I don’t get it. They’re colored lights. I think of my self as a pretty tech-savvy GenXer, and I’m kind of a lighting geek, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why I would want a lamp to be a particular color (other than 2800/3000/3200K) .
Note: I have 95CRI 3200K LED lighting in my kitchen and office where I spend most of my time and I have Caseta programmable/networked lights in the house. I’ve never felt the need to actually use the networking feature. What am I missing with Hue?
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Well as you pointed out you’d never want a particular color other than 2800/3000/3200k; with hue you can have any of these at any time. There are also a lot of special use cases such as colored accent lighting, or just making a space feel more exotic by having neon lighting. Having just a single bulb change colors is one thing but if you have a room with 6+ bulbs all in complimentary colors you can get some pretty cool effects.
That being said, Phillips charges a premium for their bulbs, and there are alternatives that are just as good for half the price
I would guess most users would say the color features are something like “a nice thing to have, even if I don’t use it all the time”.
I don’t have any hue bulbs, but the few smart bulbs I have are used pretty much like normal bulbs. But things like dimming in otherwise non-dimming fixtures or changing the color on an exterior light for holidays or whatever are neat things that come up occasionally.
The networking stuff has been a desired thing for me to delve more thoroughly in, but hasn’t happened it (auto lights for the house when coming/going, settings for different activities like movie nights or game nights, flashing lights for alarms/timers on things like laundry or doorbells).
Smart home features and adjustable color temp/brightness are what I like.
If you’re already tech-savvy and are powering your smart lights with appropriate bulbs and a Lutron system then you are almost exactly the target audience. Hue is just an alternative, easier to set up (proprietary) ecosystem.
I think part of my awe is that I have a well lit house and the cost to re-lamp would be astronomical. Most major rooms in my house have between 8 and 14 can lights (or led equivalent). Maybe 100 lamps in all? Might be more interesting/affordable with just 1-2 lamps per room.
Very jealous. I’ve got about twenty bulbs and that covers my entire house. I think more lighting from more sources would be more pleasing.
It makes for more even lighting with relatively high max brightness and no dead spots. Rather than having multiple individual lights, nearly all of these areas are on high quality dimmers so if I want low or ambient light I can get it, and it achievable with a single control. My day job is in the architecture world (engineer) so I see what’s possible when someone is actively designing spaces for maximum comfort or utility. The first time I saw 98CRI/3200K gallery LEDs I was blown away. It would be another 5 years before prices would drop and I could afford (close to) that quality, but even then I had to seek it out.
Are there resources on lighting best practices? Would love to invest some money and energy here.
I’ve never been fully satisfied with the lighting in my living spaces.
