Philips Hue FAQ

AndyBoBandy

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Want to set up lights so they come on and off at certain times. Trying to figure it out.

Anyone help with assistance or best way?

Routines.

Go in and create routines (lights on) for certain rooms at certain times.

Then create another routine for when you want certain rooms to go off.

Irish Gunner

Cheers managed to set up a routine

On another subject have light strips on back of TV but need another meter but can only see them in 2m and don't want to waste it by cutting them.

Any other options?

AndyBoBandy

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Cheers managed to set up a routine

On another subject have light strips on back of TV but need another meter but can only see them in 2m and don't want to waste it by cutting them.

Any other options?

If you have a 2nd gen light strip you can add 1m extensions to it,

Irish Gunner

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

If you have a 2nd gen light strip you can add 1m extensions to it,

Can't see 1m extension on Amazon only 2m unless looking in wrong place

Also for routine can set up a routine for lights to come on at 8pm and fade is instant. However if I set up second routine for 11pm and fade instant that's when they will turn off.. correct?

AndyBoBandy

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Can't see 1m extension on Amazon only 2m unless looking in wrong place

Also for routine can set up a routine for lights to come on at 8pm and fade is instant. However if I set up second routine for 11pm and fade instant that's when they will turn off.. correct?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Personal-Wireless-Lightstrip-Lighstrip/dp/B0148NMVJW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1489352190&sr=8-6&keywords=hue&th=1

when you click on a hue product on Amazon now, within that item you can select all the variations of that particular product.


regarding the routine, correct, you just have to set the 11pm routine to turn each room off (when you select (up to 4) rooms in a routine you create, you can choose which scene comes on at the routine time for each of the (up to) 4 rooms you've selected) i.e.;

6pm routine: kitchen on bright, living room on concentrate, office on energise
8pm routine: kitchen off, living room on relax, bedroom on low, hallway on nightlight etc....
9pm routine: living room on nightlight, bedroom on relax, hallway off, office off

you can use fade's as well if you want to. for instance my living room comes on concentrate at 5pm, then at 7pm it fades (over 30 minutes) to a relax scene, before it's 3rd routine of the day knocks it off in the evening.

Irish Gunner

Cheers for that did not think you could get them in other sizes so that’s sorted

 Also for the routines I have set one up but have not tested it. I have a first routine to start at 8 pm and Fade is Instant and have one room selected and the scene set to bright and days set. So my understanding is that this is when lights come on. However  second routine is same with time set to 11 with same details. What’s confusing me is that is that there is no option to stay stop/turn off. Does it work that it starts at 8pm and then when it comes to 11pm it realises lights are on and then the second routine kicks in and turns them off or does it just see that lights are on already and does nothing? It’s just with other timers for lights I have an on and off time

setanta1984

You can create another Routine to turn the lights off. It's the very first option after choosing which room to apply the routine to, when creating it.

AndyBoBandy

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Cheers for that did not think you could get them in other sizes so that’s sorted

 Also for the routines I have set one up but have not tested it. I have a first routine to start at 8 pm and Fade is Instant and have one room selected and the scene set to bright and days set. So my understanding is that this is when lights come on. However  second routine is same with time set to 11 with same details. What’s confusing me is that is that there is no option to stay stop/turn off. Does it work that it starts at 8pm and then when it comes to 11pm it realises lights are on and then the second routine kicks in and turns them off or does it just see that lights are on already and does nothing? It’s just with other timers for lights I have an on and off time

as setanta said, you need to select for each room what you want to happen at the 11pm routine, if it's a lights off routine, there is a 'scene' you can select for light off

its one of the defaults you can select above the scene list along with Bright, Dimmed & Nightlight

Irish Gunner

Cheers ok was having a Stevie Wonder moment as could not find out how to turn off. then I clicked on the room and there is an option for Defaults and in there is the off switch along with all the scenes. So have one routine at 8 to turn on in bedroom using bright scene and fade is instant and then second  routine to turn off at 11pm in bedroom set to Off

JazzyJ

What have people used for their existing switches when using the dimmer switch? I know of a few choices:

Cover the switches:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SwitchSafe-socket-protector-prevent-accidental/dp/B01634O2MS

I had been thinking of putting in a secret key switch like below and having a magnet on it to attach the dimmer switch, but I don't have a ground wire at the switches:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-2-way-20a-sp-secret-key-switch-white/63994

Is there anything else decent that can be done? I don't particularly want to blank the switch.

Irish Gunner

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SwitchSafe-socket-protector-prevent-accidental/dp/B01634O2MS
I tried the above but had to return them as they did not cover the light switch and was told they are not for this intention? Still looking as I sometimes turn off lights without thinking and then shout at Alexa to turn the lights on with out knowing

lawred2

Looking to get started with Hue. Want three spotlights for ambient/colored stairwell lighting..

I am starting from zero.

Any starter kits with spotlights?

Found this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambiance-Wireless-Lighting-Changing/dp/B0152WXDOA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489484820&sr=8-1&keywords=hue%2Bspot%2Bcolour&th=1

Is that the going rate or can it be sourced cheaper?

McG

lawred2 wrote: »

Looking to get started with Hue. Want three spotlights for ambient/colored stairwell lighting..

I am starting from zero.

Any starter kits with spotlights?

Found this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambiance-Wireless-Lighting-Changing/dp/B0152WXDOA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489484820&sr=8-1&keywords=hue%2Bspot%2Bcolour&th=1

Is that the going rate or can it be sourced cheaper?

innr make gu10 bulbs that are compatible with Hue. they're much cheaper than the Hue ones but you'd still need a bridge. They're £18 a bulb, but I can't comment on quality as I haven't purchased any of them myself yet.

lawred2

McG wrote: »

innr make gu10 bulbs that are compatible with Hue. they're much cheaper than the Hue ones but you'd still need a bridge. They're £18 a bulb, but I can't comment on quality as I haven't purchased any of them myself yet.

I'll have a look

anyone tried them here?

bk

lawred2 wrote: »

I'll have a look

anyone tried them here?

I would be careful about using third party bulbs. Nothing stopping Philips from locking them out of the bridge again, like they did in the past.

lawred2

bk wrote: »

I would be careful about using third party bulbs. Nothing stopping Philips from locking them out of the bridge again, like they did in the past.

fair enough

for my first foray I'm not risking acquiring a raft of paperweights

lawred2

aside from third party stuff - is AZ as good as it gets for this stuff?

bk

lawred2 wrote: »

aside from third party stuff - is AZ as good as it gets for this stuff?

Yes, pretty much, use camelcamelcamel to put price watches on items that you aren't in a rush for. Lots of items get reduced during various sales.

lawred2

bk wrote: »

Yes, pretty much, use camelcamelcamel to put price watches on items that you aren't in a rush for. Lots of items get reduced during various sales.

cheers

Danbo!

Strips are half price on amazon - any use?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Connected-Luminaires-Indirect-light/dp/B00KDG406Q/ref=gbps_img_s-3_95b6_6d6d4998?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=cba24898-a7db-4045-b379-eb99bf9295b6&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=87ZRSCCGK5CMABTNC944

AndyBoBandy

Danbo! wrote: »

Strips are half price on amazon - any use?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Connected-Luminaires-Indirect-light/dp/B00KDG406Q/ref=gbps_img_s-3_95b6_6d6d4998?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=cba24898-a7db-4045-b379-eb99bf9295b6&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=87ZRSCCGK5CMABTNC944

Thats the 1st gen light strip, it cant be extended, and only does colour, it doesn't do the ambient whites.

for that price though, it would be worth a punt for behind a TV or something

Soccarboy11

Debating purchasing the White hue bulb now, or the innr color bulb (for a splash of life!), I don't see the Hue Color coming down in price any time soon, unless anybody knows of sales? My hub will be here monday! Any ideas?

punisher5112

Soccarboy11 wrote: »

Debating purchasing the White hue bulb now, or the innr color bulb (for a splash of life!), I don't see the Hue Color coming down in price any time soon, unless anybody knows of sales? My hub will be here monday! Any ideas?

You could use any other manufacturer bulb.

AndyBoBandy

punisher5112 wrote: »

You could use any other manufacturer bulb.

But run the risk of Hue pulling 3rd party support.

Soccarboy11

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

But run the risk of Hue pulling 3rd party support.

Indeed this is the issue, but I highly doubt they will begin to block 3rd party bulbs. I mean I know they did before, but they opened it up again. Don't see why they would close it again. Risky though.

Anybody know of any sales? Got camelcamelcamel set up but eh.

Danbo!

Wondering if anyone can help me out

I'm using IFTTT to schedule lights on and off at sunset and sunrise, so no messing with times as the evenings get longer and the mornings earlier. It seems like something the hue app should do to be fair

Anyway, I'd prefer if the lights would come on about 15-30 minutes before sunset as the house gets a little dull even on a nice day like today, and there's a bit of "should I just manually do it?". If it's in any way dull the house gets particularly dark. Anyone here have a similar issue?

Black_Knight

Danbo! wrote: »

Wondering if anyone can help me out

I'm using IFTTT to schedule lights on and off at sunset and sunrise, so no messing with times as the evenings get longer and the mornings earlier. It seems like something the hue app should do to be fair

Anyway, I'd prefer if the lights would come on about 15-30 minutes before sunset as the house gets a little dull even on a nice day like today, and there's a bit of "should I just manually do it?". If it's in any way dull the house gets particularly dark. Anyone here have a similar issue?

Not sure if IFTTT can do it, but home assistant does this beautifully. It's not as easy as IFTTT, but if you've a bit of computer know how you should be able to get it running.

I've mine running on an old Raspberry Pi I had. Turns on lights if im at home and sunset occurs (I can offset the time too), and turns on lights if sunset has occurred (or 30 minutes beforehand) and I arrive home. I also have it turning off all the lights if noone is home.

AndyBoBandy

I just use the timers/routines in the native app, and when I notice the days getting longer/shorter and if the house feels dark, I'll just go into the app and put the times back/forward an hour.

might take me 2/3 minutes to do every 6-7 weeks.

Optimus Prime

You should have a look at stringify, its like IFTTT but you can link a load of stuff together. currently i have one setup with a TPLINK camera and my Hue\Lifx lights that goes like this..

If its after 12 at night and the camera detects motion turn on the kitchen lights and the outdoor lights, then start a 15 minute countdown, when it reaches 0 turn off the kitchen lights and the outdoor lights.


Its pretty good, there might be something in there for what you want to do.

Irish Gunner

I have a few Hue lights around the house and have Alexa set up to switch them on and off. However for scenes I'm using various Hue Android Apps.

Has anyone set up Alexa for scenes and does involve using the ifttt app

Cheers