Light switch and more questions

[Cino]

I would love for someone to answer some of these questions or point me to some good reading. I am super newb…send me a link ill buy you a cup of coffee
My first issue is I picked a dozen or so osram lightify bulbs and a lightfy hub up on the cheap. my very first problem is my hallway has two 3 way switches and my kids turn the switches off which makes the bulbs lose connection. I want to replace the 2 switches at the ends of the hall so that the bulbs can be turned off and on by switch but still stay connected to a ST hub. I really don’t want to spend $50+ on switches but would like to replace every room with a working switch I looked at this switch the osram dimmer as a viable option but don’t want to start buying till i am sure that is the best method.
My end game is
I want to purchase ST hub and start expanding
I want every room to have a controllable light with switch and still have wireless controller capability with phone, echo ect
Some rooms I want a motion activated light like basement where the switch is hard to get to (i have dogs and cats)
control garage door
control my driveway gate
I need to decide if I am buying the ST hub or ST kit but sadly i am not even sure if I need the items in the kit yet

I see so many options zigbee zwave insteon to use switches and not smart bulbs and vise versa its a bit overwhelming i don’t want to go down the wrong path and have to back up and regroup. I have found a few articles like controlling the gate but still have a lot to learn. I am not sure why i find this forum layout odd buts its definitely a different layout and a slight learning curve. Anyway I am going to keep reading but if someone could recommend something for my switch problem that would be a great start. and I greatly appreciate the wealth of knowledge on this blog forum community…

[JDRoberts]

If you like the smart bulbs, start with this FAQ. It should help a lot. (This is a clickable link.)

FAQ: Philips Hue and Other Smart Bulbs - What sort of light switches to use with them? (Long FAQ)

Thinking on a big move to Hue lights, the real question is - what switches to use with them? If they’re all automatable via ST and other devices, do I really want to put them all on controllable switches too? There’s the advantage that I can arrange to ensure those switches are on so that the the Hue bulbs would be too…but it also leaves open the ability for folks to just turn them off and leave them off. Hmm. Thoughts?

The Osram switches at present will work with Osram gateway but not the SmartThings hub. It would be nice if they did work, but they use some proprietary stuff that isn’t compatible right now.

[JDRoberts]

As to some of your many other questions…

I highly recommend the echo. This is the primary means of lights control at our house, and everybody really likes it.

Beyond that, I would start small. Pick one room, get it set up, get the kinks ironed out. That way you won’t have invested hundreds of dollars before you know what approach will work best for your family. There’s no one right answer – – it just depends on your own needs and preferences. So you may end up experimenting with a few different things. Also, starting small will help you isolate any problems that do arise.

[JDRoberts]

The Osram Lightify bulbs can be connected to the Osram gateway or the smart things hub, but not both. I can’t remember if they work with the Phillips hue bridge or not, but I think so.

Echo works with either the smartthings hub or the Phillips hue bridge. I don’t think it works with the Osram gateway.

The Phillips hue bridge has a really nice design which lets it connect to all kinds of things at the same time. So if you connect bulbs to the Hue bridge you can then connect that Hue bridge to echo and to SmartThings and to the Logitech Harmony hub and to third-party apps and to a bunch of other things. It’s one of the features that has made the Phillips hue bridge so popular. You don’t have to give up any one integration in order to get another one.

While their bulbs used to be the most expensive, the new Hue White line which came out a couple of months ago is $15 for a white only bulb. That’s a very competitive price.

The Osram Lightify are very nice bulbs also, and have the color temperature feature, but the gateway doesn’t integrate with anything else.

So before you go out and buy a couple of dozen bulbs, you may want to wait until you figure out exactly which features you want to use in which rooms.

[Cino]

I know sorry about all the questions… i should have mentioned i had planned on dropping the lightfy hub once i purchased the ST hub. The osram color changing and temperature changing is a nice feature but I really don’t use it. dimming is the only thing we really use

[JDRoberts]

No problem, everybody has a ton of questions when they start. Everybody’s needs are different, so it’s not uncommon cannot find the exact answer you’re looking for until you ask.

Osram does send out firmware updates for the bulbs from time to time, and at the present time the smart things hub is not able to update those bulbs. So a lot of people using them with SmartThings do also keep the gateway just so they can do the firmware update.

It’s sort of a pain because you have to unpair each bulb from smart things, pair it to the gateway, do the update, then reverse the procedure. But if you really like the color temperature feature, it can be worth it.

[salyebr (Brian Salyer)]

I like the GE switches because they look like normal switches, even though the always stay in a neutral position. This way, you can use normal bulbs (unless you need more than on/off). So for me, I have HUE in my basement where I entertain, watch movies, etc, but went with just a switch and normal bulbs in my b from because I just need on off capabilities.