Smart home lighting

[subseastu]

We'll be moving into a new build hopefully in July and I've suddenly started thinking about smart lighting. I like the idea of fully controllable lighting for brightness, colour and the ability to control it from an app. I'm just wondering if any of you have experience of any of the systems out there. I believe that some of the bulbs are compatible with different brands which is handy manly because the ceilings are quite low in the new house so I'll need fairly flush fitting led lighting in places like the lounge etc which from what I see things like Philips don't really seem to do. Would be good if bedside lamps, standard lamps can be incorporated as well.

Thanks

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[Gordon76]

I have quite a lot of smart lighting in my house including 1 LIFX bulb (to try the tech) , a load of Philips hue indoor and out and Lightwave switches/sockets.

The hue provides accent/colour in recessed LED strip, wall up lights, and garden lamps.

Whilst you can get hue LED ceiling down lighters I decided against this due to cost, and didn’t think I’d want coloured LED Downlighters.

The Lightwave switches work well, and allow app control, schedules scenes etc. I’ve linked both hue and Lightwave to alexa so can use that to control both, although truth is I tend to use the app more for Hue and Alexa for the ceiling lights via the Lightwave.

Hope this helps


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[eagletower]

I have Lutron RA2 , Really easy to retrofit. I went for a smart switch rather than a smart bulb. Eg one Luton can do 20 Led GU10s and more , rather than having to buy multiple smart GU10 bulbs.

I rarely use the wall switches or the phone app. The switches are wireless so you can have them on your bedside table , or coffee table etc too. I have set the lights it to come on one hour before sunset- all lights off at 23:40. At 19:30 the lights in the lounges dim down for TV mode and the kids know this means it bed time. Once the scenes are set up I don't need to bother with switches. I like Lutron as you an add a PIR sensor, so if the kids come out of their bedrooms in the middle of the night the hallway lights come on dimly. Has an away feature. so from your phone , can tell you've left the house and will randomly turn on lights to simulate occupancy. It doesnt do colour LEDs etc as its not a bulb. its a switch but the different coloured lights have never appealed to me.

[Wolfie]

I went for Ikea kit…. Have it in a few different areas…. No need to look at multi coloured, just have shades of white

Ability to control from a separate control button is really useful…

Principally used for lamps

[Mj2k]

Hue house here.

Kitchen has white ambience spots and the under cupboard strips. Rarely use the colours only warm or cool whites mainly.

Lounge has full colour bulbs and we don’t use them.

Garden room has full colour and again aside from playing with the warmth and occasional colour, we are using the whites.

I like the adjustment and app, but warm vs cool light is more than enough for me, colours are just a step too far.

Wish I knew that 18 colour bulbs ago!


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[subseastu]

Thanks for the replies. So colour bulbs are a waste and go for controllable whites seems to be the way ahead. I'll look into those suggestions.

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[wileeeeeey]

Hue here almost everywhere but not the kitchen or the loft. The price of the ceiling spot lights is beyond vicious and I just can’t pay that money.

In the end I don’t think brand will matter much (I stuck to hue because it works and I can’t be bothered to research) as you prob control via google/apple home or via an assistant. I rarely open the Hue app.

100% ignore the coloured bulbs. Total waste of money. Have a few, never ever use the colours. The only time the coloured ones get used is when my three year old niece tells google to make the lights loads of colours and she loves it.

[Mj2k]

Hue here almost everywhere but not the kitchen or the loft. The price of the ceiling spot lights is beyond vicious and I just can’t pay that money.

In the end I don’t think brand will matter much (I stuck to hue because it works and I can’t be bothered to research) as you prob control via google/apple home or via an assistant. I rarely open the Hue app.

100% ignore the coloured bulbs. Total waste of money. Have a few, never ever use the colours. The only time the coloured ones get used is when my three year old niece tells google to make the lights loads of colours and she loves it.

Like my niece, she loves a disco light setup in the garden room!

Is another thing to shout at Alexa to get correct tho lol


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[wileeeeeey]

Like my niece, she loves a disco light setup in the garden room!

Is another thing to shout at Alexa to get correct tho lol


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Yeah, very sweet in the moment but not worth £40-50 extra per bulb. Never again!

[Brighty]

I have cheap amazon jobs and they've been great so far, had them 18months

Make is avatar controls and they were about £8 or £9 each for colour ones, standard bayonette bulbs. No hub needed, they talk directly to the wifi. Used the avatar app to set them up and although there's a million colour choices on there, i just use Alexa, less colour choice, but so easy.

Kids love the colour bulbs, novelty of flashing colour change settings soon wore off, but they like to have them green or blue of a night time.
I've set up alexa routines for some. Kids bedroom lights turn off at 10 if they've gone to sleep with them on. Landing light comes on at sunset, changes to a low level red at 11pm to act as a night light, turns off at sunrise

[subseastu]

I have Lutron RA2 , Really easy to retrofit. I went for a smart switch rather than a smart bulb. Eg one Luton can do 20 Led GU10s and more , rather than having to buy multiple smart GU10 bulbs.

I rarely use the wall switches or the phone app. The switches are wireless so you can have them on your bedside table , or coffee table etc too. I have set the lights it to come on one hour before sunset- all lights off at 23:40. At 19:30 the lights in the lounges dim down for TV mode and the kids know this means it bed time. Once the scenes are set up I don't need to bother with switches. I like Lutron as you an add a PIR sensor, so if the kids come out of their bedrooms in the middle of the night the hallway lights come on dimly. Has an away feature. so from your phone , can tell you've left the house and will randomly turn on lights to simulate occupancy. It doesnt do colour LEDs etc as its not a bulb. its a switch but the different coloured lights have never appealed to me.

This sounds the most appealing idea. I've had a quick look and If I understand it, all you do is place a in line dimmer control on each lamp as long as its a dimmable led. How does that work for down lighters in a kitchen for instance? Is it one line unit per lamp or do you need to find the common power supply?

If you don't mind me asking what was the sort of costs for this?

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[subseastu]

I went for Ikea kit…. Have it in a few different areas…. No need to look at multi coloured, just have shades of white

Ability to control from a separate control button is really useful…

Principally used for lamps

Just looked at this as well. It looks a very reasonably priced solution and looks to do nearly everything all the others do as well. Hmmm got me thinking now

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[PickleB]

I haven't gone the whole hog, but have a few TP-Link Tapo bulbs around the house. To get anything other than 2700K warm white I can use their colour bulbs by dispensing with the lurid colours and adjusting the presets to anywhere from 2500K to 6500K.

Before buying any more I'd like to know if anyone has found an app (ie not Alexa or Google Assistant) that can control more than one manufacturer's products, please? The TP-Link range is rather limited and, ideally, I'd like the flexibility of shopping around for other suppliers.

[Nogbad The Bad]

I haven't gone the whole hog, but have a few TP-Link Tapo bulbs around the house. To get anything other than 2700K warm white I can use their colour bulbs by dispensing with the lurid colours and adjusting the presets to anywhere from 2500K to 6500K.

Before buying any more I'd like to know if anyone has found an app (ie not Alexa or Google Assistant) that can control more than one manufacturer's products, please? The TP-Link range is rather limited and, ideally, I'd like the flexibility of shopping around for other suppliers.

If you're an Apple user, check out Homebridge:-

https://github.com/oznu/homebridge-config-ui-x#readme

I have a bunch of non Homekit devices that appear under the Home app via Homebridge.

[barreti]

I have a bit of a mixture of lamps and drivers but all driven by Philips Hue
Hue GU10 downlighters above the porch at the front and back. These switch on at dusk and off at 11pm. One is also switched by a Hue motion sensor to light up the front door as someone approaches.
A couple of Hue bulbs in the house - the landing light is used most as a regular bulb with the ability to turn it off either via a Hue switch in the bedroom or with Alexa.
And a Hue colour lamp I use in a table lamp with the HUE TV mimic feature for when we are away. That works great.

I also have a Zigbee LED driver which powers about 6metres of LED strip under the plinths on the kitchen island. These are switched via 2 HUE motion sensors and they work so well we rarely turn on the main kitchen lights.

Some of the GU10 lamps I've changed to Ikea GU10 recently as a trial to save cost on the Philips lamps. I've tried INNR lamps too though I've found they have a poor life span.

[subseastu]

I have a bit of a mixture of lamps and drivers but all driven by Philips Hue
Hue GU10 downlighters above the porch at the front and back. These switch on at dusk and off at 11pm. One is also switched by a Hue motion sensor to light up the front door as someone approaches.
A couple of Hue bulbs in the house - the landing light is used most as a regular bulb with the ability to turn it off either via a Hue switch in the bedroom or with Alexa.
And a Hue colour lamp I use in a table lamp with the HUE TV mimic feature for when we are away. That works great.

I also have a Zigbee LED driver which powers about 6metres of LED strip under the plinths on the kitchen island. These are switched via 2 HUE motion sensors and they work so well we rarely turn on the main kitchen lights.

Some of the GU10 lamps I've changed to Ikea GU10 recently as a trial to save cost on the Philips lamps. I've tried INNR lamps too though I've found they have a poor life span.

Good hear the IKEA bulbs are compatable with the Philips hue system. The zigbee lights also open up some possibilities especially for lounge lighting as the ceiling height is pretty low

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[julian2002]

Alexa zigbee hub and innr bulbs for us. Super simple to set up and not hugely expensive or proprietary

[SeanST150]

I'll mirror the colour bulb sentiment. I have Hue in most rooms, and the odd room has a coloured bulb which rarely gets used. Stick to ambient white bulbs.

That said, the one place a colour bulb is really useful in at night. I have movement sensors in my hallway and landing, these switch the lights on and off after a few minutes. At night these are great, just pop out if the bedroom and you don't need to fumble to a switch or wake someone up giving Alexa a command. You can set the sensor/app to use a different brightness or colour depending on the time of day. At night, you can choose for red to come on, saves those eyes being blinded for a few seconds.

I've yet to try this for myself, I've read online that IKEA bulbs work with the Hue hub and therefore can be integrated into the app. This should make fitting the rest of the house a more affordable exercise.

[Inigo]

I used Fibaro dimmers fitted behind light switches. This gives app/PC control of lights, but also leaves the traditional switches in place so that anyone else can work out how to turn on the lights. Need to have a fairly deep back box to fit them in, which was easy to do in the new extension.

I used Hue in the older part of the house as easy to retrofit, although I agree with those other posters that colour changing is all but unnecessary.