itinj24

GeorgeBMac said:

itinj24 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

Andrew_OSU said:

iOS_Guy80 said:

Hue lighting system still the best. No extra hardware on the wall, no extra hardware in sockets, no adhesive needed to stick anything onto the wall.

Hue is definitely great, but there are definite drawbacks that don’t make it ideal for everyone. The biggest of which is that the switches on the wall can’t be used to turn the bulbs on or off. There are workarounds, like the Aura, but that doesn’t make sense to everyone. If you have kids or older family members, you need a physical way to control the lights. Hue has the Dimmer and Tap and those need affixed to your wall with adhesives as well.

There’s no right or wrong solution here, but in-wall switches are great because it has a physical button, smart control, need to replace one switch rather than several bulbs, and no hub. 

Totally agree.   I put some LifX floods in the overhead sockets in my grandson's room and they work great!  He can control their color, brightness and even how they dance to his music from his phone.   But he or anybody can easily turn them on or off as they enter & leave the room at the wall switch.

I would like to add some strip lighting, but that would not be controlled by the wall switch and could only be controlled by his phone -- and that would be a pain.   They would either stay on all the time or off all the time.

You can bypass the wall switch to keep the circuit constantly closed by connecting the two switch wires together with a wire nut. Remove the switch and cover the electrical box with a blank wall plate so nobody can turn it off. This way the power to the light bulbs is on demand with his phone.  Remembering to turn off the power at the breaker before beginning the job.  Longest part of this job is walking up and down the stairs to turn the breaker off and then on lol. I’m no electrician. Just a DIYer. 

That's actually the exact opposite of what is needed.

The wall outlet is far more convenient for on/off -- especially if you don't have access to the phone that has access to Homekit or the LifX app.

Using those apps for difference lighting effects is reasonable and fairly easy.   But nobody would be happy eliminating the wall switch for simple on and off -- except for the 14 year old who would happily leave them on 24x7.

The next best option is using Siri through the HomePods:   But even that is less convenient than the wall switch.