Sounds like you are using smart bulbs instead of switches. There are several threads discussing which is better. Tastes Great vs Less Filling.
Personally I prefer switches, but I still use a few bulbs. The most annoying part about bulbs for me is when there is a power outage and then they all are turned on when the power is restored. There are a few apps that help with that, but my grid gets switched fast so itās always too quick to register with the app, just the bulbs.
experiment with a switch and decide for yourself which works better for you.
As @greg stated, are you using smart bulbs with regular switches? If so, not only will you have experiences like youāre having, but you could also be introducing other device performance issues. Depending upon the bulb, it could also be considered routing capable (like the GEās for example), and when you power those off, other devices stop responding as well (youāll see them go offline in the IDE and the mobile app).
If all your lights are hue you should cover or remove all of your wall switches to prevent them being switched off. Smart bulbs are designed to be always on and not switched off at the mains.
Smart bulbs and switches, as others have mentioned, is an entirely different conversation and one that has been discussed many times in the forums.
It used to be that there was no good answer, but fortunately in the last six months or so there are now a number of different choices. So start with the FAQ:
And then take a step back and consider the whole switches versus bulbs discussion:
Just remember that the older arguments about not having a light switch to use with a smart bulb no longer apply, which is why you should read the switch FAQ first.
You canāt blame ST entirely for recent Hue issues if you installed the 4/5/17 Hue software update. Theyāve admitted that there is an issue in the update. It bricked one of my V2 Bridges. Hue replaced the bridge, as soon as the new bridge updated āto the latest software everything is screwed up again. I can control rooms, but individual lights are extremely hit or miss.
And, when we have a ST outage or internet outage, this means no control of smart bulbs at all, unless you have the bridge.
Funny thing I never imagined Iād say, āIām sorry, but the lights are down.ā I had to tell my guests that last night. Iām going to have to take a second pass at redundancies in a few areas to have more graceful failovers.
This is why I invested in a bunch of Hue dimmers & Tap switches. Came home to a dark house at 3 am because of an internet outage once too many times. You can still control Hue lights locally with the Hue app as long as your on the same LAN
True, hence i only use smart bulbs for ambient and secondary lighting. All my primary and main lights are on smart switches for this reason. Also, most of my smart bulbs are connected to hue which are still accessible through a few hue switches via local connection.
Unless you have a one off lamp or two in the room I see no reason not to use the switches. I bought the Leviton Z wave plus ones and they work well, and it works just as a regular Decora switch, so guests do not even need to use the automation. On top of that I can always turn it on no matter if ST is up or down.
converted every toggle in my home into a ge zwave switches for areas I desired automation and 2 dollar ace hardware paddle switches in places or areas where I donāt need automation. so basically in my house every switch is ge but you have options.
with this I was able to set up all my routines smart lighting and core pistons with mode restrictions being very important.
so when I or we get home my automations kick in and sets to home. at this point my wife can go back to the stone age and flip whatever lights she wants without an automation being stopped. do not trigger when in home mode.
then at some point we go to bed and the night mode takes over so I know that whatever switch my wife messed with gets triggered back to its original state ready to fire our goodmorning lights.
it was a work in progress but Iāve got it to where she can do what she wants and I can rest knowing my pistons are firing.
As you noticed, this is a never ending conversation, with people who are passionate on both sides. There are multiple reasons why someone might want to use a smart bulb for a particular use case, in particular if they want either color temperature adjustment (from cool white to warm white), if they want to create zones in a room which has multiple lights controlled by one switch, or of course if they want red/green/blue/color options. Or if they just donāt want to fuss with the wiring. Smart bulbs can also dim lower than most smart switches.
Switches with dumb bulbs have a lot of pluses as well, in particular cost if you have multiple bulbs in a room and you donāt care about zone configurations. And they donāt turn themselves back on after a power outage.
At my house we use bulbs in some places and switches in others. Both are good when matched to the right need.
Again, there are already literally dozens of threads discussing this in the forums so just search and youāll find plenty.
