Hi - looking at getting a simple & stable solution to get some outside lights that I can control with smart things.
Any suggestions? Already have lots of Philips Hue bulbs inside & 1 in a casing as an outside light at the front. Not sure if they would be okay in the garden (to last or would the damp / temp kill them?) to light it up or if there is housing that can take e27 or gu10 bulbs??!!!
Any recommendations? Colour would be ideal but isn’t a dealbreaker. Just want to light it up on a timer/control by my phone + mode change / potentially the fibraro motion sensor that’s in the garden too.
Depends on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. The Osram Lightify I Gardenspots work well with smartthings (you don’t need their Gateway, they will pair directly to the smartthings hub). A number of community members are using them. I believe there are nine small lamps on one cord.
In the US, I think only the colour changing ones are sold, but in the UK you can also get just the white which will be considerably less expensive.
We were just discussing these in a US thread last week, and there are some photos posted there
Also, you can use the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki, look in the project report section, and there’s a list there for outdoor lighting. Some of the projects will be using US only devices, but many rely on fibaro for Z wave ( which is available on both the US and UK frequencies) or again the Osram zigbee lamps which are available in both regions. So you might get some more ideas there.
As far as the Hues go, they are not rated for outdoor use, but there are some members who use them in sheltered locations in a semi enclosed fitting. Don’t put any smart bulb in a fully enclosed fitting like a globe unless specifically rated for that use as they can tend to overheat.
That’s an awesome reply @JDRoberts thanks so much! They look really good for low level lighting. I’ll check out the project reports - not seen them before
Only other thing I guess I am looking for is the equivalent of a high powered security light that optionally gives light to the whole garden - but one that can be turned on and off by smartthings stuff rather than just by motion.
Could you just get an LED (or normal) floodlight that (if attached to your house wall) is wired through the wall to a socket outlet, and then control it via a zwave wall plug?
That’s what I do. It’s not an ideal solution, but just about good enough. It’s a PIR security light - the zwave socket is always switched on (so the spotlight comes on when motion is detected via the light’s built in PIR), and if I want to use ST to activate the light, I switch it off, and then on again - and it illuminates straight away.
The smarter option would be to use a zwave motion sensor, but I don’t believe you can get one that is outdoor rated.
Same situation as you, however what I’ve done is wired in a Junction Box. In there, I’ve put a Fibaro Relay which I can use to control the lights.
Currently its rigged up to my water fountain, but I plan to add another for my lights. The only difference being that the feed for the lights will come from a light switch inside, rather than from the main ring.
The issue I seem to have though is that its EXTREMELY slow at responding, I can press on/off on the device handler several times and then 5 minutes later, it blasts them all out at once, which ends up with the fountain coming on and off quickly.
I haven’t figured out if this is an issue with my momentary switch, the relay or the signal strength
