Smart lighting - Philips hue bridge and bulbs query

Ibrahim5

My initial plan was for 5 smart bulbs. It went to 7 after we got 5. Total cost £101. They work fine on WiFi. We have 105 bulbs in the house. Maybe one day they will all be smart. Sometimes you just have to wait for technology to develop and prices to drop. I wouldn't want 105 bulbs on WiFi. I wouldn't want to pay for 105 bulbs at Hue prices. I really don't think you need them everywhere but people will disagree.

ashe

Hue is expensive but the most reliable infrastructure out of all my smart lighting 

nanoleaf and lifx probably the least reliable 

you can use hue with some Alexa devices acting as a hub (the larger ones, not the dots), but you can usually pick uk a hub for £20-25 on fb marketplace as people buy the starter kits 

hue uses its own network so doesn't choke up your WiFi traffic. If bulbs are too much, hue is also compatible with ikea tradfi, innr, lidl smarthome and a few other zigbee products 


we just did our bathrooms and en suite with colour gu10 lights from lidl we bought in clearance for £3 a bulb last year. They're not as good as hue but for £3 can't argue 

thunt with hue is their colours are generally quite consistent across the range and they have a large collection of indoor and outdoor lights so easy to control 

ashe

Sandtree said:

Didnt know Nanoleaf did normal bulbs too.

We went with Lifx as only had intended to buy a few bulbs and so didnt mind paying their premium however having realised the flexibility they give we have bought more than originally intended... though mainly in the sales.

Two reasons we went with Lifx is because they are hubless and our Harmony remote control can control them so turning on the TV at night turns on the LED backlight strips, the two floor lamps and turns off the ceiling light... similarly switching to the projector turns off all the lights in the lounge.

Personally disappointed that their release in the UK is fairly slow and there are more/better products in the US and Australia (where the founders are from). Have ordered a few things from Australian retailers given no timeline for UK release 

Hue does harmony too, among other brands, but wondering how long logitech is going to keep their servers running now that they have discontinued the product. We use it too but going to start looking around at alternatives ready 

tasticz

Hi All!

Thank you for all your suggestions.

I ended up buying a single energizer app and trialing their bulb to see if it will work remotely as I wanted and how much control I could have. I downloaded the app and was able to get it working straight away. It did exactly what I wanted.

I have now purchased 12 more bulbs and added the lights in all the rooms I wanted.

I am able to control the bulbs from the energizer smart app remotely from outside of house also. I can assign the bulbs to rooms and run automation such as if light 1 is turned on in the room then turn light 2 and 3 on at the same time and the same with off also.

I spent £85 for 13 bulbs, and I have everything I wanted. There was no need for a bridge.

I will check if these bulbs work with philips hue bridge or another bridge in future and post here once i find more

Sandtree

ashe said:

Sandtree said:

Didnt know Nanoleaf did normal bulbs too.

We went with Lifx as only had intended to buy a few bulbs and so didnt mind paying their premium however having realised the flexibility they give we have bought more than originally intended... though mainly in the sales.

Two reasons we went with Lifx is because they are hubless and our Harmony remote control can control them so turning on the TV at night turns on the LED backlight strips, the two floor lamps and turns off the ceiling light... similarly switching to the projector turns off all the lights in the lounge.

Personally disappointed that their release in the UK is fairly slow and there are more/better products in the US and Australia (where the founders are from). Have ordered a few things from Australian retailers given no timeline for UK release 

Hue does harmony too, among other brands, but wondering how long logitech is going to keep their servers running now that they have discontinued the product. We use it too but going to start looking around at alternatives ready 

Very much my concern too, though as I dont use the app other than for setup most functionality should remain if the servers go until such point as I change kit.

There was talk of an alternative on the AVForums thats used crowd funding for R&D costs but people grumbling it was more expensive than Harmony and limited UK release. Most seem to think smartphone apps are the way to go instead of a physical remote but that clearly ignores non-smart devices (eg projector/projector screen) and not seen many apps that can control any material breath of items/brands all in one app.