Philips Hue FAQ

AndyBoBandy · 04-12-2017 1:51pm

adox wrote: »

I have sensors in the hall and landing where they are ideal but I wouldnt use them in the living room or kitchen where you would spend a lot of time.

I have one in the kitchen, and of the 3 sensors I have, it's probably the best utilised one.

I just have it set to turn off after 30 minutes of no motion, and it rarely puts a foot wrong in what I want it to do.

irelandrover · 04-12-2017 1:58pm

adox wrote: »

I have sensors in the hall and landing where they are ideal but I wouldnt use them in the living room or kitchen where you would spend a lot of time.

I have one in the living room and am using it as a light sensor. As soon as it starts to get a little dark the lamps in teh room come on. Definitely one of the best things I find about the Hue system.

Alkers · 04-12-2017 2:29pm

Kintar&#197 wrote: »

So folks, how can I help win over someone who really doesn't like WiFi bulbs. I put smart bulbs in the living room and the kitchen- all will be hue at some point this week. Currently the missus really doesn't like having to use voice to control them and she definitely won't pick up the phone to adjust them.

The widgets are useful too, one press on the home screen as opposed to having to open up the app etc

super_sweeney · 04-12-2017 2:40pm

Anyone us the geo location? I use it and its great but has a few times when i have had people over switched off the lights on everyone when i drove away which was commical for me but not for them

Shlippery · 04-12-2017 2:51pm

super_sweeney wrote: »

Anyone us the geo location? I use it and its great but has a few times when i have had people over switched off the lights on everyone when i drove away which was commical for me but not for them

Think there's a Hue Lab for multi-user geofencing!

I've it setup with GF, so it wont' turn off if one of us is home.

super_sweeney · 04-12-2017 2:58pm

ah never thought to check that out. Yeah that might work but just means will have to install it on all the families phones :P

flangemeistro · 04-12-2017 5:04pm

Hey guys just wondering what's the best Android app to get the most out of my dimmer switch.
I have it at the front door so when we get home one push will turn on the hall light and the kitchen lights because they're the first rooms we go into and I do the rest with Alexa but she's been so hit and miss lately telling me devices are disabled when they're not or telling me there's no such scene in the sitting room when it's clearly listed under the smarthome section of the app and also the hue app.

I'd like to be able to bring the remote into the kitchen with me so I can turn on the sitting room lights with a different press and things like that, is this possible or will it only control two rooms or the whole house?
Thanks

irelandrover · 04-12-2017 5:09pm

flangemeistro wrote: »

Hey guys just wondering what's the best Android app to get the most out of my dimmer switch.
I have it at the front door so when we get home one push will turn on the hall light and the kitchen lights because they're the first rooms we go into and I do the rest with Alexa but she's been so hit and miss lately telling me devices are disabled when they're not or telling me there's no such scene in the sitting room when it's clearly listed under the smarthome section of the app and also the hue app.

I'd like to be able to bring the remote into the kitchen with me so I can turn on the sitting room lights with a different press and things like that, is this possible or will it only control two rooms or the whole house?
Thanks

Are you on Apple or Android?

flangemeistro · 04-12-2017 6:31pm

irelandrover wrote: »

Are you on Apple or Android?

Android, thanks

lawred2 · 04-12-2017 7:34pm

irelandrover wrote: »

I have one in the living room and am using it as a light sensor. As soon as it starts to get a little dark the lamps in teh room come on. Definitely one of the best things I find about the Hue system.

can they function as both motion and light sensors?

irelandrover · 04-12-2017 7:39pm

flangemeistro wrote: »

Android, thanks

All 4 hue can do what you want as far as I know. I've used it to adjust the roles for the dimmers.

irelandrover · 04-12-2017 7:41pm

lawred2 wrote: »

can they function as both motion and light sensors?

No, it's either a motion sensor or a light sensor. So if you set it to switch on lights when dark them it can't switch on lights when motion is sensed. Which makes sense to me

bren2001 · 04-12-2017 7:59pm

irelandrover wrote: »

No, it's either a motion sensor or a light sensor. So if you set it to switch on lights when dark them it can't switch on lights when motion is sensed. Which makes sense to me

Well thats not entirely true. They can function as both but are linked i.e. you require motion. You can set them to turn on the lights when motion is detected IF light levels are low enough.

The high horse brigade · 04-12-2017 8:12pm

bren2001 wrote: »

Well thats not entirely true. They can function as both but are linked i.e. you require motion. You can set them to turn on the lights when motion is detected IF light levels are low enough.

This is what I have. You set the light brightness level at which they turn on when they detect motion. Mine don't trigger at all during the day when there's daylight.

irelandrover · 04-12-2017 8:31pm

bren2001 wrote: »

Well thats not entirely true. They can function as both but are linked i.e. you require motion. You can set them to turn on the lights when motion is detected IF light levels are low enough.

Yeah. I tried to explain it with the second part of my post butt found out difficult.

In my opinion what you describe above is just a motion sensor which doesn't trigger during daylight hours. A light sensor is something that turns in at a certain lighting level irrespective of any other condition.

bren2001 · 04-12-2017 9:14pm

irelandrover wrote: »

Yeah. I tried to explain it with the second part of my post butt found out difficult.

In my opinion what you describe above is just a motion sensor which doesn't trigger during daylight hours. A light sensor is something that turns in at a certain lighting level irrespective of any other condition.

Oh yeah, I knew what ye meant. Its cannot be both in a strict sense. I was just clarifying as it depended what the OP wanted.

04-12-2017 10:46pm

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Montion sensors are a game changer with the hue bulbs, they won over my wife. you walk through our house now and the lights just come on from the kitchen, through the hall, up the stairs etc. You only have to turn lights on manually in the bedrooms (Using hue switches).

So they turn on when you walk past.....do you set how long they stay on for after last detecting movement? Is that in the app?

bren2001 · 04-12-2017 10:59pm

368100 wrote: »

So they turn on when you walk past.....do you set how long they stay on for after last detecting movement? Is that in the app?

Yes, you can select how long they stay on for after no motion is detected.

londonred · 05-12-2017 3:07pm

Does there ever be any deals on the Philips Hue GU10 white bulbs currently around £50 for 2 on amazon ? Would it be worthwhile holding out until the sales need 8 of them?

AndyBoBandy · 05-12-2017 3:21pm

londonred wrote: »

Does there ever be any deals on the Philips Hue GU10 white bulbs currently around £50 for 2 on amazon ? Would it be worthwhile holding out until the sales need 8 of them?

They were £40 for the twin pack for a few weeks now. And I think they were also part of the 3 for 2 deals.

They are White Ambiance bulbs (not just white), and they do all white colours like warm yellow whites to cold blue whites.

Shlippery · 05-12-2017 5:43pm

Mild dilemma lads.. I got my 3 Hue Ambiance to go in Kitchen here - > https://imgur.com/a/4Ptg4

Little sensor to accompany it...but the god damn Hue bulbs won't fit in. I had the Ikea ones there, (and they fit fine..I currently have one of them sitting in there hooked up to new sensor at the moment) but was happy to replace them with the official hue ones.

Gutted that they don't fit. Ikea go straight in and twist. Hue just won't twist. (without fear of absolutely destroying them).

Anyone any experience with this? Would change the 3 spotlight fittings if possible although the landlord probably wouldn't be too pleased...

flangemeistro · 06-12-2017 9:58am

Hey guys I know I've posted a few times about this issue but no one has been able to help me.
Alexa has gone to absolute ****e in the last month in relation to controlling my Hue lights, which is what I use it for 90% of the time.

The errors range from,
"Hue isn't responding"
"This device is disabled"
"This scene is disabled"
"Two devices share the same name"
"Hmmmmm I can't help you with that"

I'm ready to throw her out the window and the only reason I won't is because herself will be absolutely delighted and get to say I told you so.

And before anyone asks, no I don't have two devices or scenes with the same names,
No I don't have any devices or scenes disabled.

Anyway in desperation last night I reset my hue hub which was an absolute disaster as it wouldn't discover any of my bulbs or strips afterwards so I had to manually go around and input the serial number of every bulb then create my rooms and all my routines again.

Relinked my hue account to my hue skill and now things are worse than ever.
She won't control anything at all now whereas before she would at least turn on and off the rooms.
I'm at my wit's end and basically what I want to know is if I do a hard reset on my Echo Dot will it forget all my old scenes, devices and groups so I can start from scratch or will it bring them all back once I log into my Amazon account?

Thanks.
P.S I've posted this on the Echo thread also because I need as much help as possible.

bren2001 · 07-12-2017 10:52am

I'm looking at the Hue B22 bulbs, am I right in saying the difference between the standard and golf shape bulb is that the standard is dimmable and gives you the white spectrum (warm, blue etc.) while the golf ball is only dimmable?

I'm aware they have different power and brightness ratings.

Standard: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambience-Personal-Wireless-Lighting/dp/B01BPDXARK/ref=lp_14351378031_1_10?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1512640156&sr=1-10

Golf: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-White-Single-Light-Works/dp/B0152WXI0E/ref=lp_14351378031_1_1?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1512639660&sr=1-1

AndyBoBandy · 07-12-2017 10:58am

bren2001 wrote: »

I'm looking at the Hue B22 bulbs, am I right in saying the difference between the standard and golf shape bulb is that the standard is dimmable and gives you the white spectrum (warm, blue etc.) while the golf ball is only dimmable?

I'm aware they have different power and brightness ratings.

Standard: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambience-Personal-Wireless-Lighting/dp/B01BPDXARK/ref=lp_14351378031_1_10?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1512640156&sr=1-10

Golf: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-White-Single-Light-Works/dp/B0152WXI0E/ref=lp_14351378031_1_1?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1512639660&sr=1-1

All hue bulbs are dimmable

White only are just that, warm white only (golf ball shaped)
White Ambiance are all whites (warm & cold) (non golf ball shaped)
White & Colour Ambiance are all whites as well as colour. (Non golf ball shaped)

Irish Wolf · 07-12-2017 12:22pm

I've a quick, probably stupid, question on the sensors. I've my hall & landing lights set up to turn on at sunset, switch off at sunrise. If I were to introduce a sensor into my set up, would it be possible to modify the routine to become motion sensing when it picks up motion when someone arrives home, but up until that point stick to the on/off routine?

OldBean · 07-12-2017 12:52pm

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

So folks, how can I help win over someone who really doesn't like WiFi bulbs. I put smart bulbs in the living room and the kitchen- all will be hue at some point this week. Currently the missus really doesn't like having to use voice to control them and she definitely won't pick up the phone to adjust them.

I'll pick up some motion sensors at some point but any tips on how to smooth their presence over will be greatly received.

The only way, in our experience, is to kit the whole house out. It's a pain having to jump between traditional and smart bulbs, and everyone just ends up using the switches. If there's a bulb in every room, and can be controlled by voice, you'll get used to it very fast.

If you're adding a Harmony system, it's handy to be able assign light setups to various buttons too.

Irish Wolf wrote: »

I've a quick, probably stupid, question on the sensors. I've my hall & landing lights set up to turn on at sunset, switch off at sunrise. If I were to introduce a sensor into my set up, would it be possible to modify the routine to become motion sensing when it picks up motion when someone arrives home, but up until that point stick to the on/off routine?

Yep, definitely doable.

flangemeistro · 08-12-2017 11:35am

flangemeistro wrote: »

Hey guys I know I've posted a few times about this issue but no one has been able to help me.
Alexa has gone to absolute ****e in the last month in relation to controlling my Hue lights, which is what I use it for 90% of the time.

The errors range from,
"Hue isn't responding"
"This device is disabled"
"This scene is disabled"
"Two devices share the same name"
"Hmmmmm I can't help you with that"

I'm ready to throw her out the window and the only reason I won't is because herself will be absolutely delighted and get to say I told you so.

And before anyone asks, no I don't have two devices or scenes with the same names,
No I don't have any devices or scenes disabled.

Anyway in desperation last night I reset my hue hub which was an absolute disaster as it wouldn't discover any of my bulbs or strips afterwards so I had to manually go around and input the serial number of every bulb then create my rooms and all my routines again.

Relinked my hue account to my hue skill and now things are worse than ever.
She won't control anything at all now whereas before she would at least turn on and off the rooms.
I'm at my wit's end and basically what I want to know is if I do a hard reset on my Echo Dot will it forget all my old scenes, devices and groups so I can start from scratch or will it bring them all back once I log into my Amazon account?

Thanks.
P.S I've posted this on the Echo thread also because I need as much help as possible.

HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH.
Cracked it at long last.
Had to go onto the Amazon Alexa website where you can forget all your devices and scenes as opposed to only disabling then in the app.
Opened up the Alexa app rediscovered all my devices and skills from my hue and Harmony and now Alexa is back to her best doing everything I ask.
To say I'm delighted is an understatement.

T-b0n3 · 08-12-2017 11:45am

I've noticed an issue since installing some additional lights last weekend.

In the downstairs hall I have 2 lights that are controlled by two switches but both switches control both lights.

Since adding hue bulbs the light switch doesn't control the lights consistently. Even after flicking it multiple times. Is this a common problem or what can I do to try and fix it?

There was never an issue before I added hue bulbs and if I don't fix it the OH will go mad!

iHungry · 15-12-2017 1:34pm

Hi, I got 4 of the Philips hue white bulbs. 1 in the hall, 1 in the landing, 1 in a bedroom and 1 in a conservatory. If I buy 1 remote can i switch each light on and off separately or do I need 4 remotes? Thanks

bren2001 · 15-12-2017 2:40pm

iHungry wrote: »

Hi, I got 4 of the Philips hue white bulbs. 1 in the hall, 1 in the landing, 1 in a bedroom and 1 in a conservatory. If I buy 1 remote can i switch each light on and off separately or do I need 4 remotes? Thanks

You can program one remote to do them all if on/off is all you want for each light.

Philips Hue FAQ

Comments