Home Philips hue question

[Goner259er]

I want to add hue to work with my phone and HomePod.

I plan on putting the lights in my fan to turn on and off and a few lamps in the living room area.

How many can the bridge control and does the bridge have to been the in same room as the lights?

Thanks

 

[The Game 161]

I want to add hue to work with my phone and HomePod.

I plan on putting the lights in my fan to turn on and off and a few lamps in the living room area.

How many can the bridge control and does the bridge have to been the in same room as the lights?

Thanks

Can control up to 50 lights I think and no the bridge doesn't need to be anywhere but just needs to be connected to your broadband.

I have my broadband in the hall way and controls my lights in my bedroom/hall and lounge.

 

[wesley96]

Technically, the Hue Bridge can connect up to 63 devices, including Hue light bulbs and various Hue accessories. However, it reportedly gets less responsive beyond around 50 devices. Hence Philips will tell you to connect 50 or less. I have 12 so far (5 bulbs, 1 light strip, 3 dimmer switches, and 3 motion sensors) and they respond instantaneously.

Philips Hue works on ZigBee LL standard to communicate between the devices, and supports mesh networking (i.e. each device will act as a network signal repeater). Philips says the maximum range of the Hue Bridge is around 30 meters. Putting these two together, you can have the bridge in another room, but to have the bulbs working in farthest reaches of your house you might want to have a bulb or two in between.

 

[Goner259er]

Ok so tell me if this is a waste. What if you have a ceiling fan with the 3 separate light bulbs. I assume this won’t work since each light is individually controlled?

 

[vegastime]

Ok so tell me if this is a waste. What if you have a ceiling fan with the 3 separate light bulbs. I assume this won’t work since each light is individually controlled?

Pretty sure you can set them all up as a group, to control all at once.

 

[wesley96]

Ok so tell me if this is a waste. What if you have a ceiling fan with the 3 separate light bulbs. I assume this won’t work since each light is individually controlled?

It works. HomeKit devices can be grouped to function as a single unit. I have 3 Hue bulbs hanging above the living room sofa and I've grouped them so I can turn them on and off with a single tap. You can still control individual device within a group separately if you wish.

As for being a waste, if you mean it'd be too costly, perhaps that may be the case. A HomeKit compatible smart switch runs for around 40 to 50 bucks. Hue White light bulbs (the one that only offers brightness control) cost 50 bucks on Amazon for a 4-pack, and additional 25 bucks for a physical dimmer switch.

While the dimmer switch can directly control the bulbs, you still need the Hue Bridge for HomeKit compatibility. If you intend to go all in on Hue, then the Bridge cost can be ignored. But you will be paying for about 30 bucks extra for getting an extra bulb and being able to control the bulbs more freely instead of just turning them on or off. It's your call.

 

[CPTmom2wp]

Ok so tell me if this is a waste. What if you have a ceiling fan with the 3 separate light bulbs. I assume this won’t work since each light is individually controlled?

As an example; your 3 bulb ceiling fan is in the kitchen. During Set up, you will be prompted to label each of the 3 bulbs (serial number is on the bulb itself). I label mine by room e.g., Kitchen 1, Kitchen 2, and Kitchen 3. Once those are labeled, you will have a chance to group them by room, e.g., Kitchen. So you can ask Siri to "turn on Kitchen lights" and all 3 lights on the fan will illuminate. However, if for some reason, you just want bulb Kitchen 2 to illuminate, that is also possible. An example might be that you put a Hue Color bulb in one socket, Kitchen 2, and leave the other two Hue bulbs Ambiance white (saves money). During Thanksgiving, you could just illuminate Kitchen 2 on "Orange" and either leave the other 2 "off" or "on", your preference.

On that note, if you put just one Hue bulb and two standard bulbs in the same fan fixture, you will have a problem with the switch. You can't leave it on without the two standard bulbs remaining lit, and if you turn off the switch, then you will have to manually turn it back on before you can activate the Hue bulb with Siri/iphone/iPad/HomePod. So if possible, I would recommend at least making all bulbs on one switch Philips Hue.

 

[Goner259er]

Thanks. I would go all three. No point in leaving normal bulbs.

As long as everyone’s iPads have the home kit hooked us Siri is good to go?

Does each idevice have to select the bulb and location etc? I’m assuming yes!


My home pod is delivered tomorrow so I may put the theee bulbs in my den and three in bedroom to test it out

Thanks again for the help

 

[anfield11]

Makes me wonder if they'll work for me. I rent my property occasionally. So, I would be leaving the switch on to manage them remotely. As soon as a renter came in and turned them off, I’d have no control? (Which is fine, as I shouldn’t while they are there ). But seems like they’d be able to turn them on and off as normal during their stay? I guess the trick is to have them turn the switches back to on before they leave after their stay?

Thanks for your time.