I have a fair amount of home automation stuff in my house but one thing I’ve never ventured into is light bulbs. There are times where I’d like to change colours on certain bulbs for example (ie. Christmas) but all my lights are controlled by light switches (Z-Wave).
What happens (typically) with connected light bulbs when there is a switch turning them on and off ... do they still work? Do they remember their settings or default back to white or another color? Yes I plan to order some of them but was wondering what to expect for behaviour ... and unfortunately keeping the light switches on all the time then means I’ll need another “remote switch” or something to actually control them (which in my household wouldn’t go over well).
Thanks for answering what is probably a silly question
I do not believe that Hubitat supports WIFI light bulbs, they have to be zwave or zigbee. I use Sengled brand bulbs. They are recommended on this forum because they do not repeat. Repeating light bulbs cause more problems than they are worth. If you have an Echo, the Echo will control WIFI light bulbs.
They still work. For a programmable bulb, it will likely return to a default setting on turning off using the switch rather than a bulb command. This is not hard and fast - it depends on the actual bulb.
You could set up a rule that sets the color on the bulb when the associated switch is turned on. This; however, may not be available on all bulbs. For example, on my bulbs, there are four attributes:
color : {hue=0, saturation=0, level=0}
colorMode : CT
colorName : Skylight
colorTemperature : 6500
If color mode is "CT", then you would set the colorTemperature using the attribute. If "COLOR", you would set the Hue, Saturation, and Level on the bulb.
I have 12 color Feit bulbs re-flashed with Tasmota. In HE they fully work via Tasmota Device Manager. When these power back on, they are in the previous state of color/level. For the most part I keep them on and turn them off with routines, motion apps, etc. I also have a lot of Sage on/off 'switches' that are basically two buttons.
Hope that helps. I have 37 total Tasmota switches/bulbs/3-ways/dimmers. It is fantastic. All the z-wave drama I've been reading does not exist in my home!
This is your biggest issue w/smart bulbs, not the technology side. People.
If your family continues to turn the devices the bulbs are in on and off using existing dumb switches, or the switch on a lamp, you'll end up w/not-so-smart bulbs. Lamps are the most troublesome, as they are used to turning them on and off via the switch on the lamp - changing that behavior can be well nigh impossible w/some people. (Some people = my family.)
So plan on getting both smart bulbs and smart switches for bulbs mounted in the ceiling or sconces, etc. For lamps you'll need a separate button or voice control or both. The button must be more convenient to use than the switch on the lamp to get family members to use it. If you enable voice control via Alexa or Google Home you'll have to train them on how to use it hope that they actually do use the button or voice all the time. Failing that your smart bulbs will get turned off in the normal way, won't have power, and won't be useful at all in that state.
If these Z-Wave switches are also dimmers, definitely do not put smart bulbs of any kind on them. First few times someone find the bulb, they can be permanently damaged. Typically, it’s the bulbs radio that I’d damaged by dimmers.
Thanks .. yeah this is pretty much why I haven't used smart bulbs to date. Every light switch in my house is Z-Wave controlled and I'm the only one that thinks that's cool to have haha
Lights can be a hard sell with the family, especially spouses. My wife started to come around when I setup the washer and dryer finished notifications. Recently added ability to ask Alexa if the dishwasher is clean or dirty and it gives you the correct answer. That one is a big hit.
