Philips Hue FAQ

NoeldeBournaix

Had a a quick look around and some people seem to suggest a system 'clean up'.

Settings - Hue bridges - i - Clean up

From the app:

Warning:

'All data will be cleaned from your Hue bridge. This includes all your personal scenes, routines, entertainment areas and data from other Hue apps. We'll make sure your rooms, lights and accessories are restored so you'll still be able to control your lights'

Seems like the nuclear option. Maybe try get some more information before pressing the button.

wonski

Double check all the apps, some of them are tricky, especially if you used a lot of them to test at the start.

I have a bedroom bulb in wake up mode (from fully dimmed to bright at some minutes intervals) at the very same time all week and also can't remember which app I set it up with.

I wake up at that time anyway, so it doesn't bother me yet, but will get to the bottom of this one day

THE ALM

THE ALM wrote: »

Well I have ordered this Zigbee LL controller to pair with 10m of led strips that I have. No reviews as yet so taking a punt on it and see how it gets on with the Philips Hub.

Will report back when I see how it goes, hopefully a cheap 10m of Hue controllable loveliness!!!:D

Got the controller yesterday and set up last night. Connected everything up and was picked up by the Hue Hub straight away. One thing to note if adding a RGBW strip is that the light strip is split into two when added to Hue, a RGB light and a White light, so you can either keep the separate or create a group with the two.

Have put them temporarily on top of the kitchen units before looking at a more permanent solution.

Might send an email to the Chinese supplier and get a price direct from them, these came from a supplier in Germany.

Alkers

THE ALM wrote: »

Got the controller yesterday and set up last night. Connected everything up and was picked up by the Hue Hub straight away. One thing to note if adding a RGBW strip is that the light strip is split into two when added to Hue, a RGB light and a White light, so you can either keep the separate or create a group with the two.

Have put them temporarily on top of the kitchen units before looking at a more permanent solution.

Might send an email to the Chinese supplier and get a price direct from them, these came from a supplier in Germany.

So do you have one controller and three seperate lightstrips? Can you only set them all the same?

THE ALM

Simona1986 wrote: »

So do you have one controller and three seperate lightstrips? Can you only set them all the same?

Simona, it is one controller and one 10m length of RGBW LED strip (well technically 2x5m lengths connected together) the pictures attached only show some of the colours available which can be set to any colour similar to a Hue colour bulb.

You would need a separate controller for each light strip in order to have them set at different colours.

Shlippery

Bout to add another 2/3 b22's to my collection - the last 3 bulbs are in my sitting room in an oldish 3 bulb chandelier thing with an old dimmer switch.

They're the only bulbs we still use a "manual powered dimmer" for at the moment - they provide the main "white" light for the room - the colours are all in individual lamps.

I just did a quick test with one of my b22 colour ones and no issues at "full" power - no flickering, or buzzing or worries.

So - would you guys recommend I just get a twinpack+single of hue b22's white ambiance? Or would a third party bulb suffice?

I'd love 3 of the hue colours..but it'd probably be overkill...no more starter packs :P

edit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambiance-Wireless-Lighting-Bayonet/dp/B01LVUZQNX/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1519565891&sr=8-12&keywords=b22
fecking things were reduced yesterday..looks like I get to add some more colour to my life after all! :P

Alkers

THE ALM wrote:

Simona, it is one controller and one 10m length of RGBW LED strip (well technically 2x5m lengths connected together) the pictures attached only show some of the colours available which can be set to any colour similar to a Hue colour bulb.

Cool, think I'll get some.of those controllers so. Which led strips did you use? It's a decent saving over the official ones.

THE ALM

Simona1986 wrote: »

Cool, think I'll get some.of those controllers so. Which led strips did you use? It's a decent saving over the official ones.

Simona, there are loads of RGB and RGBW strips like this or this, think I got mine from china originally. You also will need a good suitable 12v power supply, I am using this, and also suitable led strip connectors depending if you are going RGB or RGBW, something like these.

phantom_lord

Has anyone ever got the location home/away settings to work?

Shlippery

phantom_lord wrote: »

Has anyone ever got the location home/away settings to work?

^ they were the reason my lights kept turning on at mad hours in the morning. I had them disabled on my phone, but they were enabled on my GFs in Hue Settings, so whenever she left house to go to work at 7am..all the lights would turn ON max brightness while I was fast alseep..

All fine now.


There's multi-user geofencing in the labs that could work.

ablelocks

is there a way to connect an older living colours lamp to the hue bridge 2?

Luckycharms_74

Hi All

I was originally thinking of switching light switches to smart switches in my mother's house. But it turns out the smart switches need a neutral wire.

I posted in another thread and was redirected to here saying that installing smart bulbs is much less hassle.

So from reading some of the thread, I need the following for hue to work.

* phillips bulbs or compatible ones
* dimmer switches
* 1 bridge

Do I pair the dimmer switches to each set of light switches, what happens if they are 2 or 3 gang switches?

Maybe someone on here has encountered a similar setup?

AndyBoBandy

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Hi All

I was originally thinking of switching light switches to smart switches in my mother's house. But it turns out the smart switches need a neutral wire.

I posted in another thread and was redirected to here saying that installing smart bulbs is much less hassle.

So from reading some of the thread, I need the following for hue to work.

* phillips bulbs or compatible ones
* dimmer switches
* 1 bridge

Do I pair the dimmer switches to each set of light switches, what happens if they are 2 or 3 gang switches?

Maybe someone on here has encountered a similar setup?

You don’t have to have the dimmer switches, you only need the hub & some Hue bulbs, and a smart phone to control them/set timer routines etc...
( you can connect up to 10 bulbs to a dimmer switch without a hub, but this just gives you basic functionality)

Everything is connected back to the hub, the bulbs & the dimmers (& sensors).

If you’re simply replacing existing bulbs with smart bulbs, It doesn’t matter what switches are there, you’ll be just leaving the switches on all the time, and then the bulbs will be controlled via the hub (either with a smart devices or dimmer switches/sensors)

(The smart bulbs are always powered on from the mains to allow smart control of them)

super_sweeney

exactly right. for example what i did in my living room was.

1. took the main light switch off and just connected the two wires together in a connector block and then put a cover over where the old light switch was. I then put the dimmer switch here which acts just like a remote for the lights. It now looks like it was wired in there even though it is battery operated. 

This dimmer switch then controls three switches in my house. these three lights are the light on the ceiling and the tow lamps which are plugged into sockets. So these three bulbds are controlled with the dimmer switch over the hub. I hope this makes it more simple

bk

Note, that when people say "dimmer switches" they specifically mean the Hue Dimmer Switch:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Wireless-Lighting-Accessory-HomeKit/dp/B0748KLR39/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520443604&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=hue+dimmer+switch&psc=1

Just in case anyone thinks it is a generic dimmer switch.

ablelocks

ablelocks wrote: »

is there a way to connect an older living colours lamp to the hue bridge 2?

anyone?

Luckycharms_74

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

You don’t have to have the dimmer switches, you only need the hub & some Hue bulbs, and a smart phone to control them/set timer routines etc...
( you can connect up to 10 bulbs to a dimmer switch without a hub, but this just gives you basic functionality)

Everything is connected back to the hub, the bulbs & the dimmers (& sensors).

If you’re simply replacing existing bulbs with smart bulbs, It doesn’t matter what switches are there, you’ll be just leaving the switches on all the time, and then the bulbs will be controlled via the hub (either with a smart devices or dimmer switches/sensors)

(The smart bulbs are always powered on from the mains to allow smart control of them)

Yeah for me it would be fine with just phone and hub. For my mother I think I would need the dimmer switches where needed.

Is it a case of one switch per light or how would that work ?

AndyBoBandy

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Yeah for me it would be fine with just phone and hub. For my mother I think I would need the dimmer switches where needed.

Is it a case of one switch per light or how would that work ?

1 Hue Dimmer switch can control up to 2 'hue' rooms (though a room can have as many bulbs in it as you want).

i.e.
I have a hue dimmer switch in my kitchen, and it controls a total of 12 bulbs (10 GU10 spots & 2 light strips) (kitchen/dining room is set up as 1 room in Hue).
we have another 2 hue dimmer switches in the master bedroom and they both control the 3 lights in the room (2 bedside lamps & a bloom behind the TV, as well as controlling the ensuite (which is set up as another room)). Both these dimmers are set up exactly the same, just one on my side, and one on her side, and they are controlling 2 'rooms' (containing a total of 4 bulbs).

another hue dimmer switch in the living room controls 2 lamps and a bloom.

In both the bedroom & living room, the dimmer doesn't control the centre light which aren't used very often, hence they are set up as different rooms so they dont come on with the lamps when activated with the hue dimmer switch (i.e. master bedroom centre etc..)

I set up hue lights in my own mothers house (she has about 8 now), and they're all set on timers (Hue call them routines), and they are a very good way to completely automate the whole Hue experience. I can even remotely adjust the timers for her, though hue will even do the shorter/longer days offset for you if you want all by itself.

I've my own entire house running off various routines, so I hardly ever have to use the dimmers anyway, only just for 'out of hours' operation.

irelandrover

ablelocks wrote: »

anyone?

Luckycharms_74

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

1 Hue Dimmer switch can control up to 2 'hue' rooms (though a room can have as many bulbs in it as you want).

i.e.
I have a hue dimmer switch in my kitchen, and it controls a total of 12 bulbs (10 GU10 spots & 2 light strips) (kitchen/dining room is set up as 1 room in Hue).
we have another 2 hue dimmer switches in the master bedroom and they both control the 3 lights in the room (2 bedside lamps & a bloom behind the TV, as well as controlling the ensuite (which is set up as another room)). Both these dimmers are set up exactly the same, just one on my side, and one on her side, and they are controlling 2 'rooms' (containing a total of 4 bulbs).

another hue dimmer switch in the living room controls 2 lamps and a bloom.

In both the bedroom & living room, the dimmer doesn't control the centre light which aren't used very often, hence they are set up as different rooms so they dont come on with the lamps when activated with the hue dimmer switch (i.e. master bedroom centre etc..)

I set up hue lights in my own mothers house (she has about 8 now), and they're all set on timers (Hue call them routines), and they are a very good way to completely automate the whole Hue experience. I can even remotely adjust the timers for her, though hue will even do the shorter/longer days offset for you if you want all by itself.

I've my own entire house running off various routines, so I hardly ever have to use the dimmers anyway, only just for 'out of hours' operation.

Thanks for the help Andy

With regard to your mothers' house and the 8 hue bulbs on timers. Does she manually use them too via the switch or her phone?

I'm thinking to put one downstairs replacing the 3-way switch running (hall, landing, outside)

And one upstairs replacing the 2 way (bathroom, landing)

AndyBoBandy

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Thanks for the help Andy

With regard to your mothers' house and the 8 hue bulbs on timers. Does she manually use them too via the switch or her phone?

She prefers to have them on timers (routines), particularly the sitting room, hallway and 2 outside porch lights, as well as a lamp in the kitchen.

She does have the ability to control them on her iPad, but I don't think she uses it as a means to control her lights that often, as with the timers, she doesn't need to.

I did give her a hue dimmer switch for her bedroom (controlling 2 bedside lamps), and she does use that one quite a bit, so perhaps as her system expands I'll need to get her more hue dimmer switches (I have another 5 white only Hue bulbs that I no longer need, so they'll be going down to her house soon, giving her a total of about 14 bulbs).

If your going to do landing/bathrooms etc... Hue Dimmers would be the best bet, although have you thought about sensors? they are very good as well.

Luckycharms_74

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

She prefers to have them on timers (routines), particularly the sitting room, hallway and 2 outside porch lights, as well as a lamp in the kitchen.

She does have the ability to control them on her iPad, but I don't think she uses it as a means to control her lights that often, as with the timers, she doesn't need to.

I did give her a hue dimmer switch for her bedroom (controlling 2 bedside lamps), and she does use that one quite a bit, so perhaps as her system expands I'll need to get her more hue dimmer switches (I have another 5 white only Hue bulbs that I no longer need, so they'll be going down to her house soon, giving her a total of about 14 bulbs).

If your going to do landing/bathrooms etc... Hue Dimmers would be the best bet, although have you thought about sensors? they are very good as well.

Sounds a right set up.

I haven't really thought about sensors but they could be a good option.

Thinking about getting a couple of these to block off the old switches



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-Hue-Dimmer-UK-Light-Switch-Converter-Adapter-Cover/192445966940

AndyBoBandy

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Thinking about getting a couple of these to block off the old switches

I've never bothered hiding any of my original switches, its just a case of learning to stop using them, but its nice to know they are still there if you need them in a hurry!

bk

I find I use different control methods in different rooms.

Living Room - Come on based on a "timer" routine set to come on 30 minutes before sunset.
Hall, Bathrooms, Utility room - Motion sensor, light comes on as you enter, goes off a few minutes after you leave
Bedrooms - Hue Dimmer Switch

Of course I can also use Google Home Voice, Harmony Remote and app, but the above are the primary control for each room.

bk

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I've never bothered hiding any of my original switches, its just a case of learning to stop using them, but its nice to know they are still there if you need them in a hurry!

I put a very cheap (like €2 each) cover over most of mine to stop visitors from using them. But the above look like a more elegant solution, though it wouldn't work in many of my rooms.

irelandrover

bk wrote: »

I find I use different control methods in different rooms.

Living Room - Come on based on a "timer" routine set to come on 30 minutes before sunset.
Hall, Bathrooms, Utility room - Motion sensor, light comes on as you enter, goes off a few minutes after you leave
Bedrooms - Hue Dimmer Switch

Of course I can also use Google Home Voice, Harmony Remote and app, but the above are the primary control for each room.

Im pretty much the same except the bedroom lights come on on a timer. Only switched off with a dimmer. Really after a while with the Hue system you use the switches very little. I even started removing dimmers as i ran out of space on the bridge.

AndyBoBandy

My timers are as follows; (though with the days getting longer, these will be adjusted soon)

Wake Up
Kids room at 8am (30 minute fade)

Other Routines
early morning (Mon, Tues & Wed - when she works from the office), master bedroom, ensuite, hallway & kitchen on at 6am (15 minute fade) - off at 9am
normal morning (Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun) - master bedroom, ensuite, hallway & kitchen on at 7am (15 minute fade) - off at 9am
office mornings (Mon-Fri)- my office & her office on for about an hour from 8:30-9:30am on Concentrate
afternoon downstairs (every day) - hallway, porch, living room & kitchen on at 4:30pm on Concentrate (30 minute fade)
afternoon office - (Mon-Fri) my office & her office on at 4pm on Concentrate - off at 5:30pm
evening downstairs (every day) - hallway, porch, living room & kitchen on at 6pm on Relax (30 minute fade)
evening bedrooms (every day) master bedroom, landing, kids room on at 6pm on Relax (15 minute fade)

Go to sleep
kids room at about 7pm on a 30 minute fade
Entire house - set at 10pm (11:30pm at the weekend) - This is the routine to rule all routines, and turns every Hue light off (just in case there are any stragglers left on that aren't times to go off)

Theres probably a few more in there, but you get my point. The entire house lighting is automated.

Luckycharms_74

Its sounds fantastic tbh and I'm defn gonna go ahead and get the starter kit and just add bit by bit.
Having triggers like "sunset come on" are a great feature and also from reading the IFTTT commands makes it the perfect option.

I do have one question regarding running Alexa. How many Alexa & dot would I need for an average 3/4 bed semi?

bk

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

I do have one question regarding running Alexa. How many Alexa & dot would I need for an average 3/4 bed semi?

Usually you need one per room. Though of course you don't have to have one in each room.

BTW if you haven't invested in Alexa yet, then I'd recommend Google Home intead, I have both and find GH better.

phantom_lord

Is there any work around for having the sensor switch off lights?

(Ideally like to set that if I'm in the office the rest of the house switches off, but that doesn't seem to be an option)