providing there is insufficient light hitting the sensor at that moment, if there is sufficient light, the lights won't come on.

The Black Oil wrote: »

Also, in relation to rooms - I have 5 lights in a ceiling fixture and have set this up as a room. Is there a way of setting up a routine so that only 3 come on, for example?

Not in the newer app, this is my biggest gripe with the newer app and the reason for my reluctance to eventually switch over to it. however you can do what you want, but you'll need to do it on the older app which lets you set up scenes and decide which bulbs are in that scene, as opposed to the new app where scenes are for rooms only, and you cant select/un-select a particular bulb in a room out of a scene.

The Black Oil wrote: »

ETA - for those of you with iOS, do you make much use of Homekit, if so, how?

Don't bother that much. Occasionally I'll ask siri to turn certain lights off and thats about it.

Yamanoto

Couple of questions re the dimmer switch folks:

1) Does it give you the ability to control 2 different bulbs in the one room independently of each other or can it be customised to do so?

2) The blurb says 2 rooms can be assigned to the one dimmer. If I assign it to control lights in my den & kitchen, does it toggle on/off/dim in both rooms simultaneously or can the rooms work off it on a stand alone basis?

AndyBoBandy

Yamanoto wrote: »

Couple of questions re the dimmer switch folks:

1) Does it give you the ability to control 2 different bulbs in the one room independently of each other or can it be customised to do so?

2) The blurb says 2 rooms can be assigned to the one dimmer. If I assign it to control lights in my den & kitchen, does it toggle on/off/dim in both rooms simultaneously or can the rooms work off it on a stand alone basis?

1) no, only a room of lights, you can however set it so a push of the on button selects up to 5 different scenes, and of those scenes, you could have 1 light off or on very low in the scene

2) it will control all lights in each room, unless as above, you have scenes set up in a certain way.

bk

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

1) no, only a room of lights, you can however set it so a push of the on button selects up to 5 different scenes, and of those scenes, you could have 1 light off or on very low in the scene

2) it will control all lights in each room, unless as above, you have scenes set up in a certain way.

Actually if you have the hub, then you can program the buttons on the switch to do almost anything, include control individual lights in different rooms.

You just have to use one of the third party apps with the more flexible options.

Yamanoto

bk wrote: »

Actually if you have the hub, then you can program the buttons on the switch to do almost anything, include control individual lights in different rooms.

You just have to use one of the third party apps with the more flexible options.

Thanks bk.

Can you point me towards which third party app you use - there's so bloody many of 'em!!

bk

Yamanoto wrote: »

Thanks bk.

Can you point me towards which third party app you use - there's so bloody many of 'em!!

The one with all the extra features to do this for power users is iConnectHue on the iPhone. I'm afraid I don't know if there is an Android version.

duffer247

I'm looking for the final steps in setting up voice control via Alexa.
I received the Hue starter set yesterday (thanks to bargain alerts) and got it working fine 2 bulbs in living room and 1 in bedroom. Alexa has detected devices but has identified over 30 including all the scenes etc., reading back I think this is normal? What are the next steps do I create a group in order to voice control the lights via Alexa? as I don't seem to be able to control using the name (living room) I created in the Hue App.

Uriel.

Hi Folks,

I have a VM 360 3.0 Hub for internet and I have a crap load of stuff hooked up directly to it via ethernet:
PS4
Sonos Bridge
Sony TV
Denon AV Receiver
WD Live Media Server
TP Link Smartplug
HUE Bridge

With all of that I am using a TP-LINK TL-SG1005D 5-Port Gigabit Unmanaged Desktop Switch

Having just added the Hue Bridge, I noticed that I cannot get the bridge to connect with the app (all blue lights on the bridge) when connected via the Gigabit Switch - it only works via direct connection to the modem.

Any ideas what this might be? I tried setting it up directly connected to modem and then. after initial setup, switching it to the switch but that didn't work either.

It's not so much a problem right now, but I am thinking of getting the google OnHub at some point in 2017 (family members taking trips to the US) and the fact that the OnHub only has one ethernet ports, means I would have to connect the Hue bridge via a switch.

Cheers

duffer247

duffer247 wrote: »

I'm looking for the final steps in setting up voice control via Alexa.
I received the Hue starter set yesterday (thanks to bargain alerts) and got it working fine 2 bulbs in living room and 1 in bedroom. Alexa has detected devices but has identified over 30 including all the scenes etc., reading back I think this is normal? What are the next steps do I create a group in order to voice control the lights via Alexa? as I don't seem to be able to control using the name (living room) I created in the Hue App.

I followed some advice online I found that suggested forgetting the devices and Hue skill and redoing it over again. I have got them on/off and dim/bright on voice control but not the scenes.

The Black Oil

Happy with how the sensors are working.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

example: I have my kitchen lights on from about 4pm-9pm via 2 routines (4pm-6pm concentrate, then 6pm-9pm relax), but if after dark i walk into the kitchen and trigger the motion sensor, after 5 minutes of inactivity it will knock everything off, which I don't want as I have a routine set.

Do you primarily set the routines yourself or are you using the in built ones, home and away, wake up, etc?

Just looking into routines for the the coming week as a trial for coming home from work. Do I set up the routine, have the switch on on the wall (say on the morning I'm heading out), but turn off the room in the app with the button, then the routine will kick in at the set time? Is that basically it?

adox

The Black Oil wrote: »

Happy with how the sensors are working.



Do you primarily set the routines yourself or are you using the in built ones, home and away, wake up, etc?

Just looking into routines for the the coming week as a trial for coming home from work. Do I set up the routine, have the switch on on the wall (say on the morning I'm heading out), but turn off the room in the app with the button, then the routine will kick in at the set time? Is that basically it?

The switch on the walls should be on at all times.

I have a routine set for the morning for the lights to come on downstairs. Another one for when I leave and then have them set again for the evening.

You can use the geofencing too but I found that a bit unreliable. I'd have to be pretty far away from the house before the lights switched off and vice versa.

Oh and I have the morning routine set to green and the evening one s sunset orange.