I am a dabbler in home automation and thinking about starting to get into lighting. I have heard mostly good things about the Philip Hue line and wanted to see what peoples thoughts are about it.
Our main current automation are a large number of Google Smart Speaker and Arlo video doorbells. Everything is working now on the Google ecosystem which I think Philip Hue will connect with. Our house is 100 years old which means that our possibilities to automate are lower than a new home since we have very few overhead lights, power outlets are at a premium (we have lots of power strips running through the house).
We are thinking about doing smart bulbs in some lamps which we can leave on and a chandalier. I think the biggest issue will leaving things always powered on.
They work well. They cost more than other options, but (at least in my experience) colours are more consistent and uniform.
Not sure if it’s still the case, but the ones I have from a few years ago use Zigbee so you don’t actually need their hub - any Zigbee coordinator will do (I’m using a PoE one, the smlight SLZB-06).
Consider using smart switches instead of smart bulbs. However, given how old the house is, you might not have neutral wires at the switches, which limits the types of smart switches you can use. Do you know if the electrical wiring is still original, or if it was redone at some point?
For the power outlets, I’d highly recommend getting an electrican to install more. It’s way more convenient than having power strips everywhere.
I’ve done smart switches and so many suck shit. Also different colors for the bulbs are so nice. And hue has options for wall switches too (slap a little switch on the wall that has different scene options and such). They’re just better honestly lol. Instant response time too. I was cheap for so long avoiding these and I just kick myself now.
Smart switches can have instant response time too.
I’m using high-end smart switches (Inovelli Blue) and they’re great. They don’t have any of the problems of the cheap ones. You can use them with regular bulbs, or in conjunction with smart bulbs. For smart bulbs, you can pair the switch directly with the bulb.
We don’t have neutrals anywhere except the kitchen which have a GFI which ground at the outlet. The rest of the wiring is very old. I have installed new light fixtures and there are no ground anywhere. Almost all have the larger gauge older wiring and some don’t have a white or black wire. (That is really fun to try to figure out what black wire is hot and which one is neutral). I am thinking smart switches will be out.
We have considered having an electrican to install more outlets and set up grounds for the main floor. Its just kind of expensive and would rather spend it elsewhere for now.
If there’s no ground then I’d immediately contact an electrician and get a quote to replace all the wiring. The existing wiring is likely unsafe, especially with the amount of power pulled by modern devices (old electrical wiring wasn’t designed with that much power usage in mind!)
Also get them to take a look at the main electrical panel and ensure it’s okay.
My house was built in the 1960s, but the wiring was redone at some point by a previous owner. The 100 amp main panel was still original though, and it was a brand that was known for issues. I had it replaced with a new 200 amp panel.
We have check the main electrical panel multiple times and its up to code and safe. That was redone when the previous owner did the basement. We had people out to install heat pumps and they had enough power. We are thinking about getting the wiring redone on the mainfloor but haven’t got around to it…
I would really recommend fixing the wiring before investing any money in home automation.
Don’t build advanced sensitive low voltage systems on top of shaky high voltage systems that can melt and destroy them. Not having enough outlets because of old shoddy wiring is inconvenient when you can’t plug stuff in and waste time running extension cords, it’s expensive because you end up buying that much copper to run extension cords, it’s expensive because shoddy wiring can easily fry electronics, and it’s tragic and expensive when it burns your house down.
We want to upgrade the electrical but you are talking about a couple of grand if not more to replace everything. It is on our to do list.
Yes, I know, do that, or save to do it sooner, or see if you can get low interest financing to do it.
There’s a difference between ‘oh this house’s outlets are mounted lower than code says these days’, and ‘most of the house is missing a core safety wire that’s been part of the code for 50 years’.
I would urge you to have an electrician sort out your electrical issues first.
I helped a friend gut and rewire his kitchen and besides not being grounded, the wiring was very poorly done. I told him it was a miracle he didn’t have a fire.
Their microwave would flip a breaker if anything else was on in the kitchen. I traced the circuit to a pull string light in the basement. The ENTIRE kitchen circuit was passing through a rusty old screw terminal on the light fixture. The wire’s sheathing had completely melted back exposing 4" of bare hot wire.
Don’t trust that old wiring at all. And if you can’t afford to fix it asap, at least stock up on smoke alarms and have an escape plan.
The wiring isn’t poorly done just old. With houses this old all the bad ones are already gone. The only one’s left are working fine.
Electrical code and common practice has changed and improved drastically since ungrounded wiring was the norm.
I’ve worked on many houses and each one was a potential disaster waiting to happen.
Just sayin. Be safe.