Philips Hue FAQ

AndyBoBandy · 13-09-2018 1:38pm

tech wrote: »

Hi can you set how long a bulb stay s on with sensors? And what colour it is?

Yes, the sensor lets you choose what lights (or preset scenes in a particular room) come on during daytime, and nighttime, and how long they'll stay on for before turning off again.

tech wrote: »

Also as the bulbs are green and purple, do they still work as warm whites?

Yes, the colour bulbs are the highest spec Hue bulbs, they do all colours as well as all whites (warm (regular) white, and colder blue/fluorescent like white light)

If you only want standard type white only bulbs, but the cheapest white only bulbs, they are a warm white. about £12 each
If you want all whites, get the White Ambiance bulbs which do warm/cold whites but not colour. about £15-£20 each
If you want the full circus, get the colour bulbs which do everything. about £35-£50 each depending on sales and 3 for 2 etc..

TitianGerm · 13-09-2018 1:52pm

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Yes, the sensor lets you choose what lights (or preset scenes in a particular room) come on during daytime, and nighttime, and how long they'll stay on for before turning off again.

Yes, the colour bulbs are the highest spec Hue bulbs, they do all colours as well as all whites (warm (regular) white, and colder blue/fluorescent like white light)

If you only want standard type white only bulbs, but the cheapest white only bulbs, they are a warm white. about £12 each
If you want all whites, get the White Ambiance bulbs which do warm/cold whites but not colour. about £15-£20 each
If you want the full circus, get the colour bulbs which do everything. about £35-£50 each depending on sales and 3 for 2 etc..

The plain white ones were reduced to £8.40 last week. I meant to pick some up but forgot to go back and buy them.

AndyBoBandy · 13-09-2018 1:55pm

The prices are always going up and down.

Twin packs are the best value, bonus if they're included in the 3 for 2 deals.

Also, they've finally released the white only Spots, so now the GU10 spot rage is the full rage of bulb types.
White & Colour Ambiance, White Ambiance & White Only.

More budget options to get more people on board!

tech · 13-09-2018 4:48pm

where is the best value for a start pack

tech · 17-09-2018 12:46am

Any one got the best plave buy buy cheap

punisher5112 · 17-09-2018 8:43am

tech wrote: »

Any one got the best plave buy buy cheap

Keep eye on Amazon and sometimes the German, French sites on it do deals also.

You can use the likes of Ikea wifi types also as will connect with the bridge.

Mantis Toboggan · 17-09-2018 10:05pm

Having trouble connecting a dimmer switch to the app. I've stuck it on the wall so cannot hit the reset button. Any ideas?

wonski · 17-09-2018 11:35pm

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Having trouble connecting a dimmer switch to the app. I've stuck it on the wall so cannot hit the reset button. Any ideas?

You should still be able to use reset button on the back...

The switch can be easily separated from the wall mount

Ted Plain · 18-09-2018 10:20am

Does anyone know if there are Hue bulbs with clear lenses? The reason is for using them with those perforated lampshades (i.e., IKEA Nymo) which throw lovely patterns onto the wall.

Thanks!

AndyBoBandy · 18-09-2018 10:26am

Ted Plain wrote: »

Does anyone know if there are Hue bulbs with clear lenses? The reason is for using them with those perforated lampshades (i.e., IKEA Nymo) which throw lovely patterns onto the wall.

Thanks!

No, they all have the white/smoked glass/plastic lenses.

Being LED's, and multiple different colour LED's, they need to be diffused, so clear glass wouldn't work so well for Hue

Having said that, I've a Hue Lux bulb (original white only, same shape as the colour bulbs) that the glass lens broke on the day it came out of the box, so I removed all the broken glass out of it (took ages), and have it in an outside lamp in my laneway, and it works fine.

tech · 18-09-2018 7:18pm

Can you controller other bulbs using the hue bridge

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

No, they all have the white/smoked glass/plastic lenses.

Being LED's, and multiple different colour LED's, they need to be diffused, so clear glass wouldn't work so well for Hue

Having said that, I've a Hue Lux bulb (original white only, same shape as the colour bulbs) that the glass lens broke on the day it came out of the box, so I removed all the broken glass out of it (took ages), and have it in an outside lamp in my laneway, and it works fine.

AndyBoBandy · 18-09-2018 9:10pm

tech wrote: »

Can you controller other bulbs using the hue bridge

I believe you can control the Ikea bulbs with a Hue Bridge, although I have no experience of this as I only have Hue bulbs.

digitaldr · 18-09-2018 9:32pm

Indeed you can - I have 4 ikea gu10s, and 3 regular bulbs - all work well and cheaper than Hues. One of them is a white spectrum and works grand. Haven't tried the coloured one - they're only sold with a dimmer switch.

bk · 19-09-2018 10:07am

I had two Ikea €7 GU10's working with the Hue hub, but I wasn't happy with them and ended up replacing them with Hue bulbs which have since been perfect.

The issue with the Ikea ones was that I had them in the hall, activated by a Hue motion sensor. But about once or twice a week they would fail to turn on and I'd have to reset them by flicking off/on the light switch.

The Hue replacements have worked flawlessly since replacing them.

Also the brightness levels sucked. They neither went low enough of high enough. I think the Hue bulbs are at least a good 25% brighter, but also if you set a Hue one to 2% brightness, you can barely see, great for a night light, while the Ikea ones seemed to be far too bright and only reduce about 50% at 2%.

I think it is definitely a case of getting what you are paying for. Having said that those were the cheapest €7 Ikea bulbs, they have more expensive ones, which might work better, but then you aren't too much off the Hue bulbs price anyway then, specially in sales.

Ted Plain · 19-09-2018 4:49pm

Thanks for the info, guys!

IKEA have a smart bulb with a clear lens:

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/lighting/smart-lighting/tr%C3%A5dfri-led-bulb-e27-950-lumen-wireless-dimmable-white-spectrum-clear-art-00318268/

It's white light only, though, so that kind of defeats the purpose.

super_sweeney · 21-09-2018 6:50am

any one got any idea when the new switches will be launched. I saw the announcement but i cant see any for sale yet.

KilOit · 22-09-2018 8:18pm

Whats the difference between this one
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0748MY3RX/ref=pe_3044161_185740101_TE_item

and this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambience-Starter-Compatible-Assistant/dp/B0748MY3RX

Same model number but product descriptions is different as one has 25000 hours compared to 15000 hours lifespan

NoeldeBournaix · 22-09-2018 10:34pm

super_sweeney wrote: »

any one got any idea when the new switches will be launched. I saw the announcement but i cant see any for sale yet.

Apparently some of the switches will be available in October with the rest following over the next few months.

https://twitter.com/tweethue/status/1035474806446141441

Mantis Toboggan · 24-09-2018 1:35pm

Anyone install the motion sensor on the stairs and landing? Thinking of doing this but not sure where would be the best spot. Ideally I'd want them to come on when someone is going upstairs but also when people are using the landing only.

chrisoleary89 · 24-09-2018 2:09pm

Quick question,I have 31 GU10 phillips hue bulbs in my house, I am still waiting for broadband to be connected up but I was just wondering, and what brightness are the bulbs set at out of the box? 100%/50%?

punisher5112 · 24-09-2018 2:12pm

chrisoleary89 wrote: »

Quick question,I have 31 GU10 phillips hue bulbs in my house, I am still waiting for broadband to be connected up but I was just wondering, and what brightness are the bulbs set at out of the box? 100%/50%?

100%

You don't need the bridge for them to work they work as ordinary lamps also on/off.

You can use away until you get your WiFi enabled.

chrisoleary89 · 24-09-2018 2:15pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

100%

You don't need the bridge for them to work they work as ordinary lamps also on/off.

You can use away until you get your WiFi enabled.

Oh yeah I know that and I have been using them, I was just wondering if they come set at 100% or lower out of the box. Thanks for the reply

AndyBoBandy · 24-09-2018 2:18pm

chrisoleary89 wrote: »

Oh yeah I know that and I have been using them, I was just wondering if they come set at 100% or lower out of the box. Thanks for the reply

when hue bulbs are used as default (dumb) bulbs only, they'll come on at 100% in a standard warm white state.

The high horse brigade · 24-09-2018 2:35pm

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Anyone install the motion sensor on the stairs and landing? Thinking of doing this but not sure where would be the best spot. Ideally I'd want them to come on when someone is going upstairs but also when people are using the landing only.

I have one on the landing facing straight down which catches anyone on the second step of the stairs and also triggers when anyone steps out of a room into the landing but my landing and winder stairs is easy to cover with one. You can add a second working in tandem of you need to

super_sweeney · 26-09-2018 4:31am

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I have one on the landing facing straight down which catches anyone on the second step of the stairs and also triggers when anyone steps out of a room into the landing but my landing and winder stairs is easy to cover with one. You can add a second working in tandem of you need to

I have them in the my downstairs hall and then upstairs as well. the layout of my house i was able to get away with just having them in the hall as I dont have any lights on the stairs them selves. Works well for me. i have 2 sensors downstairs and 2 upstairs.

Rew · 03-10-2018 3:28pm

Anyone had a Hue bridge (2.0) refuse to pair to HomeKit?

keane2097 · 03-10-2018 6:44pm

Anyone know of any way to trigger some smart plugs with a Hue dimmer switch and/or motion sensor?

In my living room I have a couple of Hues and a couple of non-hue lamps on smart plugs, would like to be able to get the smart plug ones to come on when I turn the hues on with the dimmer switch.

Rew · 03-10-2018 9:17pm

keane2097 wrote: »

Anyone know of any way to trigger some smart plugs with a Hue dimmer switch and/or motion sensor?

In my living room I have a couple of Hues and a couple of non-hue lamps on smart plugs, would like to be able to get the smart plug ones to come on when I turn the hues on with the dimmer switch.

If you pull them all into HomeKit you could do it with a scene.

copacetic · 03-10-2018 10:18pm

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Anyone install the motion sensor on the stairs and landing? Thinking of doing this but not sure where would be the best spot. Ideally I'd want them to come on when someone is going upstairs but also when people are using the landing only.

I have one in the hall covering the bottom half of the stairs and the front door, and a landing one covers entering the landing from each bedroom/bathroom and catches you when you are halfway up the stairs.

They are set to come on fully when it’s dark enough and between 7-11, and come on dimmed from 11-7. Work pretty well.

keane2097 · 04-10-2018 9:59am

Rew wrote: »

If you pull them all into HomeKit you could do it with a scene.

Thanks for the info.

I wonder if there is a way to do similar with Google Home. I'm loathe to pull in another ecosystem if I can avoid it.

I guess it would be easy enough to do this using Home Assistant or similar - presumably the button press on the switch would be detected by Hass and could be used as a trigger for other devices.

Philips Hue FAQ

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