How To Choose a Smart Lighting

Are you looking for a light bulb for a dimmer switch that has the possibility of changing its color, a wall lamp that can be operated from your phone, or even an entire intelligent lighting system? What can be connected to Hue Bridge, which type of lightbulbs can fit in which sockets? We will advise you on how to choose the right intelligent lighting for your home.

Answer these questions before making your choice

What room do you want to install the lighting in?
What do you expect from your lighting?
How much do you want to invest in smart lighting?

Philips Hue lighting and connection options

3 Philips Hue variants

You can fit different rooms with different light bulbs and lamps. Philips Hue is produced in three variants:

full color with the possibility of dimming,

with color temperature change (chromaticity temperature) and dimming,

warm white with the possibility of dimming.

These are the Philips Hue White, White Ambiance and White and Color Ambiance series.

Philips Hue connection technology

Several technologies are available on the market:

bluetooth, which communicates directly with your phone,

wifi connection, that communicates directly with your home router,

connection via Zigbee and Z-Wave technologies, which need a gateway to function.

Zigbee and Z-Wave are among the most secure connections and can also work in a so-called Mesh network, which means that the products communicate not only directly with the gateway, but also with each other. This extends the distance they can receive signal.

Choose from

Philips Hue Bridge

Bridge is the cornerstone and also the brain of Philips' smart lighting system. You connect to it with a smartphone and use it to control all paired lights.

The Bridge is essential

Communicates with all Philips Hue lights
You can control it with an application on your smartphone
Connects up to 50 Hue bulbs and 12 Hue accessories
Version 2.0 is fully compatible with the Apple Home Kit

Philips Hue starter kits

Not only are they economical thanks to the use of LEDs, but they can also be dimmed remotely after connecting to the Bridge, and you can even change the color of some.

LED bulbs and LED strips

Available with various sockets and luminosities
Monochrome with chromaticity change or 16 million colors
Possibility to buy in a discounted kit with a bridge

Philips Hue interior lights

Energy-saving lights using LED technology illuminate even larger spaces well.

Lamps of various shapes

Wall and hanging ceiling lamps or table lamps
16 million colors or monochrome with chromaticity change
Some can be controlled directly via the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch

Yeelight lamps and bulbs

In addition to Philips Hue, other manufacturers also have smart lighting. Popular LED light bulbs and Yeelight lighting, for example, are popular variants.

An alternative to Philips Hue

Light bulbs that can be controlled directly from a smartphone and without the Bridge adapter
Ceiling lighting controlled via a mobile application
LED strips for pleasant backlighting of kitchen units, monitors and televisions
Rechargeable night lighting with motion sensors

Glossary - smart lighting

Socket

The base is used for mechanical fixing and electrical connection of the luminaire with the light source. They can be screw, bayonet or pin, they can also vary in size. Different types of sockets are not compatible with each other.

Luminous flux

Luminous flux is given in Lumens (lm) and expresses the amount of light energy. The larger this value, the more light the source emits. In general, a higher luminous flux means more power, i.e the consumption of a light bulb. Replacement for 60W bulbs is 806 lm.

Power consumption

Indicates the energy consumption of the luminaire. Current energy-saving LED sources only consume units in watts (W).

Chromaticity

Color temperature (also chromaticity) characterizes the spectrum of white light (kelvin unit - K). Depending on this value, we perceive the color of light as "warm white" (approx. 3000K) to "cold white" (approx. 6000K).

Glossary