Philips Hue v Hive Lighting

Money_Saver · 11 July 2017 at 10:28AM

Just looking for peoples opinions of the above.

Which if any do you use, or would you be tempted to use.

Thinking of getting Hive when the winter comes, so I guess Hive would be the option, but wondered if anyone uses Philips Hue?

tia

rhysadams · 11 July 2017 at 1:01PM

I've got Phillips Hue which is excellent, got it in both home and office. Alexa at home has groups to turn lights on and off, we also have motion sensors in rooms to activate lighting for a set period. Works really well with Homekit on the iPhone too. I went with Hue due to reviews I had read.

Iwenbk · 11 July 2017 at 4:59PM

These smart bulbs are prone to hacks so use them wisely.

RumRat · 11 July 2017 at 10:29PM

Your Wifi network would need to be breached first, AFAIK and then someone could use the bulb hack to turn them off or change the colour.
Keep your network secure in the first place and make sure you have a candle ready, just in case someone can really be bothered in switching off your party lights...

thebigstillmeister · 12 July 2017 at 11:51AM

I have many Hue lights in my house which are connected to Alexa and also my Nest smoke alarms.

I have 1 colour one which is great, 2 that can be set to gently wake you up in the morning and the others just normal ones.

Really handy when I went away recently on holiday, I could set all schedules up and also turn them on and off randomly to look like someone is in.

Also the entry light turns on automatically when it detects I am coming home when dark,..

Need the IFTTT app to do some of the above,

I think they are great.

Also as they are energy-efficient LED's they do save money and also save me having to buy loads of light timers when I am out, so does save money in the long run so ignore Mr boring on the previous post,..

tizerbelle · 12 July 2017 at 1:13PM

I'm certainly in the sceptic camp at present.

£6 a month to turn your lights on and off with Hive - nope, not for me. If I want a light on, I'll get off my backside and turn it on.

£30 for 1 Hue E14 candle - nope, can not see the advantage over the existing LED mood, general and task lighting I already have in place and I'm certainly not replacing any at that price.

giraffe69 · 12 July 2017 at 1:19PM

£6 a month to turn your lights on and off with Hive - nope, not for me. If I want a light on, I'll get off my backside and turn it on.

The bulbs are not from the bargain basement but why do you have to pay £6 pm? I use a couple of hive bulbs and don't pay them anything.

RumRat · 12 July 2017 at 2:18PM

DavidP24 wrote: »

This is a money saving website, my advice would be to save your money and not bother with either.

This is one of those things that IMO is just an indulgence designed for people with more money than sense.

It may be a money saving site, however this is the tech forum. People are not just looking to save money, but, for advice and opinions.
I guess if they want cheap and paranoia they would take your advice.
Otherwise, they may enjoy some of the tech advances and would seek advice/opinion from others, as did the OP.
I'll bet you've got one of those new fangled electric lights that come on when you press a switch? Couldn't wait to get rid of the candle eh!?;)

thebigstillmeister · 12 July 2017 at 3:34PM

DavidP24 wrote: »

Your comments are welcome, as are mine.

You are wrong to say that I can provide zero feedback because I do not have any, I have evaluated and considered a complete waste of money. That feedback is helpful to those who are like minded.

I heard an ex-burglar on radio last week giving advice and an alarm was the biggest deterrent for him, he said if he saw one he would just look for easier house.

The post was asking if anyone had Hue lights. I do and if I had and thought they were not worth the money, then I would say it was a waste of money and that would be a valid opinion.

You've evaluated it based on nothing with no idea what other applications/systems they can link up with to provide more functionality than just having a bulb and light switch and you then think people will find it useful? ..er ok,

I think I caught that (made up) radio interview the other week as well, and i'm sure he also probably would have said that if there was any reason to suspect someone was in he'd also look for an easier house, maybe one that's had no lights on for the last 2 weeks on a dark winter evening,

Neil49 · 12 July 2017 at 4:59PM

Another option is the new range from Ikea.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/lighting/smart-lighting/

Gets good reviews and prices are good.

debitcardmayhem · 12 July 2017 at 5:30PM

When they go kaput can you use your app to direct your robot to change the bulb, indeed does the bulb send you an email to say it's in the dark? Of course if your broadband goes down you may have to .......
All hype just like smart meters, thermostats, boiler controls and all IOTs, if you have a 30+ rooms then you may recoup your outlay over 25 years, but of course tech will continue to advance and you probably want to change to the latest thing much sooner.

Philips Hue v Hive Lighting

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