Philips Hue FAQ

RobbieTheRobber · 23-11-2020 11:21am

AstraMonti wrote: »

Question for you guys. Can i get something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Linkable-Cabinet-Lighting-Dimmable-Showcase/dp/B088M98YJT/ with this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XPJ22W3/ ? Would I be able to connect these two and control the lights through the hue app?

No I don't think so.
And those lights will only ever be dimmable using the remote\on light controls provided with them.

But you could use them connected to a smart plug linked to your smart assistant rather than the hue app and would have On/Off functionality via voice command and time based scheduling.

I would suggest using a different light for integration with Hue though.

copacetic · 23-11-2020 1:29pm

stesaurus wrote: »

Anyone got some experience of a large lightstrip project?
I want to downlight each step on a staircase from under the nosing.
From what I can see v3 stock seems to be gone so I'd need to go with v4. The max length is 10m according to Philips.
I have 13 steps total at about 90cm width.
So my questions, if I use a generic extension to loop under each step does that count to the overall max length? These would not contain LEDs.
Has anyone come across 3rd party v4 extensions yet?
Either way I think I'd need two bases to manage 13 steps. What's the best way to setup? Create a room containing the 2 sets or is there a better setup?
Anything else I'm missing?

The only thing to be aware is that the max brightness falls off a lot as you go longer. I.e you will have the same power available as you add more and more lights to one supply. Basically half the power for every extra strip. Should be fine for your application though. An extension without lights shouldn’t add to the max length and its only max because you would get very little light out of even max brightness at 10m off single power supply. Then I’d create a room called steps or stairs, maybe with sensors top and bottom to have them very low except when someone approaches them and have them come on full then.

Your main issue may be making it look like a strip rather than individual leds.

stesaurus · 23-11-2020 3:02pm

There doesn't appear to be any extensions available. I could try to create my own using CAT6 cable. Other option would be to lose about 20cm behind each step.
If I use 2 sets with about 7-8m total on each that should be enough.
Will that be bright enough or any other way of safely increasing the power input to the strips?

punisher5112 · 23-11-2020 3:07pm

stesaurus wrote: »

There doesn't appear to be any extensions available. I could try to create my own using CAT6 cable. Other option would be to lose about 20cm behind each step.
If I use 2 sets with about 7-8m total on each that should be enough.
Will that be bright enough or any other way of safely increasing the power input to the strips?

Extensions can be got on eBay also....

AstraMonti · 23-11-2020 3:08pm

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

No I don't think so.
And those lights will only ever be dimmable using the remote\on light controls provided with them.

But you could use them connected to a smart plug linked to your smart assistant rather than the hue app and would have On/Off functionality via voice command and time based scheduling.

I would suggest using a different light for integration with Hue though.

Thanks for that. I was trying to find the easiest way to add 4 "smart" shelves lights without too much hassle.

Any recommendations for something similar maybe?

stesaurus · 23-11-2020 3:17pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Extensions can be got on eBay also....

That work with v4? From looking around and reading online I didn't think they existed yet

rodneytrotter15 · 25-11-2020 4:02pm

So I've added a good few hue products downstairs and the setup is something like this.

3 colour Gu10 outside front door
4 colour in hall with a sensor setup
10 colour GU10 in kitchen with 3 colour strips under kitchen units ( have another sensor ordered for these )
4 colour GU in extension part ( and another sensor ordered to turn these on )
4 outside white lights and sensor that I've yet to setup.
Also have a remote that I have tired out but am thinking with the sensors it will become somewhat redundant.

Outside of setting up the 2 other sensors which I think are great. Are there other smart things I could be doing here to get the most
out of what I have. Have to admit I'm hugely impressed how easy they are to setup and seem to have worked seamlessly.

AstraMonti · 25-11-2020 4:10pm

AstraMonti wrote: »

Thanks for that. I was trying to find the easiest way to add 4 "smart" shelves lights without too much hassle.

Any recommendations for something similar maybe?

Just to update my own post, I ordered the innr recessed lights, we ll see how they perform.

AstraMonti · 25-11-2020 4:11pm

rodneytrotter15 wrote: »

So I've added a good few hue products downstairs and the setup is something like this.

3 colour Gu10 outside front door
4 colour in hall with a sensor setup
10 colour GU10 in kitchen with 3 colour strips under kitchen units ( have another sensor ordered for these )
4 colour GU in extension part ( and another sensor ordered to turn these on )
4 outside white lights and sensor that I've yet to setup.
Also have a remote that I have tired out but am thinking with the sensors it will become somewhat redundant.

Outside of setting up the 2 other sensors which I think are great. Are there other smart things I could be doing here to get the most
out of what I have. Have to admit I'm hugely impressed how easy they are to setup and seem to have worked seamlessly.

You can look at IFTTT, there are hundreds of recipes there for further automation for Hue. You can also check HUE labs that have a lot of extra tools.

AndyBoBandy · 25-11-2020 4:46pm

rodneytrotter15 wrote: »

Outside of setting up the 2 other sensors which I think are great. Are there other smart things I could be doing here to get the most out of what I have. Have to admit I'm hugely impressed how easy they are to setup and seem to have worked seamlessly.

Honestly the best thing you can do is just set up routines for everything, and then forget about it.

My house has been 100% Hue for the leat 3-4 years... (45+ bulbs). Routines turn on the front porch, hallway, sitting room & upstairs bedrooms as well as turning them all off at a set time. Then for ad-hoc control, every room has a dimmer switch, and the kitchen, 2 offices, and 2 bathrooms also have sensors which work excellently.

The only time I need to go to the app is if turning on the room centre lights, or selecting a particular colour for a room that's not preset into that rooms dimmer switch..

Alkers · 25-11-2020 4:48pm

rodneytrotter15 wrote: »

So I've added a good few hue products downstairs and the setup is something like this.

3 colour Gu10 outside front door
4 colour in hall with a sensor setup
10 colour GU10 in kitchen with 3 colour strips under kitchen units ( have another sensor ordered for these )
4 colour GU in extension part ( and another sensor ordered to turn these on )
4 outside white lights and sensor that I've yet to setup.
Also have a remote that I have tired out but am thinking with the sensors it will become somewhat redundant.

Outside of setting up the 2 other sensors which I think are great. Are there other smart things I could be doing here to get the most
out of what I have. Have to admit I'm hugely impressed how easy they are to setup and seem to have worked seamlessly.

Are you planning sensors in all rooms? I only find them useful for the hall and landing, bathroom maybe but the switch is right at the door so it isn't a massive usage case for smart lighting.

The IKEA button switches are very inexpensive (although only give on/off functionality) but you don't seem afraid to spend a few quid

so I'd recommend the HUE dimmer switches which allow on/off/dimming and cycling through scenes. This is what we use most with our lights, other than telling google to turn them up/down/on/off. We don't find routines really work for us all that well.

AndyBoBandy · 25-11-2020 4:52pm

Alkers wrote: »

Are you planning sensors in all rooms? I only find them useful for the hall and landing, bathroom maybe but the switch is right at the door so it isn't a massive usage case for smart lighting.

I would disagree and say a sensor is a great addition for a bathroom/ensuite....

When one of us goes into the bathroom during the night, the nightlight routine comes on (which is the dimmest a Hue bulb can go). It would be fairly annoying for a light to come on full brightness.. getting back into bed at 3am having only been exposed to a very dim light is much better than being exposed to a very bright light!!

25-11-2020 9:49pm

Yeah I now have sensors everywhere but the bedrooms. Once you have them you start deleting some routines.

Bluefoam · 25-11-2020 10:35pm

Bedroom is the best place for a sensor. I have one under the bed that senses when you enter the room... If it doesn't detect movement after a minute the lights turn off... So you can get into bed and a minute later the lights slowly turn off, without fumbaling for a switch... In the morning I set the lights to slowly come on before the alarm, so that you wake up gradually. Then when you leave the room the sensor turns off the lights again after a minute of no activity...

I also have them in the hall and landing...

FastFullBack · 25-11-2020 10:48pm

Bluefoam wrote: »

Bedroom is the best place for a sensor. I have one under the bed that senses when you enter the room... If it doesn't detect movement after a minute the lights turn off... So you can get into bed and a minute later the lights slowly turn off, without fumbaling for a switch... In the morning I set the lights to slowly come on before the alarm, so that you wake up gradually. Then when you leave the room the sensor turns off the lights again after a minute of no activity...

I also have them in the hall and landing...

What about if you want to lie on your bed during the day with the light on? Or your just in your bedroom and wants the lights on, but your not triggering the sensor.
Won't the lights go out after 1 minute

Bluefoam · 25-11-2020 10:55pm

FastFullBack wrote: »

What about if you want to lie on your bed during the day with the light on? Or your just in your bedroom and wants the lights on, but your not triggering the sensor.
Won't the lights go out after 1 minute

No, you have to trigger the lights with the sensor in order for them to go out with the sensor... So you can switch them on/off as with any hue bulbs... Hence the placement of the sensor under the bed... If you stay in bed you don't trigger it...

You can also set times when it is active...

Bluefoam · 25-11-2020 10:58pm

One of my favourite setups is having the living room lights set up with my remote control... When I turn on the TV it also turns on the lights and also when I switch off the TV, they go out. I also have 4 buttons on the remote that I have programmed to hue bulbs and an up down button to increase/decrease light levels... All via harmony hub.

25-11-2020 11:17pm

Bluefoam wrote: »

Bedroom is the best place for a sensor. I have one under the bed that senses when you enter the room... If it doesn't detect movement after a minute the lights turn off... So you can get into bed and a minute later the lights slowly turn off, without fumbaling for a switch... In the morning I set the lights to slowly come on before the alarm, so that you wake up gradually. Then when you leave the room the sensor turns off the lights again after a minute of no activity...

I also have them in the hall and landing...

Interesting, I might move a sensor onto a bedroom to try this out.

Soarer · 26-11-2020 10:27am

Morning lads and lassies.

Can someone recommend a good, non-subscription (don't mind paying upfront) app for hue lighting?

At the minute I'm using the official one and it's grand. Current annoyance* is we've the lights at the front of the house grouped together and set to the "Savanna Sunset" theme. But when we turn them off in the morning, they're reverted to standard that evening. I know you can set the "power on" options, but that doesn't allow you to set a theme.
I used a trial of OnSwitch (I think) for Halloween. That was a brilliant app with the themes available. But I think it's something like €8 a month for the privilege, and shag that! Plus it had this annoying thing that whatever device you had the app on (my phone in this case) had to be in constant contact with the hub!

All help appreciated.

* - I know I could get a Hue Switch, but the more things I can get into the house without herself noticing, the better for me!

AndyBoBandy · 26-11-2020 10:30am

Soarer wrote: »

Morning lads and lassies.

Can someone recommend a good, non-subscription (don't mind paying upfront) app for hue lighting?

At the minute I'm using the official one and it's grand. Current annoyance* is we've the lights at the front of the house grouped together and set to the "Savanna Sunset" theme. But when we turn them off in the morning, they're reverted to standard that evening. I know you can set the "power on" options, but that doesn't allow you to set a theme.

It does though...

How are you turning them back on? if its by a timed routine, you can set them to come on to any scene you want (in any colour combination you like).

The 'Wake Up' & 'Go to Sleep' routines cannot be adjusted in terms of what the lights do, as those routines are linked to particular scenes, but in the 'Other Routines' you can get them to do whatever you like, and set any scene you've created to go on/off at any given time.

If its by a dimmer switch, same thing, they'll come on to whatever preset scene you choose in the app.

Soarer · 26-11-2020 10:47am

Thanks Andy.

Unfortunately it's a "normal" switch is used to turn them on and off. So when I turn them on, it reverts to "power on" option.
At least I'm fairly sure it does anyway! Maybe I should set a routine?!

AndyBoBandy · 26-11-2020 10:55am

Soarer wrote: »

Thanks Andy.

Unfortunately it's a "normal" switch is used to turn them on and off. So when I turn them on, it reverts to "power on" option.
At least I'm fairly sure it does anyway! Maybe I should set a routine?!

Why are you using the normal switch? that kind of defeats the purpose of Philips Hue!!

The power switch should be left 'always on' and then all your control is via the app or routines.... or dimmer switches (which are a great addition for 'non players' who dont want to faff about with apps!!

Do you roughly turn them on/off at the same time every day? if so, just set up a routine to do it.

Routine 1 for example can turn the lights on at 4pm with a 30 minute fade to the savanah scene. The same routine can turn them off again at a set time, but they just go straight off, and you don't get the option to fade them off, so a pro tip is to have 2 routines, 1 to turn them on with a fade, and if you want them to fade off, another separate routine to do just that.

Gregor Samsa · 26-11-2020 10:56am

Soarer wrote: »

Thanks Andy.

Unfortunately it's a "normal" switch is used to turn them on and off. So when I turn them on, it reverts to "power on" option.
At least I'm fairly sure it does anyway! Maybe I should set a routine?!

A routine to turn the light off in the morning (rather than cutting power to it) would solve your problem.

To answer your original question, the best 3rd party Hue app I've found is Hue Essentials. Free to download (iOS and Android), and then some one-time in-app purchases for Premium features if you want.

https://www.hueessentials.com/

Luckycharms_74 · 27-11-2020 11:46am

Doesn't seem to be any Hue BF deals today yet

Pete123456 · 27-11-2020 12:05pm

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Doesn't seem to be any Hue BF deals today yet

Hue have some on their website? Not bad offers in the bundles and there were a good few 3 for 2 offers but they seem to be out of stock

Gregor Samsa · 27-11-2020 12:30pm

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Doesn't seem to be any Hue BF deals today yet

There is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/390B8760-7ABD-492E-B871-548B582E7306

and some here too: https://www.philips-hue.com/en-gb/products/promotions

Fitz* · 27-11-2020 1:03pm

Hey,

Apologies for the newbie simple question but I'm looking into setting some smart lighting in the house. Just the one room for now should do, but with a view to doing more rooms in the future. Would I be correct in saying that I need the Philips Hue Bridge as basically a hub to control all lighting? Both just LED lightstrips and also to upscale in the future?

Currently looking at just starting with the LED lightstrips for the back of the TV. I already have Google Home & Nest Hub and smart plugs around the room so this should all work together. Can I control the LED lightstrips form the Nest Hub or the actual Hue app only?

Is it better to buy this Hue Bridge or should I pick up a Hue Bridge & LED lightstrip combo instead? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Bridge-Works-Alexa-White/dp/B0152WXHVE/ref=asc_df_B0152WXHVE/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=232000808334&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13137562917751535190&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=20480&hvtargid=pla-343623877096&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

punisher5112 · 27-11-2020 1:31pm

Fitz* wrote: »

Hey,

Apologies for the newbie simple question but I'm looking into setting some smart lighting in the house. Just the one room for now should do, but with a view to doing more rooms in the future. Would I be correct in saying that I need the Philips Hue Bridge as basically a hub to control all lighting? Both just LED lightstrips and also to upscale in the future?

Currently looking at just starting with the LED lightstrips for the back of the TV. I already have Google Home & Nest Hub and smart plugs around the room so this should all work together. Can I control the LED lightstrips form the Nest Hub or the actual Hue app only?

Is it better to buy this Hue Bridge or should I pick up a Hue Bridge & LED lightstrip combo instead? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Bridge-Works-Alexa-White/dp/B0152WXHVE/ref=asc_df_B0152WXHVE/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=232000808334&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13137562917751535190&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=20480&hvtargid=pla-343623877096&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Buy the bundle, 3 lamps and bridge is the best deal there, then buy led light strip, I haven't seen lights strip on offer though, I need to get 2 and none up that I can see

AndyBoBandy · 27-11-2020 3:23pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Buy the bundle, 3 lamps and bridge is the best deal there

I can 100% say that this is true.

The bulbs work out at £30 each and you get a free bridge!!

These are the full colour bulbs (top of the range), that usually retail for £50 each..

Over the last few years I've gotten a few of these merely for the price per bulb, and ended up having spare hubs (which went to mothers & sisters houses). I still have 2 of the bulbs from 1 kit that haven't even bee paired yet, I only needed the 1, but the Black Friday price is just too good to pass on.

punisher5112 · 27-11-2020 4:52pm

I think I've 2 hubs sitting in unopened box.
I bought the gu10 and need more so haven't even opened.
The other I used 2 bulbs to do around the house and fitted one outside front door.

I know they're expensive but they are great and at the £90 it's the best they've been ever at.

Not happy with the deals this year though, no strip lights or gu10 on offer.
Poor deals to be honest on most things, some good of course.

Philips Hue FAQ

Comments