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I’ve been through this recently and whilst not exactly answering your question my thoughts are as follows:
- Hue do a switch replacement for normal switches (not the dimmer switch…), but the dimmer switch is nice and as it acts as a remote can have it wherever it works best.
- I wanted all my rooms to also be “guest proof” which meant either replacing my main switches or just using them on lamps, as the dimmer switch needs noticing, even if it’s obvious to you.
- I also didn’t want all my lights dependant on the inter webs ie I wanted some redundancy in case everything went wrong.
- Due to the above two points (and the fact I didn’t want to replace my wall switches) I decided to use the dimmer switches for bulbs in all my lamps + some of the Hue stand along lamps/light strips etc, and keep my “normal” room lights as normal lights.
I’ve found this gives plenty of light for spaces where I only had one ceiling light, plus with custom colours can give a nicer light so I’ve found I need less light as it’s more spread out across the room
Edit: if you want anyone to be able to control the lights then yes some form of physical switch is needed, although you can set your hue bulbs to turn on when connected back to power (eg power cut or standard switch on/off). But if there is no power then the app can’t find them
- Hue do a switch replacement for normal switches (not the dimmer switch…), but the dimmer switch is nice and as it acts as a remote can have it wherever it works best.
C4r1s
Looking at Philips Hue as a first step into smart things in the home but can’t quite get my head around what you do with your switches, particularly for the times you have guests over…is it really necessary to buy the Smart Dimmer Switches to replace your ‘normal’ switches or is there a cheaper on/off alternative?
We don’t actually have many lights we’d be replacing; hall, landing and four rooms (plus maybe a lamp), but getting a bit confused as to what to buy to get the best set-up. Anybody able to offer an idiot’s guide, please?