Hi all. I have ~150 LIFX devices across three seperate sites, and am hoping to lean on the experience of this community to inform my next step.
I use LIFX Switch (almost exclusively) to control LIFX lights, and I do this by instigating scenes that I’ve created and saved using the LIFX App.
The turn-on delay between pressing the Switch button and having the light(s) react is typically ~0.5sec or more which, for someone familiar with it, isn’t that much of an issue. For people unfamiliar with it, it’s an eternity.
Has anyone had experience adding Hubitat to their LIFX ecosystem to tighten this control loop, and if so how much did it improve?
Also, will I need to recreate all of my scenes in the Hubitat environment and re-associate each with the appropriate Switch button, or does this all happen automatically once I link the LIFX integration?
If I move across to Hubitat, is it fair to expect that I will be using the Hubitat ecosystem to build new scenes and ‘smarts’ in place of the LIFX App going forward?
And finally, if I temporarily lose internet connectivity, will Hubitat allow me to use Switch and smart bulbs as normal. If so, are there any provisos in terms of how the system was setup / configured in the first place (ie. scene must have been created via Hubitat rather than LIFX app).
Answer / vids / article links are all very much appreciated.
I have several Lifx bulbs and just tried turning them on and off via the Hubitat app - it is for sure less than .5 sec. When I try it via a Lutron Pico button, it seems to take a bit more time, but still feels like less than .5 sec.
Yes - there is a lot more that can be done within Hubitat, so you will likely want to do that.
Your bulbs will be connected locally to Hubitat, so it will not matter whether or not you have an internet connection. If you created the rule/scene within Hubitat, it will run locally to the bulb.
Thanks Sebastien for the quick reply. Great insight.
I would be very interested to also hear from someone who has similar hardware (ie. LIFX Switch and bulb linked to Hubitat).
As you may be aware, LIFX's parent company (buddy dot com) recently filed for bankruptcy. Although LIFX have stated this doesn't inherently mean they're unviable, I'm looking at how exposed I am if the back-end infrastructure is turned off.
With this in mind, is it possible to onboard new LIFX products into the Hubitat environment without a LIFX account? Or, is it the case that new products must be linked from the OEM app / cloud. If it is possible to onboard new / factory reset product directly into Hubitat, is there provision for updating firmware on the IoT devices? Again, I'm specifically interested in LIFX gear for the moment.
Hi,
I have a similar setup to you. Just finished the install in a new house with 80 downlights and 20 4-key switches. I have two Elevation C7's and a Home Assistant install and am about to try using the Hubitat for my control. Expect to get time in the next day or so. I would expect firmware updates without a LIFX account to be an issue.
I am located in Victoria, Australia and will come back when I know more.
Thanks Alan — Best of luck! If you come up against any curly commissioning hurdles, please take note what they were and how you resolve them as I'd be very happy to learn from your experience. I can recommend an app called 'Light DJ Pro' if you're looking for something to run party mode for you. It's lightening quick, which is one of the things motivating my search for reduced control latency.
Thread-bombing: FYI, I've had trouble updates Switches to the latest FW (v3.90) and am stuck on v3.82. The latest version enables backlight dimming, and a bunch of other long sort after features. Also, I have found that onboarding via the LIFX app goes a lot smoother if you have aeroplane mode enabled. If you have multiple SSIDs, disable auto-join for all but the one you're adding lights to and that will further simplify the process. I use Ubiquiti UniFi gear running a dedicated 2.4GHz SSID for LIFX; which may need some back-end tweaking if I start using Hubitat (or similar) to centrally control devices across multiple SSIDs... and now we're in the weeds.
Again, best of luck and looking forward to reading of the results.
Great. I have played with LIFX for quite a while - started back in the kick starter days - but up until recently I have been too tied up at work. I must say however retirement doesn't seem to have given me more time!
I also use Ubiquiti - DM pro with 5 access points. Have had troubled setting up a separate LAN for LIFX but will get back to that soon. For now I am trying to come to grips with the 4-key switch in Hubitat. No doubt I will get there but it's a bit of a learning curve.
I understand that they must be linked from the OEM app / cloud.
I didn’t know that their parent company went bankrupt - It’s really unfortunate the number of smart home companies that are being impacted by the current economic situation…
