If you’ve seen someone turn off and on their lights with their phone, chances are pretty good that they were using the Philips Hue range of smart bulbs to do it. That’s because Philips are dominating the smart home accessories market right now, offering a wider range of Hue products at fairly reasonable prices. Here’s what you need to know if you want to enter the smart home era and start controlling your lights from your phone.
Starter Pack
OK, so here is where it begins: the starter pack. In each one, you’ll find a trio of lightbulbs — enough for one or two rooms, depending on how cavernous your place is — plus a hub that the light bulbs connect to and a dimmer switch. Once set up, you can control your lights from the free Hue companion app on your phone, or ask Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri to adjust them for you. Awesome!
There are two varieties available, one with E27 screw bulbs and one with B22 bayonet fixtures, and both support coloured light as well as simple white shades from cold to warm.
The hub needs to be connected to your router with an ethernet cable, so you’ll probably want to put it nearby. The lights and the dimmer switch, on the other hand, can go pretty much anywhere. That’s because each bulb talks to each other bulb, forming a mesh network that lets you stretch lights into the furthest corners of your house, assuming you have enough bulbs. Speaking of which…
- Philips Hue White and Colour Starter Kit (B22 Bayonet)
- Philips Hue White and Colour Starter Kit (E27 Screw)
Extra White or White & Colour LED Bulbs
You can pick up one or two extra white light bulbs for a nominal price, making it easy to outfit your whole house with Hue lighting if you want to go that way. As with the starter pack, you can choose from standard screw or bayonet fittings which will fit most homes. The more bulbs you have, the more powerful the system becomes, so it is worth kitting out whole floors or houses if you have the option to do so. You get a choice of a twin pack of white LED bulbs and a single pack of white and colour LED bulbs — which would you prefer?
- Philips Hue White LED Bulb Twin Pack (B22 Bayonet)
- Philips Hue White LED Bulb Twin Pack (E27 Screw)
- Philips Hue White & Colour LED Bulb (B22 Bayonet)
- Philips Hue White & Colour LED Bulb (E27 Screw)
Striplights
Of course, Hue doesn’t just included traditional light bulbs. You can also get more modern LED strip lights, allowing you to add ambient, glowy lighting to the back of your TV, the cupboard under the stairs, the underside of your kitchen cabinets or any other areas that could just do with better visibility. Each two metre strip is capable of lighting up in shades of white or a full range of colours, letting you change the mood with just a tap in the app.
Dimmer Switch
Ah, the dimmer switch. This gives your guests and non-smartphone-carrying-family-members an easy opportunity to control your lights, turning them on or off, adjusting the brightness and so on. The dimmer switch can be installed on the wall using screws or adhesives (provided), but the actual remote itself is detachable so you can use it anywhere that’s convenient. The unit doesn’t require mains power, instead relying on internal batteries that work for at least three years. Awesome.
Motion Sensor
The final piece of the puzzle is this motion sensor, which allow your lights to be automatically turned on when you enter a room. If your existing switch is in annoying place or you just hate having to remember to turn the lights off every time you leave a room, this motion sensor can be an absolute miracle-worker.
Wrapping up
I hope you’ve found this breakdown helpful! If you have any questions or comments, please share ’em below. Thanks for checking out the article and we’ll catch you on the next one!