I am a dabbler in home automation and thinking about starting to get into lighting. I have heard mostly good things about the Philip Hue line and wanted to see what peoples thoughts are about it.
Our main current automation are a large number of Google Smart Speaker and Arlo video doorbells. Everything is working now on the Google ecosystem which I think Philip Hue will connect with. Our house is 100 years old which means that our possibilities to automate are lower than a new home since we have very few overhead lights, power outlets are at a premium (we have lots of power strips running through the house).
We are thinking about doing smart bulbs in some lamps which we can leave on and a chandalier. I think the biggest issue will leaving things always powered on.
I’ve done smart switches and so many suck shit. Also different colors for the bulbs are so nice. And hue has options for wall switches too (slap a little switch on the wall that has different scene options and such). They’re just better honestly lol. Instant response time too. I was cheap for so long avoiding these and I just kick myself now.
Smart switches can have instant response time too.
I’m using high-end smart switches (Inovelli Blue) and they’re great. They don’t have any of the problems of the cheap ones. You can use them with regular bulbs, or in conjunction with smart bulbs. For smart bulbs, you can pair the switch directly with the bulb.