Looking for ceiling lighting recommendations

I'd like to replace my recessed ceiling lights with non-Wifi smart versions. I found the "GIDERWEL" lights shown in the picture. Can someone recommend any Hubitat compatible 4" lighting similar to this?

-Thanks

Philips Hue, but you will need a Hue bridge/hub and the Hue Integration in Hubitat.

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How similar?

Are you interested only in RGBWW lights?

The fixtures in the photo screw into a pre-existing, standard E26 bulb socket. Would you consider fixtures that are wired directly?

Have you considered what to do with the wall switch currently wired into the circuit? If the switch is turned off, the smart fixtures in the ceiling won’t work at all.

In other words, can you elaborate on what’s very important to you vs. what’s not important at all? That’ll impact which devices you consider purchasing.

While in-wall dimmers are really the best option for overhead lights to keep local control at the switch, that is not a good option for colored lights.

One approach is to use individual smart bulbs like you posted, and open the switch box to bypass the switch to keep them always powered on. Then you can add a smart Zwave dimmer in the box, connect it to line and neutral, but do not use the physical switch terminals for the lights. Then you can use the switch as only a logical switch used in rules to match the lights to the dimmer level. You can also use double taps to change colors, but it would be limited to two options.

So, you can do the same thing, but use a line powered in-wall scene controller instead of a dimmer, to have many more button options to change levels and colors from the wall.

And some money.... but yes, that is also the route I went... Just not coloured in my case... just the ambience option for softer lighting than straight white. I used colour bulbs in various lamps and low-hanging pendant lights that drop down from the ceiling above the Kitchen bench.

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I just asked my neighbor who replaced all of his ceiling lighting with non-smart lighting and he said they would have to be hardwired. Which is beyond what I want to do myself. I'll need to get an estimate from an electrician. So I'm looking for something that can be hard wired, non-Wi-Fi, RGB and temperature changable. And of course Hubitat compatible.

-Thanks

I was wondering how these individual lights work, and if they can be grouped. I would imagine that's a necessity. So for example if I say Alexa turn on the kitchen lights, then the 4 ceiling lights in the kitchen would light.

I also asked my neighbor who replaced all of his ceiling lights with non-smart lighting, and he said they would have to be hard wired. Something else to think about.

-Thanks

They don’t have to be hardwired.

The photo you posted is an example of smart lights that, as I said, screw into the bulb socket that’s already in the ceiling, assuming the ceiling already has recessed lighting fixtures that take bulbs with an E26 screw-in base.

Perhaps your neighbor knows more about what’s going on in your ceiling than we do here, you haven’t shared any details about your current fixtures.

So in your case, maybe fully replacing the fixtures is required. Maybe not, we have no way of knowing here without more information.

ETA: As mentioned in other threads, you don’t have to repeat the same information when replying to more than one person in this thread. Everyone can see each post that you make.

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Yes, hard-wired is what you are doing in the switch box. Remove the two wires from the switch and connect them together with a wire nut. Now the lights are hard-wired. You also now have a box to put a scene switch in and connect to power, assuming you have live and neutral in the switchbox to power it.

When I did a full renovation a few years ago, I split my ceiling lights into area circuits with separate switches, so I don't need to isolate individual lights with smart bulbs. I also don't use color, so it was easy just to replace the existing switches with smart Zwave dimmers.

My neighbor, who replaced all of his ceiling lights, said they would have to be hard wired. I think he would know. I was considering the screw-in bulbs showed in that photo I posted before I spoke to my neighbor. Of course it's not that simple!

Thanks. I don't want to get into the electrical aspect of it. I just want smart lights. I need to speak to my neighbor and get more details. Not being an electrician, I don't know what my options are. I'll probably get an estimate after I have an idea of what lights I want to go with. Which according to my neighbor would be hardwired.

Maybe he knows what your current ceiling fixtures are like. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe they’re exactly the same as his, maybe they aren’t.

You haven’t said anything here about what’s currently in your ceiling.

And you haven’t mentioned how your neighbor made that determination for you. Did he look at your ceiling fixtures and how they’re wired? Did he make an assumption?

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Not everyone who does their own electrical work knows what they’re doing:

Note that I’m not actually suggesting your neighbor is an idiot or has done anything remotely like what’s shown in the photos above.

Just that personally, I wouldn’t believe everything my neighbor tells me simply because he has done similar work in his own house.

But again perhaps he, and you, know more about how he made his recommendation than what you’ve shared here (which is devoid of any details).

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Oh, I neglected to mention that our houses are only 2 years old and mostly the same, in the same development. We share a lot of the same fixtures, lights are identical. He replaced his because they are too bright! I thought it would be nice to be able to dim them a bit, and also control the white and color.

Incidentally, I would have used masking tape in the circuit breaker. :slight_smile: