Looking for a dedicated thread to discuss & share ideas of all things Philips Hue, and couldn't find anything so thought I'd start this and hopefully if it gains any traction, could be a useful place to share ideas and advice on all things Hue.
I started off about 2 1/2 years ago when the OH bought me the starter kit for my birthday. 3 colour bulbs and the bridge. (I'd been eyeing up the system myself anyway, so thankfully she read my mind)
The novelty of the colour bulbs wears off after a while, but the various ambiance colours that can be achieved with them are quite good for setting various moods (there is a
new ambiance bulb being released next week which looks quite good, as it gives the various white light (recipe) temperatures, just not the full colours (blue/red etc..) and it's a lot cheaper than the colour bulbs).
I've since added quite a bit to my setup so it now consists of 6 colour bulbs, 3 lux bulbs (the original white) and 8 of the newer white bulbs (mixture of B22 & E27) and a Light strip Plus with 2 1m extensions.
I have every room in the house fitted with hue bulbs now, (all centre lights as well as 2 table lamps in each of the master bedroom, living room & attic (guest room))
In the kitchen I have the light strip with the 1m extension over my kitchen units, luckily there was a double socket up there which meant no running power cables all over the place (I've also a set of laptop speakers hidden over the units connected to an Apple Airport Express for wireless streaming).
I've also a light out the front in my porch, and one in the side laneway (though this is connected with a switched halogen, so in effect this is just used as a regular bulb (it was actually one of the Lux lights that I had dropped and broke the glass casing on it, so figured I might as well use it somewhere)).
I've also got 2 of the dimmer switches (with another 3 arriving tomorrow) which are brilliant, especially for those not so savvy with the app, or just those without a smart device to control the lights (herself, and guests), so one is in the attic for guests to use, and the other is in the living room, 2 more will go in the master bedroom either side of the bed, with the last one probably going in the hallway.
I've recently upgraded my bridge to the home kit version so I can control lights via Siri, but it's still a bit hit & miss at the moment (I just haven't invested a lot of time yet setting it all up, though it does work).
I'd love to eventually replace my 10 kitchen down lights (and 6 in the attic) with the hue GU10's, but at €60 a pop, it's just not worth it at the moment. Maybe if they bring out cheaper (white/ambiance) GU10's, I might go for them then.
I'd also maybe like a few blooms or an Iris, but again, the price is very prohibitive, so most likely won't bother with them.
My next purchase will be most likely another light strip with a few 1m extensions, possibly placed in the kitchen under the units, but with a 15 month old running around, this might have to wait.
In terms of apps, I still mainly use the original clunky Hue app, mainly for its alarm/timer function which is excellent. I have most of my lights on timers to come on at various times in the evening (and mornings in winter), and with the up to 1 hour fade on each timer (scene on/lights off), its all very subtle.
I also like the OnSwitch app, which lets you have some fun with various colour flashing and effects, but again, wouldn't be your everyday usage app though there are some nice standard effects on it that could be used every day.
1 app I really enjoy using is Huelloween, which as you can guess is for Halloween, which works really well with the colour bulbs, and also plays sound effects (to match the lights) through your phone. In my case I use a bluetooth speaker out my box room window (above my front door), and scare the bejaysus out of the trick or treaters, (all of the parents came in to comment on how fantastic it was).
I have a few other apps, but don't really bother too much with them, as my main use for the system is having all the various timers set so my home lighting is pretty much fully automated, and while away on holidays, I'd often throw a few random lights on from time to time, but I can even automate this with the random time feature of the timers you set (timers will trigger up to plus/minus 30 minutes from the time you specify).
So thats it, thats me and Hue! What about you? what does your set up consist of? what apps do you love/hate? why? any tips or tricks?
