Home Automation Bargain Alerts thread - No General Chat

AndyBoBandy

frash wrote: »

At £36.93 (or whatever you paid) per bulb that's a big outlay for 14 bulbs.

I know they're cheaper to run but do you think they're worth it?
Asking as I've also for 10 in one room, 6 in another & 4 in another.

When I put 10 in my kitchen 2 years ago I paid £50 per bulb!!

Could I have gotten away with the cheaper White Ambiance versions (and now the even cheaper White Only versions)? Yes, of course I could, but felt at the time i'd only end up wanting to put the colour bulbs in eventually.

I hardly use any colour outside of what I can get from the white ambiance, but from time to time, I'll throw a bit of colour into the kitchen and I like it.

Whats done is done, I have them now.

Over the last 2 years, I replaced all bulbs in the house with Hue bulbs, and any hue bulbs that were not colour were eventually replaced with the colour versions.

Out of about 48 actively used bulbs, only 8 are not colour bulbs (6 GU10 white ambiance spots in the attic, a white only in the front porch, and a lux (original white only) in a back garden/side lane light.

mossym

others have had issues , but the ikea tradfri have worked perfectly for me with hue,and are only 7 euro a pop

stimpson

mossym wrote: »

others have had issues , but the ikea tradfri have worked perfectly for me with hue,and are only 7 euro a pop

All my tradfri issues went away after a hue update a couple of months ago. Seems to work 100% now.

frash

stimpson wrote: »

All my tradfri issues went away after a hue update a couple of months ago. Seems to work 100% now.

Is there a guide you followed?
Just got a hue starter set so am interested i in adding more bulbs but especially if there's a cheaper way to do it

GBX

I see Lidl have smart plugs tomorrow. Anybody buy them previously and offer feedback?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/special-offers.htm?articleId=13298

TitianGerm

GBX wrote: »

I see Lidl have smart plugs tomorrow. Anybody buy them previously and offer feedback?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/special-offers.htm?articleId=13298

https://www.mymemory.ie/anker-eufy-smart-plug.html

These might be a better option.

stimpson

frash wrote: »

Is there a guide you followed?
Just got a hue starter set so am interested i in adding more bulbs but especially if there's a cheaper way to do it

This pretty much covers it: https://www.smarthomegeeks.co.uk/how-to/add-ikea-tradfri-philips-hue/

I didn’t have to update the bulbs as they came with a late enough firmware. I had issues with a couple of them and had to use the third party app “Hue Lights” to get them to work. They were a bit flaky at first as there were 7 bulbs in the group and they didn’t all come on together, but turning them all off and on at the switch fixed it for a bit. Like I say, after a Hue update a couple of months ago they just started working correctly.

I just bought new GU10 lights for the kitchen (16 bulbs in all) and I’ll be fitting tradfri bulbs.

Soarer

So it's possible to buy a Philips Hub and all Ikea bulbs?

bk

Soarer wrote: »

So it's possible to buy a Philips Hub and all Ikea bulbs?

Yes, though I had poor experience with it and went to 100% Philips Bulbs and much happier, but others seem to have had better experience.

Cyrus

Anyone have a hub they want to sell?

Pm me if so

jones

I pretty much have my whole house kitted out in Hue white ambience bulbs now. The one room left is my kitchen which i replaced with regular GU10 leds as the cost would have been crazy for white ambience gu10's (14 downlighters are the moment).

I was half toying with the idea of buying the equivilent innr bulbs for this room as they are much cheaper? Or else just get the regular white Hue bulbs. As anyone any experience of innr bulbs with the hue system? I read they work but not sure if i'd be better just going for Hue white.

Any help?

AndyBoBandy

jones wrote: »

I pretty much have my whole house kitted out in Hue white ambience bulbs now. The one room left is my kitchen which i replaced with regular GU10 leds as the cost would have been crazy for white ambience gu10's (14 downlighters are the moment).

I was half toying with the idea of buying the equivilent innr bulbs for this room as they are much cheaper? Or else just get the regular white Hue bulbs. As anyone any experience of innr bulbs with the hue system? I read they work but not sure if i'd be better just going for Hue white.

Any help?

I'd say if your already only Hue, I'd just go again with Hue, the white only GU10's were a long time coming, and not that much more than the non Philips ones.

jones

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I'd say if your already only Hue, I'd just go again with Hue, the white only GU10's were a long time coming, and not that much more than the non Philips ones.

That's the way i was leaning so i'll take that as justification for my decision haha.

Rew

A friend was all Hue and got Ikea GU10's last week, he's delighted with them. He didn't buy the Ikea bridge and they paired fine.

b.gud

I'm hoping to upgrade my lights next year and was just wondering about Hue hub and Tradfri.

If I'm going to go all Tradfri what is the benefit of using the Hue hub?

I'm assuming that it means that you can use both Hue and Tradfri bulds off the same hub or are there other benefits?

Rew

b.gud wrote: »

I'm hoping to upgrade my lights next year and was just wondering about Hue hub and Tradfri.

If I'm going to go all Tradfri what is the benefit of using the Hue hub?

I'm assuming that it means that you can use both Hue and Tradfri bulds off the same hub or are there other benefits?

I have the Hue Hub and the Ikea one and a mix of bulbs. The Hue app is way better and there are loads of 3rd party apps as well. I haven't had the time to move the Ikea bulbs over to the hue Hub yet though.

If your Apple and doing Homekit the Hue app syncs with homekit (rooms and light assignments match) and the Ikea one doesn't (you just get the bulbs in home kit but now sync of rooms). Hue motion sensors are much better then Ikea ones as well, you can tune them in the app where as the Ikea ones you tun a physical dial on the back. The hue ones also have built in thermometer which is pretty cool. Hue switches are more flexible also, you can set scenes with button presses instead of just on/off/dim/brighten.

judeboy101

b.gud wrote: »

I'm hoping to upgrade my lights next year and was just wondering about Hue hub and Tradfri.

If I'm going to go all Tradfri what is the benefit of using the Hue hub?

I'm assuming that it means that you can use both Hue and Tradfri bulds off the same hub or are there other benefits?

Hue can run way more bulbs , 50, i think. Tradfri hub can only manage 6, i think.

b.gud

Thanks for the info guys

Rew

judeboy101 wrote: »

Hue can run way more bulbs , 50, i think. Tradfri hub can only manage 6, i think.

I have way more ikea bulbs on their hub then 6

Soarer

bk wrote: »

Netgear Nighthawk R7800 for £120 on Amazon on deal of that day.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-Dual-Band-AC2600-Router/dp/B01B4X503S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540299210&sr=8-1&keywords=r7800

Absolutely excellent router that I use myself and very good price for it.

Not directly a Home Automation bargain. But if you get into HA and end up with lots of devices, you will quickly discover that ISP supplied routers struggle with lots of devices connected,specially if you are doing lots of IP camera streaming. A good quality router like the above is a most IMO for folks getting into HA tech.

Having said that, it seems it does support some voice commands with both Google Home and Alexa.

Lads,

I ordered one of these, but it's surplus to requirements. I can return it to amazon for a full refund, but thought I'd offer it here for cost before I do.
Still hasn't been out of the box!

€140 + shipping if required.

namloc1980

Hue dimmer switch down to £14.39 on Amazon Hue Dimmer on Amazon

6541

I was thinking of getting a couple of these bulbs

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5809691.htm

Then installing the Hive app on my phone. Is the cost of the bulb my only charge ?
And in general what are your opinions ? Thanks in Advance.

BionicRasher

GBX wrote: »

I see Lidl have smart plugs tomorrow. Anybody buy them previously and offer feedback?

https://www.lidl.ie/en/special-offers.htm?articleId=13298

Have 2 sets of those plugs. Have them paired with a Broadlink RM Pro.
They are RF and not fully smart but with the Broadlink they can be set up as smart plugs and controlled from the web or your phone etc.
Parents also have some and they are great for hard to reach lamps etc. They love them

It's a good start into smart home
However you might be better off looking for a bargain on a fully smart plug like Sonoff etc.

THE ALM

6541 wrote: »

I was thinking of getting a couple of these bulbs

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5809691.htm

Then installing the Hive app on my phone. Is the cost of the bulb my only charge ?
And in general what are your opinions ? Thanks in Advance.

Cost of the bulb is your only charge.

Have the Hive setup with heating, hot water, bulbs, sensors and plugs and all work well. If wanting to add more things down the road then you have a lot of options as they also do indoor and outdoor cameras which can all be controlled through the one app. Can also be controlled with Google Home if this is something that interests you.

DopeTech

THE ALM wrote: »

Cost of the bulb is your only charge.

Have the Hive setup with heating, hot water, bulbs, sensors and plugs and all work well. If wanting to add more things down the road then you have a lot of options as they also do indoor and outdoor cameras which can all be controlled through the one app. Can also be controlled with Google Home if this is something that interests you.

Do you need the hive hub or can these work independently? I.e from my phone (Google home,ifttt?)

THE ALM

Sir Dosser wrote: »

Do you need the hive hub or can these work independently? I.e from my phone (Google home,ifttt?)

Need the hub as these work on a zigbee.

NoeldeBournaix

Not sure if nationwide, but was in Woodies in Waterford today and they were having a clearance sale on their Philips Hue Stock.

Picked up the last of the 1 meter light-strip extensions for 7 euro.

There wasn't must left, they had the iris for 50euro, the switch & e27 white bulb packs for 21 euro.

AndyBoBandy

NoeldeBournaix wrote: »

Not sure if nationwide, but was in Woodies in Waterford today and they were having a clearance sale on their Philips Hue Stock.

Picked up the last of the 1 meter light-strip extensions for 7 euro.

There wasn't must left, they had the iris for 50euro, the switch & e27 white bulb packs for 21 euro.

Nice, they must be ditching Hue as they were not selling! (Not selling because they were way overpriced compared to Amazon)

NoeldeBournaix

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Nice, they must be ditching Hue as they were not selling! (Not selling because they were way overpriced compared to Amazon)

They definitely had the same stock on the shelves in that shop for over a year alright.

It seems there is a general lighting clearance sale on and they have included the hue stuff in that.

https://www.woodies.ie/specials/lighting/wireless-dimming-kit-1124933

AndyBoBandy

I’ll be passing a Woodies tomorrow morning so might drop in and have a look.

I have a spare light strip with 4 1m extensions that’s hardly used, but if they have a few in stock, for €7 you can’t really say no!!

Also might pick up a few of the dimmer kits if they have any! I don’t need the bulbs, but I’m about to send a lid of spares down to my sisters new house, so if there’s bargains to be had, why not??