Phillips Hue Light Kits

[Halon451]

I've been seeing this around for some time, and never really paid much attention to them. So today I decided to get online and take a closer look. On the surface they look like they're pretty cool (can't help but picturing someone setting up a romantic evening with their sweetheart, walk in, tap a button on their mobile device, stereo cues up Barry White and lights take on a soft warm reddish/orange glow, lol). But in all seriousness I've never given my lights too much consideration - they're either on or they're off. I switched to the LED variety not long ago because they run at least just as efficiently as the CFL's but claim to last much longer. And they require no warm-up time like the CFL's often do.

Anyway, back to the Hue lights. Wondering if anyone has them? Are they cool enough to pay the money? Do you use them often? I could see some real benefit in installing them in a dedicated home theater room where you tie in light control with your remote's functionality in turning on the appropriate A/V gear without having to incorporate more complicated Crestron or AMX control systems, etc., that would require additional RF to IR adapters for the electronics that don't have RF built in. So you start movies and lights go down like they do in a real theater..minimal cabling or programming involved. In a standard living room... dunno. Maybe cool at first to play around with all the colors but maybe the novelty wears off quickly.

Thoughts?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Changing LED light color is imo a novelty and a bit of vanity
But I think the concept of remotely controlled stuff, including bulbs is good and I dabbed a bit into it here:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/a-small-step-towards-smart-home-smart-bulb.106742/

 

[Halon451]

Interesting thread; went into many other facets of "smart home" tech such as thermostats and whatnot. For the record I'm a fan of automation and as a photographer/videographer on the side, cloud-storage has been both a game-changer and a life-saver at times so I'm not opposed to it. I'm running my living room lamps off a simple RF receiver that plugs into the wall behind the couch and have a little one button remote on my coffee table that switches them on and off. I've often wandered over to the thermostat section in Home Depot to look at the fancy smart thermostats and have almost bought one but decided to keep running my old 7-day programmable until it craps out on me. I do love the idea of remote or app control locks though.. imagine never getting locked outside again, or if you're away at work and your SO needs to be let in the house because she doesn't have the key (this has happened a few times to me mind you). Simply unlock the house from your desk at work and voila. That to me would provide far greater value than cool and colorful lights lol.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Interesting thread; went into many other facets of "smart home" tech such as thermostats and whatnot. For the record I'm a fan of automation and as a photographer/videographer on the side, cloud-storage has been both a game-changer and a life-saver at times so I'm not opposed to it. I'm running my living room lamps off a simple RF receiver that plugs into the wall behind the couch and have a little one button remote on my coffee table that switches them on and off. I've often wandered over to the thermostat section in Home Depot to look at the fancy smart thermostats and have almost bought one but decided to keep running my old 7-day programmable until it craps out on me. I do love the idea of remote or app control locks though.. imagine never getting locked outside again, or if you're away at work and your SO needs to be let in the house because she doesn't have the key (this has happened a few times to me mind you). Simply unlock the house from your desk at work and voila. That to me would provide far greater value than cool and colorful lights lol.

There is value in smarter thermostats, besides remote control. Things like ability to automatically switch between heat/cooling modes and automatic air cycling without turning on ether. Humidity control are just a few to name.
I hear you regarding getting locked out while forgetting keys. Since I moved here, I installed this deadbolt lock and I love it:
http://www.schlage.com/en/home/products/BE469NXCAMFFF.html
You don't require to connect to remote controller, but using pin to enter home is much easier and I could change the pin as needed anytime.

 

[pewternhrata]

I don't have lights or outlets, I would like to but it's still pricey (for me) the thought of being able to tell alexa to turn on/off/dim has an interesting factor.
I have a smart thermostat, and harmony hub, both hooked up with alexa, rarely use them. Instead of telling alexa to turn on the tv, I still use the remote. Even as often as I have my phone in my hand, I rarely use any apps to control any devices in my house. I'm still intrigued as of to what else I COULD do. I like the idea of the door bell cameras, cool factor and very practical for security. Not getting locked out of my own house would be a plus. Syncing remote start to my alarm clock in the winter, why push a button lol.

 

[rojo]

@pewternhrata You might be interested in the bias lighting thread as well. So far no one has shown off responsive lighting like Philips Ambilight or DreamScreen or similar, although I'd probably end up with some DreamScreen lighting if I ever hit the lottery and money suddenly becomes no object. For now, enjoy that thread full of $20 backlighting.

 

[lovinthehd]

Makes me wonder if something like this could be controlled by my Harmony remote? Hmmmm

 

[Halon451]

Makes me wonder if something like this could be controlled by my Harmony remote? Hmmmm

The newer harmony smart remotes are compatible with the Phillips set. I don't know if the $250 price tag is worth gaining that feature alone. I'll just keep using my old trusty Harmony One until it dies then I'll think about that.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Makes me wonder if something like this could be controlled by my Harmony remote? Hmmmm

If it has IR remote and I guess that one is not in the database, but I bet you could make learn the codes and make map functions and/or make macros/

 

[rojo]

Makes me wonder if something like this could be controlled by my Harmony remote? Hmmmm

You can. The legacy software has these light strips accessible in Home Automation --> Light Controllers. Those 44-key LED controllers are recognized by Harmony thusly:

Brand: SUPERNIGHT
Model: SMD5050

The 24-key LED controllers can also be added without needing to be learned:

Brand: APA
Model: APA 1616

By the way, the 44-key controlled kit you found is a bit cheaper here.

 

[lovinthehd]

You can. The legacy software has these light strips accessible in Home Automation --> Light Controllers. Those 44-key LED controllers are recognized by Harmony thusly:

Brand: SUPERNIGHT
Model: SMD5050

The 28-key LED controllers can also be added without needing to be learned:

Brand: APA
Model: APA 1616

By the way, the 44-key controlled kit you found is a bit cheaper here.

I actually have two light strip kits already, one of them has what looks to be the same 44key remote and the other is a music-activated kit with a 24-key remote (and both remotes work on the controller). I'll see what I can do with your short cuts, thanks!

 

[Halon451]

Well I just picked up the color ambience starter kit to check it out. I found an app that let me use my phones camera to capture the colors of on my display as I'm watching a movie and shifts the color hue to match each scene. That's pretty neat I have to admit. I don't know if it's $200 neat but I dig it.