Question

Thanks for the add.  Trying to get into all this smart house stuff.Thanks for the add. Trying to get into all this smart house stuff. I’ve been told to get a smart things and an echo. But my questions now come into play. Are these smart bulbs able to be set to bright white?, or just be a bright yellowish and change base color to like blue or something? My next question is about bulb adapters and wall plugs. Everything I am seeing says WiFi no hub needed. So if I have a hub can these “ WiFi” plugs and such connect to the hub or are they strictly WiFi only because I don’t see anything that says hub needed. And my WiFi is already horrible 10 up and 5 down at best but normally worse. Can someone explain what I need and to how it all works. Thanks in advance.  

Answer 1

Hello @breaux6556. Welcome! I’m a doctor, and your question is akin to someone asking me “how does this whole ‘body thing’ work! ” All kidding aside, the answers to your questions are “it depends! ” 1. There are bulbs that are color tunable. Phillips hue are the best and they require a hub. They have some that tune just within the white colors, and some that tune the whole color spectrum. Things advertised as WiFi generally only have a WiFi radio in them. For the most part they aren’t good. Those that require a hub are either zigbee or Zwave radio controlled. Both have pluses and minuses. If you don’t want to do any reading the easiest way to dip a toe in is to buy an amazon Alexa and only buy products that say they work with Alexa. Welcome, again. It’s a huge body of knowledge if you are interested!  

Answer 2

I know it's hard to avoid, but you will soon find that smart bulbs are not a good choice. Also most Smart Home people avoid WiFi. Unfortunately both are simple and typically cheaper. With bulbs there is no simple manual access control for the guest or when internet is down verses a switch that always had control. If the bulb is on a switched circuit it can't be controlled if the switch is off. Guests and family members will always use the switch. WiFi can become congested with a lot of devices and yhat can be overcome with good WiFi equipment but in many places you do not have control over your environment like in a metro area. Z-wave meshes itself with the proper devices and is not in contention for resources like WiFi. Just my 2 cents.  

Comments

Use LED bulbs and a smart switch.  

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@breaux6556 yep. Many you install one Smart Switch and leave the rest there.  

Answer 3

If you require color bulbs you can put them behind a Smart Switch and automate when the switch is actuated a command is sent to the bulbs.