HomeKit Outdoor homekit lights/floodlights preferably motion activated

[phillyman]

HI All,

I'm in the process of adding an Eve outdoor camera to my homekit setup. Currently I have about 6 outdoor floodlights on one switch. So I'm replacing one light and now I will have to power all the other ones all the time (for the Eve to work). I think I will just replace the other lights.

I think easiest would be to just get some motion activated floodlights but I'd like to tie them in to homekit. I googled around a bit and didn't find an off the shelf solution. Is there one I'm missing? I saw a Vue solution but there I would need a bridge and sensors and the light. Another one I saw was getting homekit motion sensors and tying them to homekit lights.

I just realized that I have a third solution. Can I use the motion sensor on the Eve Outdoor Camera to trigger other homekit floodlights to turn on? It seems like that should work but would like your thoughts.

Any other ideas/Brands? Are there outdoor floodlights/bright bulbs that are homekit compatible you can recommend? Since my setup is new currently all devices have thread so that would be an added benefit.

Thanks,
Philly

UPDATE: I have not tried it but it does state on Eve website that one can trigger other outside lights

 

[phillyman]

HI All,

Are there any outdoor lights compatible with homekit? The only ones I found were VUE through a bridge.

Philly

 

[pup]

Philips makes plenty of outdoor fixtures, including floods. Bridge required tho.

 

[Itinj24]

+1 for Philips Hue. Nothing wrong with having a bridge. They’re generally faster, more reliable and don’t bog down your Wi-Fi. I personally use the Philips Hue Discover flood lights for security, the Econic for a soft glow on my decks and walls, and for my porch, I got two fixtures on Amazon that I liked and added Hue bulbs to them (the bulbs in the fixtures are enclosed and sealed for water proofing)

Any HomeKit motion sensor can trigger any HomeKit light. You just have to set it up that way in the automations tab.

 

[sparky672]

Can I use the motion sensor on the Eve Outdoor Camera to trigger other homekit floodlights to turn on?

My understanding is that you should be able to do this as long as Eve camera can send motion notifications to HomeKit. If so, then those can trigger automations.

UPDATE: I have not tried it but it does state on Eve website that one can trigger other outside lights

So then why not just try it?

 

[phillyman]

My understanding is that you should be able to do this as long as Eve camera can send motion notifications to HomeKit. If so, then those can trigger automations.



So then why not just try it?

I will and have with inside lights. I just didn't have any outside light fixtures to try it with

 

[phillyman]

+1 for Philips Hue. Nothing wrong with having a bridge. They’re generally faster, more reliable and don’t bog down your Wi-Fi. I personally use the Philips Hue Discover flood lights for security, the Econic for a soft glow on my decks and walls, and for my porch, I got two fixtures on Amazon that I liked and added Hue bulbs to them (the bulbs in the fixtures are enclosed and sealed for water proofing)

Any HomeKit motion sensor can trigger any HomeKit light. You just have to set it up that way in the automations tab.

OK, I'll give it a try. I preferred just having all homekit with no "bridge" to add a complication to the mix

 

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[rayward]

HI All,

Are there any outdoor lights compatible with homekit? The only ones I found were VUE through a bridge.

Philly

Are these lights going to be on a switch or plugged into an outlet? If so, just get a smart switch / smart plug and then you will be able to turn the "dumb" floodlights on and off however you'd like. This is likely cheaper than buying a number of smart lights/bulbs.

The Eve camera's motion sensor will be exposed to HomeKit, so you can use it to have HomeKit turn on the lights whenever motion is detected. It's a simple automation. FYI, Eve makes smart switches and plugs too and, as they work natively in HomeKit, you can avoid the cost of a bridge that most other brands require.

 

[Itinj24]

OK, I'll give it a try. I preferred just having all homekit with no "bridge" to add a complication to the mix

Gotchya but I’d argue that having a bridge makes it less complicated. For example, if you have multiple bulbs giving you issues, troubleshooting is accomplished with just the bridge and not several different bulbs. Wi-Fi bulbs have to be rebooted/reset separately. After you add the bridge to HomeKit, adding bulbs to the bridge auto populates them in HomeKit. Easy peezy. A bridge is a small one time expense for some serious HomeKit performance and reliability.

The Hue Bridge is native to HomeKit. It has its own HomeKit code and it connects to the router via ethernet, making it even more stable. I’m just using Hue as an example but you also have manufacturers like Aqara as well. Their bridges have multiple uses like self monitoring alarms and cameras. Lutron Caseta is another example, which gets accolades from everyone that uses it.

 

[phillyman]

Gotchya but I’d argue that having a bridge makes it less complicated. For example, if you have multiple bulbs giving you issues, troubleshooting is accomplished with just the bridge and not several different bulbs. Wi-Fi bulbs have to be rebooted/reset separately. After you add the bridge to HomeKit, adding bulbs to the bridge auto populates them in HomeKit. Easy peezy. A bridge is a small one time expense for some serious HomeKit performance and reliability.

The Hue Bridge is native to HomeKit. It has its own HomeKit code and it connects to the router via ethernet, making it even more stable. I’m just using Hue as an example but you also have manufacturers like Aqara as well. Their bridges have multiple uses like self monitoring alarms and cameras. Lutron Caseta is another example, which gets accolades from everyone that uses it.

Thank you for your thoughtful post and insight. I agree and have ordered a bridge and a dozen bulbs to try. I also do like the Philips lineup and have always liked/used philips the brand.

quick one on bridge location: I’m replacing my router/wifi setup. I know it says to plug into main router which I will try but it is of course in a bad location. has anyone with a mesh network just tried to plug it into one of the satellites?

This is the reason I like forums. For the most part one gets helpful posts or general insight/feedback why people would recommend a or b.

philly

 

[Itinj24]

Thank you for your thoughtful post and insight. I agree and have ordered a bridge and a dozen bulbs to try. I also do like the Philips lineup and have always liked/used philips the brand.

quick one on bridge location: I’m replacing my router/wifi setup. I know it says to plug into main router which I will try but it is of course in a bad location. has anyone with a mesh network just tried to plug it into one of the satellites?

This is the reason I like forums. For the most part one gets helpful posts or general insight/feedback why people would recommend a or b.

philly

How bad is this bad location? Zigbee is pretty much a mesh network so each accessory connected to the main hub acts as a repeater to reach far distances. This is evident in their outdoor lighting solutions.

I believe the Hue Hub has to be connected to the main router but if your mesh network is going to be hardwired, I don’t see why you can’t hook it up to a satellite. Matter of fact I planned on trying that myself. I have an eero Pro 6 system all on a wired back haul.

 

[phillyman]

I’ll try it out on the weekend and report back. No i was going to try to hardwire into one node then wireless to the main router … I’ll first try the “correct” way and see if the range extends enough… it might around the outside of the house…

 

[rayward]

quick one on bridge location: I’m replacing my router/wifi setup. I know it says to plug into main router which I will try but it is of course in a bad location. has anyone with a mesh network just tried to plug it into one of the satellites?

I used to have my Phillips Hue and Lutron bridges plugged into a cheap wifi-to-ethernet receiver, via a switch, and they worked perfectly. They have to be connected via ethernet for the simple reason that they do not have wifi radios, which makes sense as that would likely interfere with their own signal.

As long as they are plugged in somewhere on your network, you'll be fine.

 

[phillyman]

I used to have my Phillips Hue and Lutron bridges plugged into a cheap wifi-to-ethernet receiver, via a switch, and they worked perfectly. They have to be connected via ethernet for the simple reason that they do not have wifi radios, which makes sense as that would likely interfere with their own signal.

As long as they are plugged in somewhere on your network, you'll be fine.

Perfect, it does make sense . Thank you for clarifying on two of my posts!

 

[Itinj24]

I used to have my Phillips Hue and Lutron bridges plugged into a cheap wifi-to-ethernet receiver, via a switch, and they worked perfectly. They have to be connected via ethernet for the simple reason that they do not have wifi radios, which makes sense as that would likely interfere with their own signal.

As long as they are plugged in somewhere on your network, you'll be fine.

Good to know. If you say this works, the info I read elsewhere was wrong then.