Philips Hue - best place to buy, and bayonet fittings?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Philips Hue - best place to buy, and bayonet fittings?

Lizard1977

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#210496 30-Mar-2017 08:30

I've been intrigued by the idea of smart lighting for a while, but have been put off by the fact I couldn't think of a justifiable use case (other than the cool factor of being able to remotely control lights), and the fact that the brightness maxed out at about 60W (most of our house uses 100W or 125W CCFL). But then I hit upon a useful idea - fitting Hue bulbs in the bedroom of my daughter and programming it to gradually lighten over the course of an hour, simulating sunrise. She's 2.5 years but wakes like a teenager, and especially with the end of daylight savings making it dark even at 7am, I'm thinking that a sunrise simulator might help make the mornings easier. It also wouldn't hurt to have that in our bedroom too.

So, the wife is on board and I'm looking at starter kits. But I wanted to know if there was a better place to buy other than Mitre10/Bunnings/Noel Leeming. Prices seem reasonably consistent among them, but I don't know if there's a cheaper way to buy.

Also, it looks like the kits are all Edison Screw bases. We have bayonet fittings throughout out house (I actually thought everyone in NZ had bayonet fittings, so was surprised to see so many ES bases out there), so is it a case of buying invididual bayonet bulbs and a bridge separately, or is it easy enough to replace the bayonet fitting on my light fixtures with an ES fitting?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#1750484 30-Mar-2017 08:38

Main Street? Noel Leemings. But I saw Hue in many electrical stores.

sbiddle

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#1750485 30-Mar-2017 08:38

Every good electrical wholesaler carries them. I know pricing is relatively fixed with pretty low margins so you won't see much of a discount.

Lizard1977

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#1750487 30-Mar-2017 08:44

Thanks. I had a quick look at Amazon and it's about 20% cheaper to order through there, but no CGA protection. Looks like local is probably the best bet.

What about the bayonet vs edison screws? Is it simple enough to convert my existing light fittings?

Behodar

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#1750489 30-Mar-2017 08:46

Lizard1977: I actually thought everyone in NZ had bayonet fittings, so was surprised to see so many ES bases out there

While I think that's traditionally true, there are now quite a few imported ES fittings floating around. My place has a mixture, which is frustrating since I need to keep two sets of spare bulbs!

robcreid

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#1750496 30-Mar-2017 08:59

Its not Hue but have you considered Limitless LED?

There is a long thread about them here on Geekzone.

They have a dev section with sample code and details for interfacing with various home automation systems.

Edit: And they come in bayonet and screw.

Lizard1977

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#1750763 30-Mar-2017 16:09

Thanks for the heads up. Long thread is an understatement. Geez, 4 years of posts to cover!

Limitless looks interesting, and the price is compelling. What I haven't been able to confirm from reading all those posts is whether they are able to be programmed to fade up over a fixed period like the Hue's can. Also, what happens if you just use the normal light switch? It seems like it remembers the last state it was in, so presumably if it was dimmed and it was switched off at the wall, it will come back on "dimmed." I'm wanting something that will be as "normal" as possible, to minimise confusion from the less technically-minded people that use our house from time to time. The remotes are okay, but they aren't exactly discreet.

Finally, I have a Logitech Harmony Hub which seems to have integration for Hue products. Does anyone know if the Limitless products can be made to work with the Harmony Hub?

agent86

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#1750785 30-Mar-2017 17:00

I got mine from Mitre10.
From memory Noel Leeming had a sale, and had Mitre10 beat them by 15% with their price guarantee.
It isn't really a huge discount but was a reasonable saving, you'll just need to wait for someone to have it on special.
If you can't wait, I see Bunnings have their coloured bulbs at $77, $1 less that Mitre10, so you could get 15% off Bunning's price.

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lchiu7

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#1750838 30-Mar-2017 18:56

I just bought a hub and two bulbs (Edison) from Amazon UK for about $111 shipped here. That was cheaper than the $149 HN or Noel Leemings have. Not sure about CGA. Probably no warranty that could be used but Amazon re pretty good so in the worse case scenario I guess I could send them back. I intend to buy the additional bulbs here.

[EDIT] Amazon also had bayonet bulbs for sale

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freitasm

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#1750856 30-Mar-2017 19:30

Always good to remind people to use the Geekzone Amazon link...

jpanwala

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#1750974 30-Mar-2017 23:36

Another option is LIFX bulbs. I was looking at HUE as well but the initial cost (3 bayonet base bulbs + hub) was a major deciding factor.

In the end I bought 3x LIFX bulbs and I can vouch for them, amazing output and great deep colours, and appears good build quality. The iphone app is good too. Can simulate sunrise like you want, in fact I have set it up in the bedroom in the same fashion.

Did some research on youtube etc and haven't come across anything negative. Bought the bulbs locally and would recommend them for starters. Function wise same as Hue apart from Apple Homekit support..

mattwnz

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#1750975 30-Mar-2017 23:42

freitasm:

Always good to remind people to use the Geekzone Amazon link...

Does that also work on Amazon UK purchases, or just US ones?

richms

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#1750976 30-Mar-2017 23:50

There is also the yeelight by mi off aliexpress in E27, not seen much in bayonet, if possible I just change the holder over.

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richms

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#1750977 30-Mar-2017 23:51

agent86:

I got mine from Mitre10.
From memory Noel Leeming had a sale, and had Mitre10 beat them by 15% with their price guarantee.
It isn't really a huge discount but was a reasonable saving, you'll just need to wait for someone to have it on special.
If you can't wait, I see Bunnings have their coloured bulbs at $77, $1 less that Mitre10, so you could get 15% off Bunning's price.

You will probably find mitre10 have it on the shelf a few cents under bunnings price to stop that happening. They both do that with in store prices - bunnings are on orange cards when they do it, not sure on mitre10 because I try to avoid them.

Richard rich.ms

robcreid

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#1750981 31-Mar-2017 00:51

Lizard1977:

What I haven't been able to confirm from reading all those posts is whether they are able to be programmed to fade up over a fixed period like the Hue's can.

The Mi-Light android app has only a single on-off timer for each zone but the since the api and sample code are published it shouldn't be too hard to code a fade.

Also, what happens if you just use the normal light switch? It seems like it remembers the last state it was in, so presumably if it was dimmed and it was switched off at the wall, it will come back on "dimmed."

You are correct, if you switch it off and then on again at the wall it comes back in the same mode it went off.

I just did a test with mine using their sample windows app.

I sent it an a brightness 1% command followed by a light off command and then a brightness 100% command and then flicked the wall switch to see if that would cause it to come back on at 100% but it looks like it ignored the brightness command when it was in 'off' mode and came back at 1% brightness.

Finally, I have a Logitech Harmony Hub which seems to have integration for Hue products. Does anyone know if the Limitless products can be made to work with the Harmony Hub?

Not familiar with Harmony Hub but a quick google has people controlling MiLight/LimitlessLED strips with python scripts from a harmony remote.

agent86

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#1750987 31-Mar-2017 02:24

richms:
agent86:

I got mine from Mitre10.
From memory Noel Leeming had a sale, and had Mitre10 beat them by 15% with their price guarantee.
It isn't really a huge discount but was a reasonable saving, you'll just need to wait for someone to have it on special.
If you can't wait, I see Bunnings have their coloured bulbs at $77, $1 less that Mitre10, so you could get 15% off Bunning's price.

You will probably find mitre10 have it on the shelf a few cents under bunnings price to stop that happening. They both do that with in store prices - bunnings are on orange cards when they do it, not sure on mitre10 because I try to avoid them.

Actually out of the two Mitre10 are usually more expensive. I bought my starter pack, additional bulb (beating NL by 15%) and dimmer switch(beating Bunnings by 15%).
But yeah they both have a price guarantee so you can go to the more expensive store to beat the other, unless of course they both have it for the same price.

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