So I've tried TPlink and Nanlo Leaf matter bulbs, and the latter were more reliable, but still less than ideal. eg randomly not doing as commanded.
So yeah, I've started buying Hue Bulbs again, despite their astronomical cost, they just do what they are told, when they are told to do it.
Oh, and one other thing I found is the Hue bulbs are the only ones that work when it's 40c outside during our hot Aussie summers, LIFX, TPlink and Nano leaf all fail and die after a few days of hot weather.
I have what I used to think was a ridiculous number of Hue lights (around 60), but I have had the newest of them for over 3 years and the oldest for 7. During this time I have had 1 bulb failure, have never had to reset or rejoin any of them, and can remember 1 time that I had to issue a command twice. I bought most of them on sale at Costco, and when Lowe’s was getting rid of them.
They just work, I've never had a problem w/Hue lights. THey are worth the "Hue tax." If you have to use smart bulbs, and want 100% reliability, hard to argue against them.
I’m using this with the official Hubitat integration. hue bulbs are best run via their own hub. Then you get firmware upgrades and they don’t stuff up your Zigbee network.
I've flip-flopped a couple of times, but have been on the hue bridge and Coco-Hue combo over the last 2 years or so for most of my automation and control.... But I also do a couple of things via z2m, Node-Red and HA... just for my Hue Tap Dials.... I do appreciate the alternative avenue to control my lights if one is down for any reason.... With the Hue App and Google Home being some of those alternatives....
I have never made it more than about two minutes into one of his vids before shutting it off. I find the man to be an insufferable â– â– â– . Does he - in fact - present anything worth watching or does all he do is bash products and play with special effects - because he can?
Thank you. As for me, there at least seem to be quite a few others on YT that behave like normal men and present things in a manner I understand. That, and my fellow HE-folks have been great. Moving to new digs in about two weeks and will be starting with a nice fresh house to automate!
Bulbs are connected to 2 Hue Bridges. Have used CoCoHue for years (now the official integration), and Bridges are connected to Apple Home as well.
This was a Christmas item that year (3-pack of color bulbs and a bridge for $79 or $89). They do seem to always carry some Hue inventory at Costco.com (currently 100watt white ambiance and rgbw bulbs, 75W white ambiance, recessed rgbws, Hue play, and Hue dimmers). I have a mix of Lutron Aurora rotary dimmers and Zooz dimmers for wall control. The rotary dimmers are my favorite (connected to the Hue bridge) because they work incredibly well and feel like an actual rotary dimmer.
I'll jump on the fanwagon. I've always been a fan of Hue and it's reliability, not the pricing of course. I've had it for 10 years and have only had one odd single failure. A Hue go stops responding after a short time. I paired it directly to Hubitat to test it and got the same behavior. As soon as I remove it, it comes on. It still works as a stand alone and I use it as a portable light. Several of my original bulbs have been retired in favor of the higher lumen ones.
I've recommended it to many individuals that I don't feel are tech savvy enough for Hubitat and have not heard a single complaint(outside of cost). I put one in my mother-in-laws and have not regretted it.
Due to zigbee radio woes and the official integration I moved everything compatible to the hue bridge and all the hue sensors and dimmers I had directly paired to Hubitat. Another plus is they are available locally at Home Depot.
Hmmm - There's a lot of love for Hue there and I might have to have another look at it. I've a hub kicking around somewhere that's about 5 years old (not sure which version). All of my lights are controlled by Z Wave modules behind light switches and my two niggles are:
dim isn't dim enough. I've tried calibrating the dimmer modules with various models of LED bulb and LED fitting and they're too bright on level 1
response times. They take too long to come on and there's a noticeable delay, probably from the electronics managing the in rush current.
However I just hate the idea of using Zigbee and would hate to introduce a problem that I don't already have, as I'm using channels 1, 6 and 11 for separation between my Unifi Access points.
I do the same, 1, 6, 11 with Unifi. Lots of ZigBee on 15, Hue on 20. Most of my switches are z-wave, the majority of sensors are ZigBee, a scattering of ZigBee smart plugs as repeaters. Also a few Wiz WiFi bulbs and Kasa plugs for seasonal outdoors. Everything plays well with no interference, 200+ devices. As for Hue; I fought the Hue tax and embraced Sengled, after a couple of years of increasingly frequent power cycling I gave in and replaced them with Hue hub and bulbs. Not a single issue ever with Hue in the last few years. 12 working and reset Sengleds for free to anyone that wants to pay shipping and $10 for my trouble.
And Matter, just too fiddly for now. I have a couple of devices to play with but nothing I want to use for now.
If you have to use smart bulbs, and want 100% reliability, hard to argue against them.
