E27 bulbs IC or IC-F lamp holders for Philips Hue for smart lighting

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billgates

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#243594 19-Dec-2018 19:50

Hello folks,

Just wondering, if anyone can suggest a E27 recessed lamp holder that is also IC or IC-F rated to accomodate a whole bunch of Philips Hue bulbs throughout a house?

Looking at Fibaro relay switches (more pricey than Philips Hue bulbs) with IC-F rated LED down lights and a standard switch is very expensive to do lights home automation.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Do whatever you want to do man.

Dingbatt

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#2148183 20-Dec-2018 08:49

I guess you've already got the bulbs. Otherwise I would suggest looking at the Hue 'Aphelion' downlights. That's what I have fitted in the living areas of my house. But I am a little addicted to the Hue ights.
I looked at the enclosures you are asking about. Most couldn't be covered by insulation and were ugly looking.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

billgates

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#2148212 20-Dec-2018 09:46

No, I have not bought the bulbs yet. I did look into the Hue 'Aphelion' downlights but they are rated at 600 lm which I thought will not be bright enough. How are you finding the brightness of these? And can you can change the colour temperature from Warm white to Cool white and vice versa?

Do whatever you want to do man.

Dingbatt

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#2148451 20-Dec-2018 16:02

Warm and cool white yes. In my experience, none of the Hue offerings are particularly bright.
I have six in our family/home theatre room which is 6x4m and they provide more than enough 'area' illumination. They replaced a five bulb pendant light. To be honest 6 is a bit of an overkill.
I have it set so individual lights over seating positions can be used as reading lights and they are adequate for that.

So I have 11 Aphelions covering the lounge, family room and dining rooms. I also have strips and lamps providing more mood for lighting is those rooms (Told you I was addicted).
They do require a 120mm hole in your ceiling, which is pretty big. I had to buy a hole saw of eBay as nothing available in NZ except Pro tools costing hundreds. The Chinese one was $11 from memory. You can just use a gib knife, but the holesaw makes a much neater job.
The Aphelions can be abutted and covered and are completely sealed. The driver is in a separate enclosure which is about the size of an AppleTV and attached to the light by a sheathed cable about 100 mm long.
They only seem to be stocked by Bunnings and Mitre10, and Noel Leeming by order. Make sure you use the 15% price promise.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

richms

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#2148509 20-Dec-2018 18:46

Also if you use an e27 downlight with the hue in it then you will not get all the light into the room, whereas an actual downlight will get a lot more light out, so the lumans of the 2 are not directly comparable.

Richard rich.ms

Paul1977

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#2148683 21-Dec-2018 09:05

@Dingbatt I'm looking at replacing our bedroom single-bulb pendant (105W halogen - 2100 lumens) with 4x Aphelions.

We'll be getting an electrician to do this, but I was wondering if you could shed some light on how these get cabled? Does each bulb require it's own independent 240V feed, or do you somehow "piggy-back" them in a chain?

billgates

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#2148689 21-Dec-2018 09:43

Thanks @Dingbatt & @richms for your replies.

It looks like I will go with tilt LED downlights and use Philips HUE in lamps, outdoor lighting etc. Will just have to take a hit on relay switches with traditional LED lighting to do the home automation there.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Dingbatt

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#2148753 21-Dec-2018 11:57

Paul1977:
@Dingbatt I'm looking at replacing our bedroom single-bulb pendant (105W halogen - 2100 lumens) with 4x Aphelions.

We'll be getting an electrician to do this, but I was wondering if you could shed some light on how these get cabled? Does each bulb require it's own independent 240V feed, or do you somehow "piggy-back" them in a chain?

I have one switch per group of lights, which are daisy chained in parallel. The switch is just for isolation and I put white tape over them to stop people turning them off. Next time the sparky is in I will get the guarded mechs I bought swapped out.
While control by app or voice assistant is great, I have still put a wireless Hue switch in each room as well to turn everything off or on at once the old fashioned way

Edit : Just be aware using these in a bedroom, if you have a power cut in the middle of the night, when the power comes back on, all your Hue lights will light up.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996