Philips Expands Hue Lineup With BR30 Recessed Lights

[Lurker251]

I'm interested in Home Automation, so this appeals to me.

BR30 at $59, considering the alternatives...

Excellent quality LEDs down-light, 36 degree spread, 2700k $40 a piece
Light switches/modules $90-$300

Adding a Philips $59 LED to my Hue environment, no-brainer

 

[Moonlight]

I have the Hue system and love it. Glad to see it is expanding!!! I already have 5 bulbs and a bloom.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I have the Hue system and love it. Glad to see it is expanding!!! I already have 5 bulbs and a bloom.

I'm looking forward to adding about 3-5 more bulbs and some light strips pretty soon.

I'm looking forward to the next major update to the iOS apps and seeing how the SDK enables some new functionality. Probably going to go with a Mac mini running Indigo for home automation.

Fun times.

And for those that think this stuff is expensive. The most expensive thing you will hear is "I'm pregnant" so if you're not a parent ..enjoy the ride and extra money in your bank account. Life's too short.

 

[RMo]

I moved into my new house some 12 years ago now.

I've replaced exactly zero bulbs - and yes, they are all incandescent.

If your incandescent bulbs are burning out a few times a year, you have other problems.

I wouldn't know. I never used them. Why are you still using incandescents?! And I'm sorry, but I find the 12 year life span of your supposedly incandescent bulbs hard to believe unless you rarely use them. Their average lifespan is about 1000-1200 hours, so at even just 4 hours/day that'd be a bit less than a year. Even if you're using halogens, GE says 4000-8000 hours, but 12 years would still be quite an outlier then.

(For the record, Hue is rated for 15,000 hours, but most LEDs are expected to last even longer than that.)

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Most likely I will get these when I move into my next place. It's probably smart to buy the 3pack - so you have an extra bridge in case the original one goes bad.

Personally I'd just save the $20 and eBay the Hue bridge if mine ever goes bad--or so I thought until I looked and didn't see any. I'm kind of surprised actually. Maybe I'd just buy another starter pack and sell off the bulbs myself if I needed to.

I wish Philips would sell these individually and also outside the Apple Store. I'm sure if it came on Amazon - the pricing would be a lot better.

They do sell them outside the Apple store. You can find the A19 Hue bulbs on Amazon (in both retail and Amazon Frustration-Free packaging). The BR30 lights aren't there yet, but I'm sure they will be in time. And with both, you can by either the starter park or individual bulbs, so I'm not sure what that comment is about.

 

[rdlink]

no light can fix my mood after i payed 199$ for 3 bulbs.

Then don't.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

I own the setup too. Currently running 7 bulbs.

Absolutely great system - all my lights are on timers for when I wake up, leave work and get home.

Even have vacation modes that automatically turn lights on and off to look like I am home.

The one thing Philips is missing though- is a standard white on/off bulb.
I don't need to spend $60 a bulb in areas I never plan to change colors with.
If even they did white only for $30 I would outfit the rest of my house with them.

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SFO I do the movie thing too!

Apparently there is a way to sync the lights to a philips TV to change colors based on the theme of the movie background/color...

I am curious about this... though if Apple ever does come out with a TV I would prefer to buy Apples....

How do you setup vacation modes or timers?

 

[macs4nw]

no light can fix my mood after i payed 199$ for 3 bulbs.

Thanks for my daily humor-fix!

 

[Lightbow]

Model number for BR30?

If anybody has their hands on the BR30 bulb yet, can you tell me the model number reported in the settings of the Philips app? It'll look something like "LCT001" (which was for the original Hue). Lightbow users like to have the custom icons in the light list, and I need that model number to differentiate the hardware and features of each bulb.

To all those people saying these lights are too expensive, think of it as an early Macintosh. "Everyone" is saying these things are too expensive, but they do provide a real improvement in the state of the art. Most of my users are outside the United States, but selling well here too. Keep in mind that you can do for $1,000 what previously cost you ten times as much with a fancy home automation system. The LIFX bulbs have had over $1M in pre-orders, and by next year, there will be a half-dozen competitors on the market.

-Peter
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lightbow/id695235159?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=4
(In case you are a Hue owner and haven't seen Lightbow yet)

 

[theBB]

I've replaced exactly zero bulbs - and yes, they are all incandescent.

My spouse can make the same argument, as I am the one changing the bulbs.

 

[ciaran00]

if you cant afford them, or they dont offer value to you, thats fine. but i can and they do for me. and hundreds of thousands of other people, judging by the continued expansion of this product line.

Oh yes, those vast economies of scale are obvious since the bulbs have dropped in price by $0 since they were first introduced. Yep.

Or, you just pulled that number outta your butt.

 

[rhett7660]

I'm interested in Home Automation, so this appeals to me.

BR30 at $59, considering the alternatives...

Excellent quality LEDs down-light, 36 degree spread, 2700k $40 a piece
Light switches/modules $90-$300

Adding a Philips $59 LED to my Hue environment, no-brainer

We went through and added 18 LED bulbs throughout the house at about 30 bucks a pop. They did drop my electrical bill. I am really interested in this setup. Especially in the living room where we watch tv!!!

 

[CVUSA]

If anybody has their hands on the BR30 bulb yet, can you tell me the model number reported in the settings of the Philips app? It'll look something like "LCT001" (which was for the original Hue). Lightbow users like to have the custom icons in the light list, and I need that model number to differentiate the hardware and features of each bulb.

To all those people saying these lights are too expensive, think of it as an early Macintosh. "Everyone" is saying these things are too expensive, but they do provide a real improvement in the state of the art. Most of my users are outside the United States, but selling well here too. Keep in mind that you can do for $1,000 what previously cost you ten times as much with a fancy home automation system. The LIFX bulbs have had over $1M in pre-orders, and by next year, there will be a half-dozen competitors on the market.

-Peter
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lightbow/id695235159?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=4
(In case you are a Hue owner and haven't seen Lightbow yet)

Just got Philips Hue BR-30 Starter Kit last night ,very cool. The model number inside the apps are LCT002.

 

[smithrh]

My spouse can make the same argument, as I am the one changing the bulbs.

Well - if you're into parsing... :^)

Let me re-state - no bulbs have burned out. Therefore, no one has replaced any bulbs, since none have needed to be replaced. All bulbs are being used.

Seriously - pay just a little bit more for your bulbs (not $50 though, that defeats the purpose) and they'll last a good long while.

 

[jb747]

I'm in the process of building a new house, and whilst these Hue globes are quite expensive, there is a large offset for me in that the wiring of the house will be much simpler than it would be otherwise. No need for dimmers. I can stick multiple lights on one circuit and yet still control them all individually. Less switches. And I like the colour changing.

Ultimately the house will use about 50 Hues, and a couple of lights trips. Some will be outside, protected from the elements. Twenty globes were just delivered. I'll probably hit the max number of lights a controller can handle, though I've read that they can handle more than the advertised 50.

I think the biggest issue for me is that the software/app isn't all that good. I'd like to be able to do more on the iMac with regard to setting up scenes. I'm sure it will get there.

 

[Gasu E.]

I have 3 of the standard bulbs from the kit. My kids don't even know why the light changes colors sometime as I haven't told anyone. My 12 year old thinks it is pretty freaky and my 5 year old loves it, they just don't know I'm behind the colors changing. Fun times.

If you can pay $199 for a pack of bulbs, I'm sure you won't blink at the upcoming psychiatrist bills..

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Let me re-state - no bulbs have burned out. Therefore, no one has replaced any bulbs, since none have needed to be replaced. All bulbs are being used.

Seriously - pay just a little bit more for your bulbs (not $50 though, that defeats the purpose) and they'll last a good long while.

The lifetime ratings for the bulbs are right on the package. I find those to be realistic for incandescents. You are not specific in your usage patterns; but if you are getting 10 times the expected life out of your bulbs, then you must be an outlier, as the manufacturer would obviously up the rating if your results were typical.

 

[The Monkey]

I wish the app would allow me to assign bulbs into 'rooms' so I can control a group of lights at once.

You can definitely do this. I don't have access to the app right now so I can't outline the steps, but definitely possible unless I'm misunderstanding you. However, like most things with the app, it is not exactly the most intuitive process. But still relatively easy iirc. Try a Google search because the Hue support site is a joke.

 

[theBB]

The lifetime ratings for the bulbs are right on the package. I find those to be realistic for incandescents. You are not specific in your usage patterns; but if you are getting 10 times the expected life out of your bulbs, then you must be an outlier, as the manufacturer would obviously up the rating if your results were typical.

I find the numbers on boxes for CFLs from Home Depot grossly overestimate the actual lifetime. I had one Phillips CFL, that one lasted about what you'd expect based on the lifetime estimate.

 

[acslater017]

Yes, in much the same way your TV has to be plugged into the wall for your remote to work. Turning off your physical light switch cuts power to the light, and losing their wireless connectivity and thus the ability to work with Hue software. How else did you expect it to work?

I get why it happens. I just don't like that it does happen, and it's not something that everyone realizes when they purchase the product