Trying to find color changing LED bulbs that can be used in outdoor fixtures. Does such a thing exist that also works with SmartThings? I’ve done a lot of searching but everything I find looks like you would need to change the entire fixture or it’s not approved for outdoor use.
Edit: I should clarify I’m looking at A19 style bulbs. I have found a few PAR30 but those won’t work for me.
What country are you in? The device selection does vary.
Also, what is the weather like where you live? There’s a big difference between outside in Los Angeles and outside in Minneapolis, for example.
Valid points. I live in North Dakota. Yes it gets dang cold!
I’ve been using LIFX bulbs in my outdoor fixtures for 5 years. They work with smartthings.
It gets as hot as 100 in the summer where I live and -occasionally -5 in the winter.
Thanks I’ll check those out!
I use Sengled and Wiz bulbs during Christmas.
Ok cool. I’m hoping to leave these up year round so I can change colors based on holidays. Thanks for the suggestion!
There are only a few smart bulb models that are rated for outdoor use, and most of those are floodlight format, BR 30s are popular. That’s just a matter of market demand.
The smart bulb device manufacturers generally recommend against outdoor use for their indoor-rated bulbs for the following reasons, but there are certainly many people who do use them outdoors. You should be prepared for a shorter device life if used outdoors, though, which makes them more expensive in that sense.
not waterproof. This is the big one in terms of safety, since it can lead to electrical shorts. But most of the time if the bulb is “damp rated“ you can use it inside a vented fixture and it should be OK.
overheats. Smart bulbs often run hot, noticeably hotter than dumb bulbs. This is why almost all of them will say not to use it in a “fully enclosed“ fixture. You want some venting to let the heat out. Also if the summer heat regularly goes over 90° you should expect a shorter bulb life, maybe as much as 30% shorter. And if it gets really hot, like Arizona summer heat, it may kill the radio. If you can put the bulb in a fixture in a shaded area that can help a lot, even just under the eaves.
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Because not everybody is looking for floodlights, Phillips Hue, for example, offers a bunch of different styles and sizes for all in one outdoor lighting fixtures. You don’t buy a separate bulb for these, it’s built-in or at least comes with the fixture. They are usually waterproofed and have good heat management. But then you’re replacing the fixture as well as the bulb. Most of these should work with smartthings, but I know that’s not what you were looking for.
So the short answer is as of the date of this posting, I don’t think there are any RGB A19 bulbs rated for outdoor use that work with smartthings. 
There are definitely some floodlight styles that do. And Hue has some all in one outdoor fixtures.
There are also quite a few people who don’t follow the manufacturer recommendations and use A19 bulbs in vented sheltered fixtures. This will probably work OK, but the bulbs may have a shorter life because of excess heat in some locations.
The good news is that once Matter arrives there may be a wider selection of candidates, particularly relatively inexpensive Wi-Fi bulbs, that are rated for outdoor use and that work out of the box with smartthings. But these aren’t here yet.
Thank you for the detailed write up. I did have reservations about using an indoor light outdoors especially in ND with our very cold temps and sometimes humid summers. I don’t expect they would fare well, especially since my fixtures are open on the bottom.