Newbie question on RGB bulbs

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#1

Hi, new HE user here. I bought some cheap RGB Zigbee bulbs to experiment with, only $12. When looking at the device from the dashboard, the temperature field shows a limited range of 3000-6000. But I can click on a custom color in the palette (dark blue, red, etc) and the bulbs respond. So it seems these bulbs are capable of producing custom colors, but the bulb driver does accept values for "temperature" below 3000. Do more expensive bulbs offer the ability to set temperatures below 3000? The reason I ask is because as far as I can tell if I want to create a rule I have only two ways to set the color - pick from the limited colors in the drop-down menu, or specify the temperature.

Here are the bulbs I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08N4LH7GD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any help appreciated, thanks.

#2

That sounds like an artifact of the dashboard tile you’re using, rather than anything inherent to the bulb. What driver are you using? If it’s the generic zigbee rgbgw driver, you should see something like this when you click on the device to look at settings:

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#3

Also, that bulb says it handles color temps down to 2700. Different bulbs support different ranges, but generally speaking, Hubitat doesn’t know what the bulb actually supports, and will allow you to enter ranges the bulb can’t actually produce.

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#4

FWIW, Sengled RGBW bulbs go down to 2000K.

#5

I misspoke in my original post. The dashboard temperature field allows a range that goes down to about 1500. However, when I use that field the bulb stops responding below 3000. Between 3000 and 6500 the bulb changes color as expected. But choose a value of 2400 for instance and the bulb will go to its lower limit of 3000. In other words using the temperature field I can only choose between various shades of white. But if I use the palette instead I can set any color I want with no problems, for instance deep blue, red, green, etc.

I ran the "discover devices" routine and am using the driver it provided. My dashboard tile settings look like this:

dash1
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If there are other/better drivers I'm unaware. The bulb I'm using is generic, I can't find a manufacturer's name on it.

#6

Thanks, I have a feeling this is a limitation of the generic bulb I'm using, so perhaps I need to spend a bit more and get a better supported bulb like Sengled.

#7

A side question.... I want a rule that turns off my bulb at sunrise. I see no way to do that other than to set the dimming level to 0%. In other words there is no option "turn device off". So I set the dimming level to 0% in my rule and found it didn't work. The bulb did not turn off. I then discovered I had to set it to 1% to effectively turn it off. That's OK, it's good enough for me, but is there a better way? Or is this again a limitation of my particular bulb?

#8

What app are you using to turn the bulb off at sunrise? I would recommend using Simple Automation Rules for that. It can turn off the bulb at sunrise.

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#9

In terms of the color temperature limitation, that’s probably true. The color picker issue is probably a limitation of the dashboard tiles, rather than anything about the bulb or driver. I very rarely use the Hubitat dashboards, because I find them too clunky, so I can’t speak to it authoritatively. (I use HomeKit with the Homebridge plugin for dashboards.)

If you have specific color combinations you’d like to be able to quickly trigger, I’d suggest creating scenes for each color combination you want to use, and then make individual dashboard buttons to trigger them.

#10

Thanks for the help, I may try the scene method as you suggested.
It didn't occur to me to fall back and try using a simple automation rule, so I did that now but for some reason it doesn't work. Here's what it looks like:

simple_rule
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When I click "done" nothing happens, the bulb does not turn on (it's 11:30AM here, so it should trigger). I tried it both with and without an "off time" specified, neither worked.

I forgot to mention, I see no activity for this rule in the logs, so I guess it's not triggering. No idea why.

#11

It will only trigger at sunrise and sunset, so you won't know if it works until the next time that happens.

#12

Many of us who use smart bulbs choose to implement them on another hub like the Hue but control them from HE. Zigbee bulbs use the ZLL profile, whereas most sensors use ZHA. When you have Zigbee bulbs trying to act as routers on a mixed network they can cause the mesh to behave poorly. (Ironically the Sengled bulbs do not route at all so this issue does not occur with them.). Moving them to their own hub (and Zigbee channel) helps resolve this issue and seems to make the whole thing work more smoothly.

#13

Can you add non-Hue bulbs to the Hue bridge and have them be picked up by Hubitat?

#14

As long as they are Hue-bridge compatible, yes. I have a ton of Cree bulbs on my Philips bridge. The Sengled bulbs are NOT compatible with the Hue hub.

#15

The bulbs you bought appear to be Hue compatible. The Ecosmart zigbee bulbs sold at Home Depot are Hue Compatible. Sylavania and Sengled Zigbee bulbs are not.

#16

Is there a list of compatible bulbs?

Also is there a benefit for adding non-hue bulbs to the hue hub instead of the Hubitat directly?

#17

I found a bunch of lists online but none for bulbs specifically on the Hue website. However, I know the Cree bulbs do work just fine... though they are definitely at the low end :slight_smile:

The same mesh network issues I mentioned in my post can happen with ZLL bulbs in general, not just Hue brand bulbs. So yes, there is an advantage for moving all of your ZLL bulbs (especially those that repeat) off HE. I should note this is not an HE-specific issue...

#18

You can also use a second HE instead of a Hue hub. That's how I have my system setup. All of my Zigbee lights and some repeaters are on my original hub and everything else is on a newer C5 HE. They have been rock solid since moving them to their own mesh.

#19

@gamerkingfaiz, personally I find the Hue app's scene management and color picker UI more pleasant to use than the Hub versions.

Almost all my lights are controllable through the Hue app, which talks to diyHue, which drives my "real" hue hub and a bunch of other lights of various types.

I have a project in the works that enhances diyHue so that it can control any light attached to the Hubitat via the maker API. Will post as soon as it's ready for release!

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#20

@zranger1 I had never heard of diyHue before this. I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure what the actual benefit is of using it with a Hue hub. Hue already supports local control, so what do you get out of using it in that case?