@bertabcd1234
Ah, thanks for that - I got a start pack with two colour bulbs and a pair of whites too. So I'll make sure to pair via the bridge. Another forum I was looking on really slammed Phillips Hue bulbs as being something for the masses rather than serious smart home enthusiasts. There were also concerns about zigbee and internet interference so I was concerned that there might be an underlying issue with them,
I'm not certain how I will manage to get the hubitat 3m from my wifi, though. My router is bang in the centre of the flat and the engineer used those skirting stables (ah, so technical) to affix the wire to the the wall. I guess Powerline plugs if it comes to it.
I'll have to see how the bulbs do with the thickness of the walls. I don't anticipate needing too many repeaters as the flat's, well, it's not a tiny flat but it's also not a large house if you know what I mean. In any case, I'd like some smart plugs.
I've mostly looked at Phillips and Aotec, so I should be ok there. I guess I should stay on the straight and narrow with regards to trvs. Hopefully by the time I need a thermostat, I've got a handle on how to use Hubitat.
That reminds me of something I forgot to say: you don't need to do any of this to use Hubitat. You can write your own apps (or drivers), but the stock options cover what I'd say staff assume most people want most of the time. If you venture into Rule Machine, you'll have to think a little like a programmer but still technically aren't writing code--but again, I wouldn't start there. For a look at the multitude of options available in the built-in Motion Lighting app, for example (mentioning this one since it's one I know of with a ton of options--and it's something people often overlook in favor of Rule Machine), you can see a bit in the docs: Motion Lighting Apps - Hubitat Documentation . All done for you--just choose the options you want. No code. >
I'm very relieved to hear this. I looked at some threads on Hive integration and it looked like people were having to use code, then I saw the post about the dev who send back Hubitat in favour of Samsung Smart things for a rental flat app and was concerned that I'd have to do a lot of creating/begging people to help me fix extremely basic things and not a lot of copypasta.
@simon.marshalsea Ah, yes, it does look to be an expensive hobby. My wife doesn't fully comprehend this yet.
@Navat604 I think my fear is that I'll get stuck on the hill in a state of early on-set technological dinosauring.