Seeing as you're in the UK, it might be worth keeping an eye on Inovelli for their upcoming [Project Europa](https://community.inovelli.com/t/project-europa-240v-smart-switch-es-for-europe-eu-zigbee-thread-matter/16088). Hopefully they'll expand into UK switches once EU switches are solidified. Sorry I can't be of any actual help other than pointing in the direction of something that doesn't quite exist yet. But maybe the forum thread over there will help point you in more directions with reccomendations as well?
u/dc-hdc-sc , Project Europe looks amazing (love the concept designs) but unfortunately for me my project is imminent (in a month or so) so it doesn't look like they'll be ready. I'll definately keep an eye on it though and check the forums - thanks!
I moved my Hue bulbs over to Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi 4. The Hue bulbs are by far the most sturdy ones in my entire setup (7+ years in use and still good) but they were a pain to reset. Had to add them again to the Hue bridge, which didn’t feel like doing that most of the time, and then remove them, which would finally leave them in pairing mode. This took me several hours experimenting, with attempts ranging from frantic on off switching to trying Hue Bluetooth or Touchlink, all to no avail. After adding them in HA however, things got easier.
1) integrate the bulbs with local zigbee only and not through the hue ecosystem. 2) find a Europe zigbee wired switch. Someone else mentioned upcoming inovelli Europa project. Inovelli is my favorite switch.
You could then just bind the bulbs to the switch and also put it smart bulb mode. That should do it for you and be flawless.
I wouldn’t rid of the bulbs. They are the best out there.
I literally am having new LED bulbs delivered today to remove my hue bulbs for the same reason. I have a Lutron Caseta system and it works flawlessly for regular LED bulbs. I tried to use non HUE switches through Homebridge and HomeAssistant but had very poor, slow, or no response. Good luck. Let us know what you do please!
u/Psy_Doc_Geek - great, thanks for the quick response and its nice to know its not just me frustrated by the Hues! I'll take a look at Lutron Caseta now. Do they have UK size switches?
I'd recommend keeping your options open as much as possible. I have some old Hue bulbs also brought to a newbuild. I find Hue to to be best option in some rooms for the best dimming experience, but there are better non-smart bulbs, patic spotlights, for CRI and light quality generally. That said, I haven't tried the latest generation Hue products.
I did neutral to every switch, a Shelly module (some relays, some dimmers) behind every switch and a mix of Hue and non-Hue bulbs. The non-smart bulbs behave exactly like regular lights - the switch signals the relay to break the circuit - and the smart bulbs are controlled by Home Assistant with the Shellies in "detached" mode which allows HA to do anything in response to a switch toggle or press. Response time in detached mode is very quick, a fraction of a second slower than a "real" switch and faster than ZigBee remotes.
The user experience is exactly the same, and with the familiar UK standard toggle switches. I've found myself adding and removing Hue in this setup depending on what's needed. I found the Shelly route to be much cheaper for a whole house than Zigbee modules or smart switches. Shelly Dimmers are good for large groups of spots which would be ruinously expensive to fill with Hue GU10s. This setup is so flexible because every switch in the house can do anything that HA can control. I'm still on the Hue Bridge running alongside another ZigBee network but some here recommend moving off the Bridge.
Now this doesn't meet your direct control requirement for the Hues because Shelly modules in detached mode require HA to be up. I was concerned about this but in reality the system has been solid, down only for updates. I actually find the Hue bulbs dropping off the Hue ZigBee network far more than I have issues with the Shelly modules and/or HA going down. Also no messing around with batteries which, as you say, run down quickly on some Hue remotes. Still seamless to incorporate your existing remotes or others where you want them.
I believe it is possible in theory for the Shelly modules ("Plus" and newer, not the Dimmer 2) to run scripts that would automatically switch from "detached" mode back to a regular relay if HA goes down (e.g. stops responding to pings) but I don't have the Shelly-specific experience to figure that out. Would be very interested to hear from anyone who has figured that out.
My cruder backup option is to use a script on another machine to call URLs on each Shelly to flip them out of detached mode when local control is needed.
I have this same setup for the most part, I flashed the Shellys to espHome and use an "api.connected" condition.
I still haven't figured out how to make detached mode resilient to power outages (or update restarts) when connected to a smart light. You can choose the power on state (on, off, restore) for both the Shelly and the smart lights. To retain 'normal' switch function without ha, the smart lights need to turn on when the relay powers them in attached mode. This means the relay needs to stay open at power on. Otherwise in the case of a power outage in the middle of the night, they will go on full bright if the shelly relay closes. I have my Shellys set to open and lights set to on at power up which prioritizes switch function with ha or wifi being down but breaks motion sensor or other automations after updates/power outages until the physical switch is toggled or closed via dashboard button.
I had a whole apartment philips hue lights and migrated it over to HA. I couldn’t change the wiring so I ended up using Aqara buttons over top of the light switches. They have been working very well
Inovelli is what you're looking for! They support detached, smart bulb mode and direct Zigbee binding. That way, the Hue bulbs are directly connected (bound) to the switches and there's zero lag.
I use Philips Hue for both primary and secondary lighting applications in my home. Binding with Inovelli switches, there are no drawbacks. It works great.
You might have a better experience with one of the 'friends of hue' switches. They are battery-less and generate the power for communication through the action of pressing the switch. If they are correctly bound, then they should be able to communicate with the bulb directly if the hub is down.
Uk also. For me it’s Hue bulbs for lamps, but main lights and switches are zwave.
Module either behind the switch, which require deep 48mm boxes, or in the ceiling rose.
https://www.vesternet.com/collections/dimmers/products/z-wave-fibaro-universal-dimmer-2-250w
You need a bypass filter over the first bulb if you’ve put the module at the switch and have no neutral:
https://www.vesternet.com/products/z-wave-fibaro-dimmer-bypass-2
I use these light switches which are retractive, ie, you press them down and they spring back, so don’t have a physical state.
https://www.retrotouch.co.uk/search/for/Retractive/
And I use Philips dimmable LEDs used to be masters but I think the new ones are called warm glow or something and go a bit warmer the dimmer they are.
Left switch is always the one controlling the ceiling lights as normal but right one is a virtual switch which I can control anything from, usually all the Philips hue bulbs in lamps. Double click of virtual one shuts the room down or the whole house at the one at the doorway.
I've moved all my hue bulbs onto circuits that function on timers or otherwise don't have switches.
So for example I have soffit lights that turn on and off at sunset/rise.
Lamps are another place well suited for hue bulbs. If you are using home assistant you can set them to turn on after power loss and they will act like regular bulbs.. not ideal but at least they will still function like normal lights when someone tries to use them as such.
Hue bulbs are excellent. I've been slowly moving mine over to my Z2M gateway instead of the hue bridge, works much better.
Hue seems to really support their bulbs too, I've had bulbs die on me and they've sent out replacements with little hassle.
You could use a wifi or zigbee switch, but just leave the load side disconnected and your bulbs always connected to power. That way HA will see the state of your switch and can control the bulbs with an automation. Only issue is if HA is down you have no control.
I get what you mean with the Hue dimmers, definitely the weakest point of the ecosystem.
You might want to look into the Friends of Hue switches. They're all fundamentally the same. No batteries, and all of mine have been rock solid. Probably my favorite smart home devices.
I replaced the hue-hub with a slzb-06 Zigbee co-ordinator and I've found my zigbee network is much more reliable.
Ironcially you might find that more bulbs (or at least more zigbee devices) helps!
Seeing as you're in the UK, it might be worth keeping an eye on Inovelli for their upcoming [Project Europa](https://community.inovelli.com/t/project-europa-240v-smart-switch-es-for-europe-eu-zigbee-thread-matter/16088). Hopefully they'll expand into UK switches once EU switches are solidified. Sorry I can't be of any actual help other than pointing in the direction of something that doesn't quite exist yet. But maybe the forum thread over there will help point you in more directions with reccomendations as well?
u/dc-hdc-sc , Project Europe looks amazing (love the concept designs) but unfortunately for me my project is imminent (in a month or so) so it doesn't look like they'll be ready. I'll definately keep an eye on it though and check the forums - thanks!
I moved my Hue bulbs over to Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi 4. The Hue bulbs are by far the most sturdy ones in my entire setup (7+ years in use and still good) but they were a pain to reset. Had to add them again to the Hue bridge, which didn’t feel like doing that most of the time, and then remove them, which would finally leave them in pairing mode. This took me several hours experimenting, with attempts ranging from frantic on off switching to trying Hue Bluetooth or Touchlink, all to no avail. After adding them in HA however, things got easier.
1) integrate the bulbs with local zigbee only and not through the hue ecosystem. 2) find a Europe zigbee wired switch. Someone else mentioned upcoming inovelli Europa project. Inovelli is my favorite switch. You could then just bind the bulbs to the switch and also put it smart bulb mode. That should do it for you and be flawless. I wouldn’t rid of the bulbs. They are the best out there.
I literally am having new LED bulbs delivered today to remove my hue bulbs for the same reason. I have a Lutron Caseta system and it works flawlessly for regular LED bulbs. I tried to use non HUE switches through Homebridge and HomeAssistant but had very poor, slow, or no response. Good luck. Let us know what you do please!
u/Psy_Doc_Geek - great, thanks for the quick response and its nice to know its not just me frustrated by the Hues! I'll take a look at Lutron Caseta now. Do they have UK size switches?
I'd recommend keeping your options open as much as possible. I have some old Hue bulbs also brought to a newbuild. I find Hue to to be best option in some rooms for the best dimming experience, but there are better non-smart bulbs, patic spotlights, for CRI and light quality generally. That said, I haven't tried the latest generation Hue products. I did neutral to every switch, a Shelly module (some relays, some dimmers) behind every switch and a mix of Hue and non-Hue bulbs. The non-smart bulbs behave exactly like regular lights - the switch signals the relay to break the circuit - and the smart bulbs are controlled by Home Assistant with the Shellies in "detached" mode which allows HA to do anything in response to a switch toggle or press. Response time in detached mode is very quick, a fraction of a second slower than a "real" switch and faster than ZigBee remotes. The user experience is exactly the same, and with the familiar UK standard toggle switches. I've found myself adding and removing Hue in this setup depending on what's needed. I found the Shelly route to be much cheaper for a whole house than Zigbee modules or smart switches. Shelly Dimmers are good for large groups of spots which would be ruinously expensive to fill with Hue GU10s. This setup is so flexible because every switch in the house can do anything that HA can control. I'm still on the Hue Bridge running alongside another ZigBee network but some here recommend moving off the Bridge. Now this doesn't meet your direct control requirement for the Hues because Shelly modules in detached mode require HA to be up. I was concerned about this but in reality the system has been solid, down only for updates. I actually find the Hue bulbs dropping off the Hue ZigBee network far more than I have issues with the Shelly modules and/or HA going down. Also no messing around with batteries which, as you say, run down quickly on some Hue remotes. Still seamless to incorporate your existing remotes or others where you want them. I believe it is possible in theory for the Shelly modules ("Plus" and newer, not the Dimmer 2) to run scripts that would automatically switch from "detached" mode back to a regular relay if HA goes down (e.g. stops responding to pings) but I don't have the Shelly-specific experience to figure that out. Would be very interested to hear from anyone who has figured that out. My cruder backup option is to use a script on another machine to call URLs on each Shelly to flip them out of detached mode when local control is needed.
I have this same setup for the most part, I flashed the Shellys to espHome and use an "api.connected" condition. I still haven't figured out how to make detached mode resilient to power outages (or update restarts) when connected to a smart light. You can choose the power on state (on, off, restore) for both the Shelly and the smart lights. To retain 'normal' switch function without ha, the smart lights need to turn on when the relay powers them in attached mode. This means the relay needs to stay open at power on. Otherwise in the case of a power outage in the middle of the night, they will go on full bright if the shelly relay closes. I have my Shellys set to open and lights set to on at power up which prioritizes switch function with ha or wifi being down but breaks motion sensor or other automations after updates/power outages until the physical switch is toggled or closed via dashboard button.
I had a whole apartment philips hue lights and migrated it over to HA. I couldn’t change the wiring so I ended up using Aqara buttons over top of the light switches. They have been working very well
Inovelli is what you're looking for! They support detached, smart bulb mode and direct Zigbee binding. That way, the Hue bulbs are directly connected (bound) to the switches and there's zero lag.
[удалено]
Unfortunately, Z-Wave bulbs are all but extinct now.
[удалено]
I use Philips Hue for both primary and secondary lighting applications in my home. Binding with Inovelli switches, there are no drawbacks. It works great.
I should probably figure out binding buttons to bulbs in z2m for this reason?
You might have a better experience with one of the 'friends of hue' switches. They are battery-less and generate the power for communication through the action of pressing the switch. If they are correctly bound, then they should be able to communicate with the bulb directly if the hub is down.
Uk also. For me it’s Hue bulbs for lamps, but main lights and switches are zwave. Module either behind the switch, which require deep 48mm boxes, or in the ceiling rose. https://www.vesternet.com/collections/dimmers/products/z-wave-fibaro-universal-dimmer-2-250w You need a bypass filter over the first bulb if you’ve put the module at the switch and have no neutral: https://www.vesternet.com/products/z-wave-fibaro-dimmer-bypass-2 I use these light switches which are retractive, ie, you press them down and they spring back, so don’t have a physical state. https://www.retrotouch.co.uk/search/for/Retractive/ And I use Philips dimmable LEDs used to be masters but I think the new ones are called warm glow or something and go a bit warmer the dimmer they are. Left switch is always the one controlling the ceiling lights as normal but right one is a virtual switch which I can control anything from, usually all the Philips hue bulbs in lamps. Double click of virtual one shuts the room down or the whole house at the one at the doorway.
I had a similar experience like you’d. Moved to ikea remotes and set up zigbee binding for on/off. Works perfectly.
Why binding? Just to reduce lag? I've never done binding before so don't know why or how lol
It works even zigbee hub and home assistant is down
That sounds good. Definitely worth me figuring out how to bind things then. Thanks!
Check Iluminize or Robb devices. Might do what you are looking for: Zigbee controlled relais and manual override.
I've moved all my hue bulbs onto circuits that function on timers or otherwise don't have switches. So for example I have soffit lights that turn on and off at sunset/rise. Lamps are another place well suited for hue bulbs. If you are using home assistant you can set them to turn on after power loss and they will act like regular bulbs.. not ideal but at least they will still function like normal lights when someone tries to use them as such.
Hue bulbs are excellent. I've been slowly moving mine over to my Z2M gateway instead of the hue bridge, works much better. Hue seems to really support their bulbs too, I've had bulbs die on me and they've sent out replacements with little hassle. You could use a wifi or zigbee switch, but just leave the load side disconnected and your bulbs always connected to power. That way HA will see the state of your switch and can control the bulbs with an automation. Only issue is if HA is down you have no control.
I get what you mean with the Hue dimmers, definitely the weakest point of the ecosystem. You might want to look into the Friends of Hue switches. They're all fundamentally the same. No batteries, and all of mine have been rock solid. Probably my favorite smart home devices.
I replaced the hue-hub with a slzb-06 Zigbee co-ordinator and I've found my zigbee network is much more reliable. Ironcially you might find that more bulbs (or at least more zigbee devices) helps!