Philips Hue FAQ

ablelocks

Is this hue white and colour bulb too exposed for long term use outside? I'm thinking of putting 6-8 bulbs in the eaves of the front of the house, but if there's a danger of damage from the weather I'd have to change the fittings, which would be a pita...

OU812

ablelocks wrote: »

Is this hue white and colour bulb too exposed for long term use outside? I'm thinking of putting 6-8 bulbs in the eaves of the front of the house, but if there's a danger of damage from the weather I'd have to change the fittings, which would be a pita...

IMO, although sheltered by the eves, that's way too exposed

AndyBoBandy

The newer version of the GU10 colour are more like regular sized GU10 bulbs and should fit in there and be flush.

davegilly

Hue dimmer switches available for 9.99 on Amazon today
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0748KLR39/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sheep Shagger

Hi lads, apologies if this is elsewhere in the thread, I did try the search function after reading about it on the very first page of and thread incase there was some more up to date information.

Recently changed over to hue in a new build, thought I turned them on via the hue app last night but when we got home they were not on. Now I'd thought I'd made sure the relevant lights were still switched on before we went out (getting my wife and kids used to not turning the light switches on or off is proving painful!) And that is before I've installed 2 hue sensors

It doesn't help that hallway lights have switched upstairs and downstairs - any tips on how to get around this?

I thought the lights were switched off this evening and they were showing as off in the hue app, my wife flicks a normal light switch and they show as switched on in the app - is that normal?

Final q - do people mostly use the hue app or the google home one, are there pros and cons over one or thr other?

The high horse brigade

Get yourself dimmer switches and covers for your wall switches

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=hue+switch+cover&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Dimmer switches are a bargain price at the moment
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-929001173761-Wireless-Installation-Free-Exclusive/dp/B0748KLR39/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=hue+dimmer&qid=1574026852&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&sr=8-5

punisher5112

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Hi lads, apologies if this is elsewhere in the thread, I did try the search function after reading about it on the very first page of and thread incase there was some more up to date information.

Recently changed over to hue in a new build, thought I turned them on via the hue app last night but when we got home they were not on. Now I'd thought I'd made sure the relevant lights were still switched on before we went out (getting my wife and kids used to not turning the light switches on or off is proving painful!) And that is before I've installed 2 hue sensors

It doesn't help that hallway lights have switched upstairs and downstairs - any tips on how to get around this?

I thought the lights were switched off this evening and they were showing as off in the hue app, my wife flicks a normal light switch and they show as switched on in the app - is that normal?

Final q - do people mostly use the hue app or the google home one, are there pros and cons over one or thr other?

So basically when powered off by the actual electric switch it will show as on on the the app.

We had a power outage the other day and some lights turned on after some didn't but that night the routines were messed up and none of the lights switched on when they should have.

The next day everything was fine.

Sheep Shagger

Thanks, will check again to see if they work when they should.

As for the dimmers, I'm not.so sure how that will go down. Do the light switches HAVE to be switched on at the wall for any hue app instructions to work? (That might be a dumb question sorry).

The high horse brigade

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Thanks, will check again to see if they work when they should.

As for the dimmers, I'm not.so sure how that will go down. Do the light switches HAVE to be switched on at the wall for any hue app instructions to work? (That might be a dumb question sorry).

Leave your existing switches on so the bulbs always have power then control the lights with the app, motion sensor or the dimmer switches which allows you to even set different scenes with colours etc. You can also use Google home/Amazon Alexa

ablelocks

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

The newer version of the GU10 colour are more like regular sized GU10 bulbs and should fit in there and be flush.

ask a simple question and get an answer that's going to cost a lot more than expected...

hadn;t planned on doing anything in the kitchen, but now i need 10 x gu10's, nore likely white only (in addition to the 3 large colour bulbs that I just installed)

3 of the new more regular sized for indoors, now that i know they'll fit those fittings

and 10 for the outside, ditto

there better be good offers for BF

Sheep Shagger

The high horse brigade wrote: »

You can also use Google home/Amazon Alexa

Thanks, we are a google home household, any pros and cons using the home app instead of the hue one?

AndyBoBandy

If you automate Hue correctly, you should never have to use any app!

I don't use any apps apart from Halloween & Christmas

FastFullBack

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Thanks, we are a google home household, any pros and cons using the home app instead of the hue one?

Most of the time if setup correctly you dont need any app. Lights in my hall and sitting room are on a schedule and kitchen/halls have sensors. I only really use the app to change scenes in sitting room and if something goes wrong somewhere. I use Hue App for this and Hue Essentials as well on Android. I dont use the Google Home app generally for controlling my lights, although I sometimes do speak to dim lights etc.

The high horse brigade

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Thanks, we are a google home household, any pros and cons using the home app instead of the hue one?

None at all, just you can use your voice if you link them. Create rooms, put your lights and homes into the relevant rooms then all you have to say turn on the lights and Google will know which room lights to turn on

PTH2009

Recently got an echo spot in the house and saw a back Friday deal for a hue starter kit and have a few questions

Would the hub need to be in the same room as the bulb ??. I can hardly have a bulb plugged into my light socket with the hub been downstairs plugged into the modem

I have a powerplug plugged into my smart TV through Ethernet with my modem downstairs. Maybe plug the hub into that ?

I have attached pics of my current non smart bulb and want to knw what style I should buy. The E27 Edison screw, B22 Bayonet cap or the gu10 spot ?

AndyBoBandy

That bulb is a B22 (Bayonet = push & twist to fit)

The hub doesn’t need to be in the same room as the bulb, but with Hue, the more bulbs you have the better the coverage of the house you’ll get. Hue works as a mesh network, so the more bulbs you have the better the signal will be between all the bulbs.

My hub is in my front room under my TV and I have bulbs as far away as in the attic and in the back garden. Having about 50 active bulbs in total means I have full connectivity everywhere in the house.

Alkers

PTH2009 wrote: »

Would the hub need to be in the same room as the bulb ??. I can hardly have a bulb plugged into my light socket with the hub been downstairs plugged into the modem

Hub connects to your wifi router, bulbs can be anywhere, the range is pretty good and each bulb acts as a repeater, improving coverage.

There's a starter set on amazon now for £70 for three bulbs, the bulb you've linked is a B22. Are all of your bulbs the same?

ablelocks

am i correct in thinking that the GU10 Starter Kit is the older, bigger hue bulbs and the GU10 3 pack is the newer, smaller fitting bulbs? I need to order 4 packs of 3 and don't want to end up with the bigger ones....

Or is there a chance that the 3 for 2 promo might make a comeback next week?

AndyBoBandy

ablelocks wrote: »

am i correct in thinking that the GU10 Starter Kit is the older, bigger hue bulbs and the GU10 3 pack is the newer, smaller fitting bulbs? I need to order 4 packs of 3 and don't want to end up with the bigger ones....

Or is there a chance that the 3 for 2 promo might make a comeback next week?

you are correct, the GU10 starter kit is the older larger GU10 bulb.
the 3 pack on their own are the newer version GU10 which is smaller, and also richer colours (better green colour)

scamalert

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

you are correct, the GU10 starter kit is the older larger GU10 bulb.
the 3 pack on their own are the newer version GU10 which is smaller, and also richer colours (better green colour)

^ i raised same question on reddit, someone had issue with red color being off, and noticed that my GU10s actually dont have proper green its more yelowish, tested on different rooms, and seems e14s/ go light, have no issues with spectrum, a bit odd.


anyway today picked up kit on amazon for 83e for 3 e14s, but still need one e14rgb , would trade for gu10 hue older gen - never used, if anyone's interested meath area drop pm also got spare hub 2.1.

AndyBoBandy

scamalert wrote: »

my GU10s actually dont have proper green its more yelowish, tested on different rooms, and seems e14s/ go light, have no issues with spectrum, a bit odd.

Gen 1 bulbs (including B22, E27 & GU10) are all terrible at doing Green colour, it comes out a pale yellow.

Then richer colours (gen 2) came out which addressed this. The richer colour range started with the E27, B22 & Lightstrip Plus, and later E14 & Hue Go. So the E14 colour bulbs only ever existed in the richer colours world.

The GU10 only finally made it to richer colours very recently (the bulbs are also smaller), so up until earlier this year, all GU10 colour bulbs were the larger 'gen 1' type, which do green as a pale yellow colour.

scamalert

its interesting as thought some software tweak could sort it out, just looked trough the range and every color comes out pure, not sure whats limiting green spectrum on older gen.

AndyBoBandy

scamalert wrote: »

its interesting as thought some software tweak could sort it out, just looked trough the range and every color comes out pure, not sure whats limiting green spectrum on older gen.

just older tech I guess, remember they came out around 2012, and back then it was only E27, so it was a pain in the ar$e swapping fittings around to e27

scamalert

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

just older tech I guess, remember they came out around 2012, and back then it was only E27, so it was a pain in the ar$e swapping fittings around to e27

sounds so long ago, yet remember buying first 3 bulb kit, for 240 :rolleyes: prob a two or a year after they were out.

Brian017

Trust the new GU10s to go on offer the week that I'm broke :mad:

OfflerCrocGod

Amazon will only sell one of the non starter packs each so you'll have to get someone else to order other ones. Anyway prices have gone back up.

Muahahaha

Is Philips Hue still the only game in town when it comes to coloured lighting or are there any cheaper alternatives on the market yet? Also does Hue do motion sensitive lighting for a bathroom, stairs, etc

AndyBoBandy

Muahahaha wrote: »

Is Philips Hue still the only game in town when it comes to coloured lighting or are there any cheaper alternatives on the market yet? Also does Hue do motion sensitive lighting for a bathroom, stairs, etc

Hue is not the only show in town, but it’s the best.

It’s Real Madrid vs Halifax Town.

Hue do motion sensors that can trigger any Hue lights you want (you set up rooms, with as many or as few bulbs as you want, then assign the motion sensor to that room and have it trigger any preset scene you wish)

Muahahaha

What are the alternatives and why are they like Halifax town? Been meaning to go down this route but Id want about 10m of strip lighting which works out pretty expensive with Hue

scamalert

Muahahaha wrote: »

What are the alternatives and why are they like Halifax town? Been meaning to go down this route but Id want about 10m of strip lighting which works out pretty expensive with Hue

well it more applies to general setup if you have alexa hue has all the quirks worked out mostly to work perfectly with other IoT devices, and likes of philips have huge range and compatibility.


thou if your after led strip alone, lookup digital led strips the ones that can light up leds individually- youll find on likes of amazon 10m for around price of single philips one, as looking on amazon some seem even come with apps now and intefrated alexa functions as well, really down where you want to apply it, and what functions to have, as hue strip seems expensive option just for rgb and theres some alternatives that are way cheaper if its just for general mood lighting.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Govee-Brighter-Changing-Waterproof-Controlled/dp/B07QDL56TM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=lifx%2Blight%2Bstrip&qid=1574620129&s=lighting&sr=1-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFOVzFNNTdFUDhaVkgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTEwMjI0OTExT0QxMEpSSU5HQ0M4JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzODM1MzUxTVVNSDlaSU9EWU5aJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1 smth like this 10m has individual app to control lights remote, granted would work with wifi plug for automation if needed, but in terms of price for 1-2m vs 10m its a bit no brainer to pick expensive option unless your looking to automate a lot more things and bundle them together.