Home Automation Bargain Alerts thread - No General Chat

Nelbert

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Hue E27 colour - back down to £34.99
Hue B22 colour - back down to £37.99
Hue GU10 colour - still £36.99

These bulbs have all been pretty much £50 for the last few years!!

Amazon

This seems expensive compared to the ikea ones. The ikea colour e27 and remote (colour bulb doesn’t seem to be sold individually at the moment) is €40. Looks like the bulb will be about €25 if / when it’s sold individually.

OU812

Nelbert wrote: »

This seems expensive compared to the ikea ones. The ikea colour e27 and remote (colour bulb doesn’t seem to be sold individually at the moment) is €40. Looks like the bulb will be about €25 if / when it’s sold individually.

Is it currently being sold individually? Then no, it's not expensive, it's less expensive.

thecivvie

Nelbert wrote: »

This seems expensive compared to the ikea ones. The ikea colour e27 and remote (colour bulb doesn’t seem to be sold individually at the moment) is €40. Looks like the bulb will be about €25 if / when it’s sold individually.

The colour Ikea bulb is nowhere here as good as the Philips Hue. Its colour range is poor,. Colour cannot be controlled using Google Home when linked to the hue hub.

My Ikea colour bulb is back in its box never to come out again.

riggsfitz

Hey all,
Recently purchased an echo dot. Now looking into home automation. What would you recommand? I'm looking into the Mi|Home range, especially the MiHo038 (hub and 3x2 gang sockets) starter kit at the moment. Has anyone got experience with Mi|home products?
Also which would be the better line to go down with lighting, smart light switches or smart bulbs??
Thanks

AndyBoBandy

Nelbert wrote: »

This seems expensive compared to the ikea ones. The ikea colour e27 and remote (colour bulb doesn’t seem to be sold individually at the moment) is €40. Looks like the bulb will be about €25 if / when it’s sold individually.

I’m not comparing Hue to any other brand of smart lighting products. Only to itself when it comes to price reductions (hence the post in this BA thread). And the reductions are good compared to the price they’ve been at for the last few years.

If Ikea works for some folk, great, it’s a cheaper alternative to Hue. All my eggs are already in the Hue basket, so perhaps I’m biased to Hue.

bk

riggsfitz wrote: »

Hey all,
Recently purchased an echo dot. Now looking into home automation. What would you recommand? I'm looking into the Mi|Home range, especially the MiHo038 (hub and 3x2 gang sockets) starter kit at the moment. Has anyone got experience with Mi|home products?
Also which would be the better line to go down with lighting, smart light switches or smart bulbs??
Thanks

I have it and I think they are only ok. (note I've the hub and smart plugs, not sockets) It is ok, but has some issues:

- It is only one way communication. You can only send commands to a plug, but not check what the current state is. So for instance, if you are out and you send it the command to turn off, you aren't sure if it really turned off or not.

- It has a hub, yet it requires an internet connection to work! That is a very poor design. Most other systems with hubs will continue to work when your internet goes down, it is the advantage of a hub. So this makes no sense.

I suppose if you really want sockets, then it is one of the only choices and will probably work ok. The only other choice is LightwaveRF, whose generation 2 sockets are two way comms. However they are a lot more expensive.

I'd say think about why you want sockets? Most people don't bother with them, using other technologies like smart plugs, smart lights, harmony hubs, etc.

What is it that you want to do with these sockets?

EDIT: Oh another issue with the MiHome plugs is that when the power goes, they default to off when the power goes back on. That is very bad if it was connected up to something like a freezer or fish tank. I don't know if the sockets have the same issue, but I'd certainly check.

iba

riggsfitz wrote: »

Hey all,
Recently purchased an echo dot. Now looking into home automation. What would you recommand? I'm looking into the Mi|Home range, especially the MiHo038 (hub and 3x2 gang sockets) starter kit at the moment. Has anyone got experience with Mi|home products?
Also which would be the better line to go down with lighting, smart light switches or smart bulbs??
Thanks

I have three of those plugs for sale that I bought in November cause I thought they worked with mihome. The title on the Amazon site is misleading.

Cond0r

riggsfitz wrote: »

Hey all,
Recently purchased an echo dot. Now looking into home automation. What would you recommand? I'm looking into the Mi|Home range, especially the MiHo038 (hub and 3x2 gang sockets) starter kit at the moment. Has anyone got experience with Mi|home products?
Also which would be the better line to go down with lighting, smart light switches or smart bulbs??
Thanks

This is the bargain alerts thread, can we keep it on topic? Start a new thread for advice like this.

ablelocks

GU10 Twin Pack + Switch - €85 Amazon Italy deal of the day

AndyBoBandy

ablelocks wrote: »

GU10 Twin Pack + Switch - €85 Amazon Italy deal of the day

£68 on Amazon U.K. for the 2 (roughly €77)

edit, sorry, I didn't realise they were colour GU10's

Dazzy

LightwaveRF - Boiler Switch, Thermostat and 2 TRV's for £100.
https://www.lightwaverf.com/heating/98854535188

Dazzy

LightwaveRF - 2 TRV's for £40. Free postage using Parcel Motel or £50 postage to Ireland :-o
https://www.lightwaverf.com/heating/98853552148

stimpson

Anyone have any feedback on the lightwave Rf kit? Im moving next week and there is anout 15-20 rads in the new place. I was looking at Evohome, but this would work out substantially cheaper if it does virtual zones etc.

matrim

Those lightwaveRF TRVs have very poor reviews on amazon

stimpson

matrim wrote: »

Those lightwaveRF TRVs have very poor reviews on amazon

Oh well. I just ordered 20 of them.

Dazzy

stimpson wrote: »

Oh well. I just ordered 20 of them.

Recent feedback on TRV's would suggest they have improved. I ordered 6!

stimpson

Dazzy wrote: »

Recent feedback on TRV's would suggest they have improved. I ordered 6!

Apparently there is updated firmware so they no longer do a full calibration in the middle of the night. If they are too loud for the bedrooms I’ll look at another solution like a physical zone with a motorised valve but I couldn’t turn them down at that price. Especially when I need so many of them.

matrim

stimpson wrote: »

Apparently there is updated firmware so they no longer do a full calibration in the middle of the night. If they are too loud for the bedrooms I’ll look at another solution like a physical zone with a motorised valve but I couldn’t turn them down at that price. Especially when I need so many of them.

Do you already have the lightwaveRF hub or did you need to get that too?

stimpson

matrim wrote: »

Do you already have the lightwaveRF hub or did you need to get that too?

I’ll pick it up separately. I want to get the boiler and room stat wired when I have the plumber in next week so I pulled the trigger. The hub is the same price on Amazon anyway.

stimpson

Doing some research on the TRVs and it seems like you can open them up and lubricate them to reduce the noise. I’ll certainly be giving it a go.

http://lightwaverfcommunity.org.uk/forums/topic/reducing-trv-openingclosing-noise-is-more-lubrication-an-answer/

londonred

Seen a pretty cool big floor light in Ikea yesterrday for €59 it has an E27 fitting reckon it would work well with a HUE colour bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/lighting/floor-lamps/ikea-ps-2017-floor-lamp-dark-blue-art-80341463/

fletch

londonred wrote: »

Seen a pretty cool big floor light in Ikea yesterrday for €59 it has an E27 fitting reckon it would work well with a HUE colour bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/lighting/floor-lamps/ikea-ps-2017-floor-lamp-dark-blue-art-80341463/

Nice alright but pricey factoring in the price of the bulb too...probably be better off with a Hue Iris.

VeVeX

londonred wrote: »

Seen a pretty cool big floor light in Ikea yesterrday for €59 it has an E27 fitting reckon it would work well with a HUE colour bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/lighting/floor-lamps/ikea-ps-2017-floor-lamp-dark-blue-art-80341463/

Could be used as a Bat-signal.

irelandrover

londonred wrote: »

Seen a pretty cool big floor light in Ikea yesterrday for €59 it has an E27 fitting reckon it would work well with a HUE colour bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/products/lighting/floor-lamps/ikea-ps-2017-floor-lamp-dark-blue-art-80341463/

I have this and a Hue bulb in it. It works very well and looks really good.

Shlippery

fletch wrote: »

Nice alright but pricey factoring in the price of the bulb too...probably be better off with a Hue Iris.

I think you meant this one

Not the worst price in the world. I think they're supposedly better than the bloom.

bk

fletch wrote: »

Nice alright but pricey factoring in the price of the bulb too...probably be better off with a Hue Iris.

Shlippery wrote: »

I think you meant this one

Not the worst price in the world. I think they're supposedly better than the bloom.

While those are another option, it should be noted that they only give off 200 lumen of light, versus about 800 lumens using a standard Philips Hue bulb in the above Ikea lamp. So if you are looking for a much brighter light, then the Ikea is a good option and it is very popular with many people on Hue forums.

I don't think I'd really consider both to be comparable products, they'd have different use cases.

themoneyguy

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/electriq-smart-lighting-dimmable-colour-wifi-bulb-with-gu10-fitting-alexa-iq-wifibulbgu10/version.asp?refsource=LDIEadwords&gclid=CjwKCAiAn5rUBRA3EiwAUCWb26uP8xMDbbSinHRthkxYJbR2pEsAaVy_e1n5_6xThJcXWYlVrQ7oARoCHz4QAvD_BwE

Just came across these. Seem great value ..... Rgb wireless gu10 light bulbs that are compatible with alexa. No hub needed. Seem great alternative to phillips hue.

Doing up the house at the moment and experimenting with different products

TitianGerm

themoneyguy wrote: »

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/electriq-smart-lighting-dimmable-colour-wifi-bulb-with-gu10-fitting-alexa-iq-wifibulbgu10/version.asp?refsource=LDIEadwords&gclid=CjwKCAiAn5rUBRA3EiwAUCWb26uP8xMDbbSinHRthkxYJbR2pEsAaVy_e1n5_6xThJcXWYlVrQ7oARoCHz4QAvD_BwE

Just came across these. Seem great value ..... Rgb wireless gu10 light bulbs that are compatible with alexa. No hub needed. Seem great alternative to phillips hue.

Doing up the house at the moment and experimenting with different products

Would you not be better with an full IKEA/Xiaomi set if budget is a factor?

themoneyguy

TitianGerm wrote: »

Would you not be better with an full IKEA/Xiaomi set if budget is a factor?

Budget is always a factor......will check them out.

Looking at replacing spots in the house. Some switch had negative feed so was able to get switch instead of replacing every bulb. You know of any good budget live only dimmable switches ?

Have about 40 spots on the house replacing bulbs racks up

OU812

This thread has gone so far off course you can’t even see it anymore.

Anyone up for starting a new stickied bargain alerts thread & letting this continue as a discussion