Philips Hue FAQ

If re-wiring a house would you put switches in? I've a load of Hue stuff, need a full rewire. Wondering should I bother with traditional switches when we currently use Hue switches most places.

I put switch covers that hold the remotes and buttons over all of my switches, they slide up or clip off to access the switches as needed and they look pretty tidy even if a little bulkier than a normal wall switch.

I used samotech (originally on amazon but now on their own website) and Iyoki still on amazon. They worked well for me with various types to take one or two buttons or remotes. All of my remotes are the version one.

IYOKI® Pro Hue Switch Cover for Philips Smart Button, Hue Remote Light Switch Plate, 1-Gang (1-Pack) https://amzn.eu/7c2u7uV

https://www.samotech.co.uk/products/sm215-light-switch-cover/

The hue system has no concept of different types of object, all are just "lights". I suspect that you have added the smart plug to the Kitchen room. If so, that will explain what's happening. Just add the socket to a different, non-existent room to control it in its own.

I've loads of switches but they're version 1 so I'll need to pick up something to screw onto the backplate that will hold the switches. Anyone know of such a thing?

Just found out that Livarno (LIDL) GU10 bulbs are longer than standard ones and will not fit some enclosed fittings. Luckily I had some spare Hue bulbs, or I'd have been in trouble. Might help someone....

For background I was changing the fittings in the kitchen for fire rated ones.

I am a big fan of the Hue ecosystem, most of the lights in the house are controlled by them.

Two issues that I have with them are 1) the cost and 2) the "flimsy" feel of their four button lightswitches.

I bought a Sonoff Zigbee "ZBMINI" smart switch that could solve both issues. It was just 16e on Amazon.co.uk, and had the potential to replace both a Hue light and a Hue lightswitch in one go.

You wire it in behind your old light switch backplate. You can control the on/off of the module using your old light switch. You can pair the module to your Hue Hub for use in the Hue ecosystem. One gotcha is that you need a neutral wire behind your light switch, something that many older Irish households will not have.

I was surprised to find that everything worked! 🤗

Excited, I went out and bought their zigbee relay for another project:

Unfortunately, this did not even pair with the Hue hub :-(

I also bought their ZBMINI-L, which is supposed to be the same as their ZBMINI, but not require a neutral wire, making it much more compatible with Irish households.

This paired successfully with the Hue Hub and I was able to turn it on and off in the Hue App.

One issue I noticed that I had to be selective about the bulbs that I had on the same circuit as it. I happened to have an old Philips Hue bulb on the circuit which caused an issue: The light would turn off, but not back on when instructed. I assume this is due to the following: As the module has to neutral wire, it has to extract power parasitically from the live wire: i.e. the live wire has to have some power going through it, even when "off". I assume that the Hue had very little standby current. When I swapped out the bulb for a normal LED bulb it worked fine.

However, and strangely, I found a more serious issue. if I added it to a room in the App, I could not control it by turning on and off all the devices as a room. This meant that I could not control it from Google Home, making it worthless to me 😔

Lastly, i bought the Sonoff Socket relay for 13e.

This worked great with Philips Hue.

In summary, the Sonoff ZBMINI and Sonoff Zigbee socket is great for Philips Hue, but stay away from the relay and the ZBMINI-L.

Also, has hue sync stopped working for most things for anyone else?

Rte player and netflix aren't causing my.entertainment area to interact anymore. YouTube, games and local files working fine

Brilliant - glad it worked out 👍🏻