Hue vs Innr vs Trafri - Why pay more?

Inked

@dejongj, are you using motion sensors to sense the lux levels?

In the summer tend to use the Energize scene during the day when extra light is needed and one of the warmer settings dimmed for the evenings. I agree about the hue lights feeling very natural for daylight, our kitchen can be fully lit and you would need to actually look up at the spot to see that it’s on due to the way the light is so well spread from each GU10.

Now that it’s winter I’ve found I’m using the Concentrate scene during the day as it’s that little bit of a warmer white as full daylight setting can feel a little cold and stark at this time of year.

I haven’t automated the living areas and just use Alexa to set the lights as required, I hardly ever bother using the Hue dimmers any more (thankfully only one room in the house actually has the dimmer attached to the wall, the rest are just sat on worktops / tables) and might get rid of them as they really aren’t needed as voice control works well.

Bl4ckGryph0n

So far I’ve been using the fibaro multi sensor for that. I have two Philips sensors in the cupboard that I need to try out whether they work in the same way.

I agree on the dimmers, actually as ours is so automated they are almost pointless. We don’t even need to talk to it. Light is just there when we need it.

And totally agree with it. And it is one of the point I mean when I talk about the quality. Good lighting, to me, is like good speakers. They fade away, you don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there but can’t quite pinpoint where unless you go looking for it. And they’ve got it spot on with that.

Harkon321

So I’m back from Ikea. I’ve now got a Hue Hub, Hue Dimmer Switch and 9 tradfri gu10 bulbs to set up this afternoon.

Any thread or guidance anyone recommends? I’m going to try and do it directly without a Ikea hub.

Jamie

I'd suggest wiring up a GU10 lamp holder to a plug so it's handy.
Either label your bulbs or lay them out in a logical order.

Pair all of your bulbs one at a time, making sure to rename to something logical.

Once you've paired them all go ahead and install them all making sure they go in the right place.

For the ikea bulbs I think sometimes they need resetting before pairing (6 power cycles I think)

To actually pair in the hue app you would start the app searching first then power off and on the bulb, it should then show.

garethjjones

@harkone321 - you might want to look at the links I referenced above as well

Harkon321

Got 8 tradfri gu10 bulbs and the dimmer up and running. Annoyingly the 9th will not connect the hub. I can only presume I’ve got one on the old firmware. Will have to now do the 1 hr 30 round trip to change a bulb.

The ones I’ve fitted all go on, off and dim in unison. Colours seem alright though I’d prefer to have downlighters, oppose to fittings, long term to avoid them shining in people’s eyes.

The only real issue I’ve got with them is the fact (already pointed out by someone above) that they don’t dim below 10%.

For this reason I might have to fit genuine hue bulbs in the living room as I like to dim down to almost nothing if when watching the projector but I’m eating. I think the tradfri might be too bright, will try tonight.

chrisgeary

@Harkon321 Before you make the trip, assuming you haven't, give the lampfinder java app a go. I added all mine that way and it was flawless. I also had trouble with an Ikea GU10 bulb using the Hue app but lampfinder found it. Echoing above, doing one at a time helps.

WRT colour temp automation, I've been using the sunset mode in the Hue app to bring up daylight temperature lighting. I have it set to fire 60 minutes before sunset on a 20 minute fade. Then at actual sunset, the Harmony Elite fires a scheduled task to switch the scene to warm white, using the same bulbs and intensity. I sometimes don't even notice the transition. It would be awesome if Philips could implement a sunset offset per routine, rather than global. Then I could do it all within the Hue app.

Harkon321

Got it working in the end. Moved out of the room I'd be testing them in, which caused all sorts of stupid issues.  Rebooted hub and my router and it found them all again, including the 9th bulb!

Pleased so far but the lack of dimming below 10% is a bit of a sore point.  Long term I'll be moving these bulbs to the kitchen and replacing with genuine hue to allow me to dim them properly.

Likewise when I fit one as a nightlight on the landing, the tradfri bulb simply won't dim low enough to make this viable.

nonsoloinglese

I went heavy on Philips Hue over the Black Friday weekend. I picked up the following:

B22 Colour Starter pack including Hue Bridge
8 GU10 white bulbs (Maplin 3 for 2)
Motion sensor   Bridge combo £39.99 (Bridge went on eBay)
Motion sensor   Bridge combo £39.99 (Bridge went on eBay)
6 B22 White bulbs (JL 3 for 2)
2 x Dimmer switches

I am loving the system and everything synced without any issue. It takes a while to get around the echo system and there are so many options that it really does get you thinking on the best way to implement it in your house.  

The only annoying thing is the kids walking around turning off the light switches! That is the next part of the project.

Warnie

Probably a stupid question from a smart light rookie. Is there a way to tell if a GU10 is on the old firmware before you buy the bulbs in store? I only need 4 and hadn't planned on getting an Ikea gateway just for these. Going to eventually use with the Hue set up.