what are the best/most cost effective RGB bulbs? should i do wifi or zigbee? zwave?? i had a few GE Bulbs and they worked well just switched the lights over to a zwave switch.
i really want a wide range of colors/hues
please let me know your thoughts.
I like the OSRAM and Sylvania as options for "officially" supported RGB. See below for a list:
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Supported_Devices
Zigbee and Z-Wave are very similar in features.
Wifi - limited support and almost always through custom device handlers/applications. Example: TP-Link Integration.
Beware of the panacea of "alexa compatible" wifi devices. That has ZERO to do with use on Hubitat or other Smart Home implementations.
Cost: if cost is within $5 for a device, I would choose (in order) Zigbee, Z-wave, Wifi.
I really like the Sengled Element Color Plus bulbs. They work very reliably and care pair directly to the Hubitat Hub without any fear of them 'screwing up the zigbee mesh network'. They are intentionally NOT Zigbee repeaters. So, if someone powers them off via a switch, there will be no impact to the rest of your zigbee network.
Another popular option is to use the Philips Hue lighting system. This integrates with Hubitat via a local LAN connection between the Hubitat hub and the Hue bridge. The Philips bulbs are pricier than most options, but are also considered some of the best in terms of brightest and color. Note: I have not used Philips personally.
Yeah, those are good. I don't get why more manufacturers don't wake up and STOP making bulbs repeaters...
One complication is color control. All of the bulbs have fully programmable RGB parameters (usually hue and saturation) along with brightness and color temperature. However, the dashboard itself does not support a color wheel type color selector. Options are rule machines with buttons or a button app/device set of some sort (I have one that provided 8 colors and 8 color temperatures, it can be easily modified to customize the colors.). You can then define the buttons to your desired colors. You can even create images of the colors and use these as the background of the button.
Have you tried the Color Bulb Template in the Dashboard?
I had not seen this being added. Better, but I really prefer a color wheel (ala SmartThings). It would also be a lot better if the buttons at the bottom were programmable (are they?). For now I will stay with my 8 colors and 8 color temperature buttons.
so if i had the bulbs that are not repeaters and someone turns off the light. how quickly do they reconnect?
i remember my old GE bulbs most of the time needed to be repaired.
My Sengled bulbs have always reconnected almost immediately. I’ve never had to re-pair any of them. YMMV.
Went with those. Thanks.
i've buy 4 Sengled E11-N1EA. They where easy to pair, i pair them one at the time. Work great till a power outage during the night. Even if the bulb where off, they turned on when the power came back!!! I simulate multiple power outage and they always turn on... They do not and cannot use their last state. Sengled support confirm that this is a know problem. I had to return them.
Where i live i loose electricity once per 2 week.
Philips hue have the possibility to be configure to use the last state in case of a power outage. Philips hue need their hub.
Hank bulb who have a built in driver in Hubitat and can be pair directly with Z-Wave Plus also remembers and goes back to its previous on/off state after power failure.
This really isn't so much a known problem, but rather a design choice that almost every single smart bulb manufacturer has made as well. Since most people expect a light bulb to behave like a normal light bulb when powered on, manufacturers have defaulted the behavior to be "lights on" when power is applied to the bulbs. This is because many users want a manual method of being able to turn on their lights in the event that their smart home controller is dead. You can simply toggle the power switch to the bulbs at the wall or lamp to get the lights to come on.
I think smart bulbs should have the option to change this behavior. That would be ideal. Philips Hue just released this functionality within the past few months.
I am glad you've found some other solutions that will meet your needs.
The TP-Link LB120 and LB130 have four presets and the ability to have the system power on to the preset value. You can program each preset from 1 to 100% level and select which preset turns on when power is applied to the bulb. NOT PERFECT, but CT 2700 and Level 1% is pretty dim. (Note there is a Hubitat custom integration for TP-Link.)
You could also create a group in Amazon or in Hubitat that turns all lights off (or on). Alexa turn off light group. You still wake up, but at least you do not have to spend time trying to turn each light on.
I'm new to smart home. I'm excited to start building this thing up. Got my Echo dots, got my Ecobee, got a Meeross smart garage opener, got a Eufy doorbell, soon to order a Ultraloq U-bolt pro. I'm definitely going with Hubitat for a hub after many hours of reading and YouTube. My question for this group is: have I made a mistake by stocking up on these Wiz Connected by Phillips wifi smart bulbs? I tried some for a few months and was super happy with quality and a recent update that allowed me to control colors and scenes through Alexa. I've now come to discover that Zigbee seems to be much more favored with Hubitat users. Any guidance you can give me?? Thanks!
Welcome!
Are the Wiz bulbs WiFi? If so then you may want to look into Zigbee or Z-Wave. You can take a look at the supported devices page (I only buy stuff listed here).
Hubitat Compatible Devices List
I've now come to discover that Zigbee seems to be much more favored with Hubitat users
Well that's kinda dependant on what protocol you are using. Where you can mix and match Zigbee/Zwave devices remember they are a mesh. So the more of one you have the greater your mesh is. I personally am all Zigbee and can highly recommend Sengled Element Color Plus bulbs with HE.
My rule of thumb is that straight up white bulbs are Z-wave Plus (mostly) and color is Zigbee (again mostly). I just prefer the color protocol of the Zigbee platform for a number of reasons. Over all the Zigbee devices respond much faster on my Hubitat than my Z-wave ones do.
They are wifi. My understanding is that "wifi" is profanity in Hubitat community. I was just really impressed with the quality and reliability and price of these bulbs. I just now learned about the difficulty of integrating into hubs. If they exist in my Alexa and IFTTT account, I should still be able to include them via those clouds. Am I correct?
ehhhhhhhh I'm going to put it to you straight. Knowing what I know now I would stick close to that Supported Devices page that I posted. You could do the whole IFTTT/Alexa/Virtual Device route but, again personal preference, it would probably make more headaches for you in the long run.
WiFi has it's place. To me that's not my smart home.
Thanks so much for the info. So the answer to my original question, is yes, these wifi bulbs were not a great investment. My head is spinning as to compatibility of all these devices: zigbee, zwave, wifi, bluetooth. Alexa vs Google. Smartthings vs Hubitat. This forum has really helped to educate me. And your reply has been very helpful. I now have some thinking (or waiting) to do.
It isn't really, we and through the community support many WIFI devices, the issue with many of the inexpensive wifi devices is that many only operate via a cloud interface, and many don't even publish any sort of data on how to integrate with them.
So, wifi in and of itself isn't a bad word here, its the cheap wifi devices that are...
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