Add a lights hub to hubitat - Newbie

Yes, of course.

Yes, it's wise to use this (for zigbee which supports it) to reduce traffic on the mesh. It mostly works well and there are some optimisation options in HE to help address most issues.

All of this is easy with Hubitat!

Yes

In the above sample you can see several ways to set lights. In the yellow section I am setting a custom color (hue, saturation, and level). In the green section it is setting a default color, and in the blue section it is setting a white temperature based on the current mode.

There are more options but from this example you can see how flexible RM is.

Robert only said that there would be problems with Trådfri color bulbs. Probably related to the following:

Just use Hue or Gledopto with the Hue bridge and you will be fine.

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No, I was only pointing out a problem with the Ikea Trådfri bulbs. Philips Hue bulbs as well as every other third-party bulb I've used work fine--just the Trådfri ones don't. (There may be others, too, but this is the only one I've used or heard of that chose to implement their color model in this manner, which is not compatible with Hubitat's model.) This is true regardless of whether the bulbs are paired directly to Hubitat (as a regular Zigbee device) or used via the Hue Bridge integration. Color will still work in that latter case when controlled from Hue (but not color temperature, even though the bulbs support that on Ikea's software), but you won't get accurate reporting about the current color back into Hubitat.

Yep, that's the reason! :smiley:

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Are these the sengled bulbs you were talking about?

In some cases, one does not have a choice about using smart-bulbs.

In my situation, my home was built with MANY 18V relays that do the actual power switching to lighting circuits. The switches are all low-voltage momentary rockers that run back to the panels that hold all of those relays. Typically, the lighting circuits are for an entire room, so the only way to separate the lighting into groups is to use smart-bulbs and then group them.

Yeah, it sucks, but smart-bulbs are far less expensive than rewiring the entire lighting system in the house.

I have several SmartBulbs myself. Mostly from the early days of my adventure. They taught me exactly what I detailed above. Today, my family virtually never touches a light switch, so it would be rather easy for me to introduce a SmartBulb. But in those early days, all of us were used to using a switch, and only using a switch. It was so much grief for ME to run around and re-energize the bulbs. Ultimately I put them into lamp fixtures where I could unscrew the tiny knurled knob and toss it in a drawer. Those lamps simply can't be turned off any more, because the knurled knows are now lost.

Thus my advice stays the same, for Newbies: if you can avoid SmartBulbs.. avoid 'm. But clearly there are many that cannot avoid them.. and to those, I offer sympathy for being subjected to a cycle of 'fixing" light switches. :smiley:

Thought I would throw my two cents in here... first and foremost welcome to the HE community! It will solve your loose change and spare time issues for some time to come.

I generally also prefer dimmable smart switches instead of messing with bulbs. People do indeed tend to turn off the power to fixtures with smart bulbs in them. Sometimes you have no choice, though. To that end I have found a couple of handy things:

https://www.amazon.com/Lisols-Mind-Switch-Guards-Security/dp/B07RBTMG78/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=light+switch+cover&qid=1606770162&sr=8-11

and

I use a combination of Cree and Philips Hue bulbs. Cree where I am being cheap, Hue where I need color. I have lots of motion / mode rules that turn on only some lights on a circuit and sometimes in red. For instance, during the day if motion is detected in the bathroom go ahead and turn that light on a nice warm white at 100%. But at night let's just turn on one bulb and let's have it red at 25%. Can't do that with a smart switch.

All of my bulbs are on a Philips Hue hub because of the ZLL/ZHA repeating issues people have mentioned before, and the Hue hub is on a different zigbee channel than my HE. Generally I have found ZLL bulbs repeat other ZLL devices OK as long as they are kept powered on. But ZLL bulbs do not route ZHA devices very well at all, and create a mess of your mesh. The Sengled bulbs don't repeat, which is helpful in a mixed network. They will also not work on a Hue network.

For dedicated smart switches I use Lutron Caseta dimmers. They are proprietary and require their own hub but they are ROCK SOLID and - more important - do not require a neutral. Most others do. My house was built before the days of AC wiring and only the "new wing" of the house has modern wiring (though no knob and tube, thank goodness).

HE has excellent integration with both Lutron and Philips - but make sure you get the PRO version of the Lutron hub. All of my rules, modes, scenes, logic, etc., are controlled from the HE. The Lutron and Hue hubs are just a pass through. Whether the target device is on the Hue hub or the Lutron hub is essentially invisible once you get it set up. An added plus - the Lutron Pico remotes are pretty cool. Not only do they directly pair with a Lutron switch (mostly for 3-way switch installations) but they can be accessed from rules in HE and made to do fun things.