Philips to Sell iOS-Controlled LED Light Bulbs Exclusively Through Apple Stores

[PNutts]

Originally Posted by coolspot18

I just hope in the future these systems are interoperable... perhaps we need a lighting standard like we have WiFi.

"Philips hue uses the open ZigBee Light Link standard so that it can be integrated with other ZigBee certified systems."

[braindog]

So with the first starter kit I picked up, none of the included bulbs would pair with the bridge station. The two extra bulbs I picked up outside of the kit DID work.

So I exchanged the starter kit today, and now the included bulbs work, but the two extra bulbs do not. Presumably, it's because they've been paired to my previous bridge.

Anyone know how to unpair those bulbs? Or will I have to exchange them for virgin bulbs?

[coldpower27]

Originally Posted by dcorban

I decided to do some calculations to see if LED is worth the cost. Assume that the bulb will be used for six hours every night, for a total of ~2200 hours per year. Prices taken from bulbscanada.

$0.55 for 60w incandescent, rated 6000 hours
$2.45 for 13w CFL, rated 6000 hours
$16.00 for 6.9w LED, rated 40000 hours

LED life is 18 years, meaning I would use 7 incandescents or CFL for every LED.

Purchase price over 18 years:
$3.85 incandescent
$17.15 CFL
$16 for LED

I pay 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour (we have "time of use" rates in Ontario, this is the off-peak rate), so the energy rates per year are:
$8.58 incandescent, $154.44 for 18 years
$1.86 CFL, $33.48 for 18 years
$0.99 LED, $17.76 for 18 years

Total cost of ownership for 18 years:
$158.29 incandescent
$77.58 CFL
$33.76 LED

Conclusion: you will pay $43.82 more over the life span of an LED bulb if you use CFL. Over the life span of these three bulbs, you would pay $131.46 to own and operate equivalent CFL bulbs. The Philips bulbs in the article have a $102 premium price. It is actually cheaper to buy these "expensive" Philips LED bulbs than any other bulb type!

LED bulbs are usually more expensive for the high quality ones. Like $25-$30 or so. LED's have to be 13W or so to give off the equivalent of a 60W incandescent. The Philips L-Prize one is better though at 10W for 910 Lumens which is above 60W slightly, but that bulb is $50.

As well electricity price is far higher then 6.5c/kWh in Ontario you have to factor in the delivery charges, as well. Electricity doesn't just magically appear in the home.

It's another 6.2c/kWh for delivery charges. ~4.8% for Regulatory, ~4.8% for Debt Retirement.

Your looking at nearly 15c/kWh when all is said and done overall. And that is if you use off peak rates. A bit higher once you factor in the mid peak and on peak usage rates.

Also a knock on CFL's is that one they contain mercury and are hazardous, and 2, they aren't good with frequent cycling turning them on and off quickly reduces their lifespan.

[wrkactjob]

Will these flash when you get a text or email?...I like that function in some android/RIM phones.

How do you attach them?

[gcrasher]

Originally Posted by braindog

So with the first starter kit I picked up, none of the included bulbs would pair with the bridge station. The two extra bulbs I picked up outside of the kit DID work.

So I exchanged the starter kit today, and now the included bulbs work, but the two extra bulbs do not. Presumably, it's because they've been paired to my previous bridge.

Anyone know how to unpair those bulbs? Or will I have to exchange them for virgin bulbs?

I've been trying to figure out the same thing. Philips support told me that hitting the factory reset on the bridge would unpair any connected single pack bulbs, but this isn't working for me.

This has to be possible, otherwise all bulbs would be useless if you ever broke / switched bridges. This is actually the case with the starter bulbs since they are preconfigured to only work with the bridge they were shipped with.

Pretty ridiculous... maybe someone can explain why it was designed this way.

[Raegor]

That is incorrect according to the guy on the previous page. He said he got a broken single bulb and apple exchanged it with one from a starter pack.

Originally Posted by gcrasher

I've been trying to figure out the same thing. Philips support told me that hitting the factory reset on the bridge would unpair any connected single pack bulbs, but this isn't working for me.

This has to be possible, otherwise all bulbs would be useless if you ever broke / switched bridges. This is actually the case with the starter bulbs since they are preconfigured to only work with the bridge they were shipped with.

Pretty ridiculous... maybe someone can explain why it was designed this way.

----------

Can anyone tell me if these are rated for outdoor use as well? There's a question on the apple store that says yes but I'm not trusting that. Take a look through your documentation please. Thanks.

[gcrasher]

Originally Posted by Raegor

That is incorrect according to the guy on the previous page. He said he got a broken single bulb and apple exchanged it with one from a starter pack.

I wonder if it was somehow a single pack bulb that was mixed up. There is nothing to indicate which is which. I could not get starter bulbs from another pack to work on the same bridge and I also received email from Philips saying this was not possible.

And now I can't even get my single pack bulbs together on the same bridge.

[gcrasher]

Wow...just got off the phone with Philips support. They told me once a bulb is paired with a bridge, there is no way to ever pair it with another one. They said they hope there is a resolution to this eventually.

So if your bridge is broke, or you return it, all your bulbs are now useless.

Hopefully there is some low level Zigbee hack to reset a bulb or allow starter kit bulbs to work with any bridge.

[Raegor]

Hmmm

That would require persistant memory in the bulbs themselves. Doesn't make much sense, you'd figure all of the memory would be in the hub.

I assume you unscrewed them and put them back in?

Have a super strong magnet available? heh

[gcrasher]

Originally Posted by Raegor

I assume you unscrewed them and put them back in?

Yes, tried this. Can't believe they would release this product without a reset procedure.

[whyamihere]

Just thought I'd give a tip on availability. A few days ago pickup in store listed January 11. I checked again this morning and my local store had them in stock. I went up there and they had 4 out on the sales floor.

So keep checking each day. I was tempted to just order online and wait the 1-3 months it is quoting... glad I didn't. I can't wait to get home from work to set it up!

[Raegor]

Can anyone tell me if these are rated for outdoor use as well? There's a question on the apple store that says yes but I'm not trusting that. Take a look through your documentation please. Thanks.

[AbSoluTc]

Originally Posted by gcrasher

Wow...just got off the phone with Philips support. They told me once a bulb is paired with a bridge, there is no way to ever pair it with another one. They said they hope there is a resolution to this eventually.

So if your bridge is broke, or you return it, all your bulbs are now useless.

Hopefully there is some low level Zigbee hack to reset a bulb or allow starter kit bulbs to work with any bridge.

You should tweet @tweethue and let them know of your troubles. They are really responsive and quick to answer. If it's one thing companies do not like, it's bad publicity for new products!

It's a great product with a few flaws that hopefully will get worked out. Growing pains I guess.

[whyamihere]

Originally Posted by Raegor

Can anyone tell me if these are rated for outdoor use as well? There's a question on the apple store that says yes but I'm not trusting that. Take a look through your documentation please. Thanks.

The only thing I see is the bulbs say "suitable for damp conditions". I couldn't find anything specifically saying outdoor use though. But that sounds close enough.

[mattopotamus]

Originally Posted by whyamihere

Just thought I'd give a tip on availability. A few days ago pickup in store listed January 11. I checked again this morning and my local store had them in stock. I went up there and they had 4 out on the sales floor.

So keep checking each day. I was tempted to just order online and wait the 1-3 months it is quoting... glad I didn't. I can't wait to get home from work to set it up!

agreed. Just did in store pickup for today.

[swindmill]

I emailed Hue support to ask about future size options and received a reply stating that there was no information concerning the future availability of different sizes or shapes. I'm still trying to figure something out that will make these work cosmetically in 6" recessed fixtures.

[braindog]

Originally Posted by gcrasher

Wow...just got off the phone with Philips support. They told me once a bulb is paired with a bridge, there is no way to ever pair it with another one. They said they hope there is a resolution to this eventually.

So if your bridge is broke, or you return it, all your bulbs are now useless.

Hopefully there is some low level Zigbee hack to reset a bulb or allow starter kit bulbs to work with any bridge.

Wow, talk about shoddy engineering then! The bulbs are paired permanently?

Well, after reading your posts I exchanged the bulbs for fresh ones, which worked fine.

But if your bridge ever dies, then suddenly all of your bulbs will be useless!

----------

Are these bulbs safe to use in an enclosure or do they need to be open? They don't seem to get very hot, especially compared to the regular Philips LED lamps.

----------

Are these bulbs safe to use in an enclosure or do they need to be open? They don't seem to get very hot, especially compared to the regular Philips LED bulbs.

[gcrasher]

I'm pretty sure they will have a way to unpair these at some point, just not now. Some people on another forum were figuring out how to do this using the remote from a Philips LivingColors lamp.

[whyamihere]

Originally Posted by Raegor

Can anyone tell me if these are rated for outdoor use as well? There's a question on the apple store that says yes but I'm not trusting that. Take a look through your documentation please. Thanks.

Scratch my previous reply. After opening the box I found a pamphlet that does say these are indoor only.

[ipedro]

Are these Hue lightbulbs compatible with Phillips' wall panels?


Smart Interfaces

[Xikum]

Anybody who buys this has more money than sense.

[ipedro]

Originally Posted by Xikum

Anybody who buys this has more money than sense.

Anybody who doesn't understand how this can improve your life and productivity has either no sense or no money.

[Xikum]

Originally Posted by ipedro

Anybody who doesn't understand how this can improve your life and productivity has either no sense or no money.

"Improve your life and productivity".

Oh yea, sure, you're so right. I mean, how did people even work before without being able to dim their lights from their iPad?! I bet those people must have done some primitive stuff like, I dont know...walked to the dimmer switch?

This is typical gimmicky products aimed at suckers who believe it actually has a purpose because its "new" and "cool". I'm sure it will be successful though, because of people like you (what more can you expect of a guy who has a thank you message to Steve Jobs in his signature?).

[ipedro]

Originally Posted by Xikum

"Improve your life and productivity".

Oh yea, sure, you're so right. I mean, how did people even work before without being able to dim their lights from their iPad?! I bet those people must have done some primitive stuff like, I dont know...walked to the dimmer switch?

This is typical gimmicky products aimed at suckers who believe it actually has a purpose because its "new" and "cool". I'm sure it will be successful though, because of people like you (what more can you expect of a guy who has a thank you message to Steve Jobs in his signature?).

If you're not bright enough (ha!) to understand the effects of lighting on biology (human and non-human), I'm not going to be the one to teach you. Go sit in a windlowess office for a week and take note your concentration and productivity or lack thereof. Now get yourself a corner office facing the sun most of the day and notice how much better you feel at the end of the day and how much more work you got done courtesy of your good mood. Now, how about going on a date in a restaurant with glaring bright lights with a yellow tone? I think you're not getting far with that girl. Pick a restaurant with dim lighting and a red temperature... I hope you wore your favourite boxers.

Humans, like all living things evolved for millions of years to the tune of the sun. In just the last 100 or so years have we been extending our productive hours beyond daylight. Having light that you can adjust brightness and its colour temperature is absolutely an excellent investment in the way you feel and the productivity of your work day/night.

I don't need you to agree to of that which I just said; you can stay in your brightly lit or dimly lit apartment and/or office all you want. The rest of us will enjoy our customizable lighting.

[peeaanuut]

you think those are overpriced? I paid $14.99 for an LED lamp and I got only 1 LED!!!!