Proper way to use both a smart wall switch and smart bulb to control same ceiling light fixture (multi-part question)

[Wtstreetglow (Weston T Turner)]

Hello All!

Hope you guys can help me out with the subject. Or maybe, you may tell me if I have “overkilled” my setup.

I have a ceiling light fixture in use with a wall switch.— The bulbs are Philips Hue, the switch is a GE z wave smart toggle switch (14292).

Can you all tell me the proper way to use these together?-- I would like to have the normal/ standard home “feel” (wall switches) while also having the colored bulbs.

Also, if I’m not mistaken, is it true that every time I turn the GE smart switch to off that the Philips Bulb will lose the prior color the next time I turn it on from the wall switchthat was set up before it lost power (so it has no “memory” per se).

If that is the case, it just seems kind of “dumb”.

Lastly, is there a way to link the bulb to the switch within the smartthings setup? (It just seems weird to me to have the switch showing “on” but the bulb showing “off” in the smartthings app)

Using these items together seems like the perfect solution. But I feel there are better ways to do this than the issues I am speaking of above.

Hope you guys can give me a hand with the concept of using these together.

[JDRoberts]

Don’t use those specific Devices together. When you read the users guide for your smart bulbs you will see that the bulbs are intended to always be on power. It is the bulb which should decide for itself how much current to draw. If you regularly cut the current to these bulbs when you turn them on again over time the inrush current can damage the radio in the bulb, reducing the life of your already very expensive smart bulbs. Plus the problem you mention of not being able to use them from the network when the current is off.

It’s all right if there’s an occasional unexpected power outage, but you should not have these bulbs controlled by any switch, smart or dumb, which regularly cuts the current to them completely.

However, you can still have physical switches that operate these bulbs. You just have to make sure that the switch is not actually controlling the current. Instead the switch will send a message to the SmartThings hub, the Hub will send a message to the bulb, and the bulb will act accordingly. This way the bulb is always ready to answer the next request, whether it comes because the switch was pressed or because an automation is run. And you protect the radio inside the bulb.

See the following FAQ (this is a clickable link). It will explain how you can use physical switches with smart bulbs.

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?

[Wtstreetglow (Weston T Turner)]

@JDRoberts
So it’s sounding like I can use the GE switches with the Hue lights but they may have to be wired up differently? I will read your linked post. Thank you for helping me along in my smart home journey!!

[Wtstreetglow (Weston T Turner)]

@JDRoberts

I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was making a duplicate post. I will continue this discussion in the linked topic.

[etbrown (Eric Brown)]

In short, you need a non-load bearing accessory switch to control the smart bulbs programmatically. This type of switch was originally intended for 3-way switching control when there was no traveler with the previous “dumb” switch.

In the past I’ve used the Linear Accessory Switch (WT00Z-1). This accessory switch is different from other add-on or companion switches because it has its own Z-wave radio to communicate with the hub or another z-wave switch.

However, since you have Hue bulbs, your best bet is to remove the old switch, directly wire the bulbs to power, and place a Philips Hue Remote on the wall plate over the old switch.