LED bulbs that don't require Gateway?

#1

It’s really hard to tell for sure. Very new to smartthings. Are there any LED “connected” bulbs that don’t require a separate gateway?

Thanks

(Justin Stuhlsatz) #2

The GE Link Bulbs can be controlled with the SmartThings Hub only… I believe the WEMO Bulbs can be controlled directly as well.

#3

The term “gateway” usually means a cloud service account these days. The term “bridge” usually means a hardware device that lives in your house.

For example, to control TCP bulbs you need an account on the TCP website. To control Phillips hue bulbs, a Hue bridge device is recommended.

There are at least three white only controllable bulbs that can be connected directly to the smartthings hub, and do not require either a web account with the bulb manufacturer, or another hardware device.

These are the GE link, the Cree connected, and the Osram Lightify. But you may need one of the community contributed device handlers to get access to the full features, like color temperature control (cool white to warm white).

(Scott G) #4

Short answer: GE Link and Cree Connected.

Long answer:
GE Link and Cree Connected are both officially supported by ST with no gateway needed. Phillips Hue bulbs can be directly connected without the Hue gateway, and there are official ST devices for them, but it is not recommended to connect them to ST because you may not be able to “unpair” them later. Osram Lightify is working with ST via community code (I wrote it and have it working with a bulb), but it’s not official yet.

If you just want white dimmable bulbs, I’d go Cree or GE. Osram is a color temp tunable (2700K-6500K), so a little different. It’s a really nice bulb. Hue is the only RGB option, but I wouldn’t connect them directly to ST.

#5

Thanks for the feedback all!

#6

Actually, the bridge is not needed. In fact, if you connect them to the “Wemo Link” (the bridge) you are unable to connect them to ST (so I have been told and believe it to be so).

I had wemo LEDs connected to the Wemo Link and controlled them via the Belkin App. PITA… :rage: I disconnected them from the Link, paired them with ST hub and they work so much better. Anyone want a Wemo Link :smile:

#7

Good to know, thanks! I’ve edited my post above. :blush:

(Christopher Masiello) #8

I have a bunch of the CREE connected bulbs in my house. They connect pretty easily and work well. Plus they’re just really nice bulbs in their own right.

(Curtis Frazier) #9

I second this. My Cree bulbs are great. Better light distribution compared to the GE Links.

#10

I think I’ll look at the Crees. Is it possible to dim multiple Crees at once? Say I have 6 of them in the living room, can I dim them all at once via the Smartthings app?

(Scott G) #11

Yes. The best way to dim multiple bulbs is to use the Dim With Me SmartApp along with a Virtual Dimmer as the master. It’s not currently a native function in the ST app. ST allows you to group lights, but only for on/off commands. This is very easy to do though.

FYI - ST will cycle through the bulbs and send each a command, so you may notice that they don’t dim simultaneously, but it’s gotten a lot better depending on the latency in the system. It’s the cost of being protocol agnostic. Sometimes my groups appear to react simultaneously, sometimes there’s a couple second delay from first to last and occasionally a bulb will not respond at all.

#12

@Sticks18 thank you very much. That’s the first time I’ve used code to make an app. And thanks @wackware for the code!

(Christopher Masiello) #13

Good to know. I may try this.

(James Babin) #14

“The Big Switch” will do dimming too. I just tried it last night. I have a Dimmer switch on the wall and I can hold the switch do the dim level I want and a second or 2 later the other lights dim to that level too.

I will have to try the Dim with me app.