Philips Hue Lighting

[Scottio200]

Hi All

Just got a starter kit with 3 bulbs, and a bloom light, for the home today and loving them!

Very easy to set up, all controlled via an app or can just use the standard light switch for basic on/off requirements (not the bloom light though)

The light these give off is very nice indeed, and the colours are great, over 1000 I believe but really nicely done.

Is anyone else using these? They are a bit pricey but they add that little bit extra to the home with nice mood lighting, and the Mrs loves them (surprisingly!)

Its really the start of my home automation project but I haven't told the Mrs that yet

Cheers
Scottio

[reverend]

Yeah got a set here too mate - I do like them but want to buy a few more bulbs yet - definitely some of those lightstrip things they released not long back.

I like the bit where you set it to work out when you're in the vicinity of home and you can turn a particular light on (and off when you leave) - it must confuse the heck out of the neighbours

I was holding back for Lifx to be released then when the first reviews for them weren't great I went down the Hue route. I fancy one of those Mickey Mouse bloom lights for the little uns bedroom.

If you haven't already and you're on iOS try Goldee and Hue Party. The best app I found yet for just controlling the lights was Quick Hue - it's nice and basic and works really well.

[Scottio200]

I have the Disney Bloom light, only got it because it was all they had in stock, but the ears come off it so its just a normal bloom plus it comes with another hub which I will sell on. The light is not as bright on the bloom as to the bulbs though but it is great for the bedroom

Loving the integration with IFTT, have all the lights to turn off at a certain time and for the lamp in the living room to come on at sunset, can also make a light blue if its raining or flash red when my shares lose money, very interesting and loads of possibilities.

Im tempted to get a Logitech Harmony Ultimate now as that can control the lights too

These things are very addictive!

Scottio

[Geko]

At £200 for 3 bulbs, it's still a little steep for me.

[reverend]

I think they're pretty much the same price in USD than they are in GBP which is always a shitter.

If you do get extra bulbs from the store it's worth checking them before the drive home as I had one smashed to bits (in all fairness I wish I'd looked at the innards now instead of just getting them to swap it!

The bird over the road has LED lights in her kitchen and they really are a brilliant write tone compared to the other houses on that side of the street.

Hue's can't show certain tones very well like blue (they're more purple) and because they're high intensity LEDs they don't dim that low either - you only really notice that when you're setting up something like a sunrise or sunset in that they dim from really bright to a certain threshold and then just turn off. It's a limitation of the LEDs but longer term I guess they could maybe add normal power LEDs in there and handover between the two when the levels are similar to make the transition seamless.

This was the video that sold me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zn-PTSNxhg