Inovelli blue series switch with Phillips hue

Double click the "update firmware" button on the Blue's Device page.

Double clicking that button is not typically necessary when updating a device, but Inovelli designed it that way since they had beta versions available for a while - it was intended to prevent people from unknowingly updating to a beta.

As with all such updates, you can monitor the update progress in a Live Logs window.

More about dimmers and Hue Switches, since no one here seems to want to believe?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hue/comments/c63r8o/can_a_regular_dimmer_switch_be_used_with_a/

I'm not sure who your comment is directed at, but nobody here is disputing that putting any smart bulb(s) on a dumb dimmer is a terrible idea.

But Ii you put the Blue in Smart Bulb Mode, you can set it up as either a switch or dimmer - SBM ensures the smart bulb is getting constant load power either way.

One of my Blues is set up as a dimmer with SBM for 2 Hue bulbs that are directly bound to it. Everything works great.

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I am not sure what is going on with the switch, but now I lost all control from the physical switch. I can not reset it or turn it on or off. I havr been trying to set it up to for over a month, and it it just working for me. I think I am Judy going to return them dnd exit for the 140018090- Walmart #915 ve 2-1 switch when it comes available

So when you dim your Hue's with that switch, it shows that it dimmed in the app as well? He's experiencing blinking, which on every Hue Bulb I've worked with is when it's not getting full load.

The only way you can use a dimmer switch is to only use the on and off function and to keep the dimmer portion set to full power, which isn’t really using it as a dimmer switch, is it?
Source: Do Philips Hue Bulbs Work with Dimmer Switches? Things to Know!

Again, no one here is disputing that putting any smart bulb (Hue or otherwise) on a dumb dimmer is a bad idea, nor is anyone here advocating doing anything like that.

We're talking about utilizing a smart switch's "smart-bulb mode" feature, which numerous smart-switch manufacturers offer (including Inovelli and Zooz). SBM ensures the smart switch (whether it's acting as a smart switch or dimmer) is always passing full 100% load power to the smart-bulb load. In that case, dimming is done via smarts (i.e. hub-based rules or direct association / direct binding), not by manipulating the actual % of load power.

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Again? ok well it's not apparent in anything I read. I still have the same opinion, not a good idea on Hue bulbs and I think going outside their eco system for control of dimming or even turning it on and off, not a good idea. And if it's blinking, all it takes is one time and it will fry the lights.

Wire it up, cover it up, slap one of these on and a Hue dimmer, done.

Hue has a robust, documented, widely used API (actually two of them, the second/mostly-improved version still in development). Any control, including dimming or on/off, as suggested above is done via this fully supported API and effectively done within the "Hue ecosystem." I do not see anything wrong with this approach.

As a couple of us have now mentioned, the main thing is to avoid actually dimming the load to the Hue bulbs with a real dimmer. "Smart bulb mode" that a few brands offer is one way to avoid this. It sounds you like you may not be familiar with this setup. The in-wall switch/dimmer is, then, basically a hardwired remote (button device) you can use to either create automations on Hubitat that perform the actions you want or, using a feature some devices offer in their "smart bulb mode," mirror their internally-tracked (but never actually applied) level or on/off state to the real devices using a purpose-built app like Mirror.

(I'll ignore things like Zigbee Binding, which isn't possible in the above setup and would be the one option that doesn't use the API, unlike the above.)

But the blinking is certainy a problem. The "no neutral" setup is the most likely culprit, and I certainly agree that finding the cause is of that is a good idea. An added dummy load like the "bypass" Inovelli recommends is one option, but if you can actually get it wired with a netural, that is always best.

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ok I get it, but what about performing the dimming action on the Blues, does it show up on the App that it's dimming? Or is it not reflected?

The 2 homes of mine that I've done I've just been so happy to remove all the stupid 5 Gang, 6 Gang switch plates I can't imagine wanting to keep switches.

Yes, if you set it up the way I described above (e.g., with an app like Button Controller or Mirror). But the fact that you have a Blue Series device on the wall isn't relevant here; you could do the same with any device, like a Pico remote, a Red Series switch/dimmer, or whatever you want. (OK, it's actually a little bit relevant if you take the Mirror approach, as you'd be using its internal state that a regular button device doesn't have--I don't do that and only use the button events to perform my desired actions. Besides possible ease of use, seeing the state on the LED bar on the dimmer/switch is probably the advantage of doing it that way; I don't care to since I can see what I need to from the bulbs themselves. :slight_smile: )

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That's one way to skin the cat. I just prefer to use mains power instead of battery power whenever possible, and switches are a darn convenient place to take advantage of readily available mains power.

And if I need to work on the load wiring or fixture, I just need to pull the switch's air gap instead of having to kill the entire circuit when the fixture is hard-wired.

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