Been looking for smart home down lights for a while and been eyeballing this from JB.
Amazon AU recently dropped price for these to $59 and then to $55.20 and JB seem to have matched their price.
These are compatible with Alexa, Apple Homekit, Google Assistant, IFTTT…
Need a sparky for installation though.
Other Hue model lights are on sale as well from JB.
Take additional 5% off with gift cards perhaps ;)
Agreed, especially when you have young kids that go "Hey Google, Hey Google, Hey Google, Hey Google…." when you try to do give a command, then you end up telling the kids off and Google answers "sorry I can't help you with that". Then you feel like a bad parent cos someone is listening to you discipline your kids. My rant over.
Haha 100%
Lol yeah I can imagine that being a pain…
The smart switch you were mentioning; is that Wemo? I was not able to find a 2-3 gang smart switch that supports home automation.
Do leave a message here if you could recall the name.
Cheers!
I feel your pain. I have the same problem. When I say “Hey Google” the wait for it to wake up, my son will give his command which is not what I was to to say.
FWIW you might be better off getting regular ‘dumb’ downlights and linking a group to a smart switch thing
I was all for it, but ended up getting dumb lights and not going smart.
So did you go smart or not?
Haha I see. Bought the grang thing to control smart but don’t use it with anything but an old school switch now
Only thing good about any smart light (whether switch ofr bulb) is being able to automate it. Voice control part of it is more of a hassle than just walking over and hitting the switch.
Yep 100%. However we use a smart light each for kids’ rooms as night light and dim it sneakily from our room so they fall asleep
Nah, I'm so used to telling Google to turn shit off that I'm frustrated by switches. New house though, so switches are a little unknown to me.
My girlfriend has trouble with Google hearing her correctly though..
Yeah hey google is just bonus but combined with google assistant scene or ifttt smart lights are actually really useful.
Alexa or Computer, turn on fire ambience ;)
OK Google, is an awful thing to say.
I use Alexa on my sonos one initially because GA wasn’t available. Much prefer asking Alexa for the day’s weather than ok google.
It's going to be here by the end of the month. They are launching it in us this week
Those light switch won't be compatible with nest and Google new structure so not sure if Google home will still support them moving forward
Couple of downsides though, you may not be able to dim the lights (depending on the smart switch) and if its switch replacement and you don't have a neutral or conduit to run one, probably going to have a hard time installing one.
There are over 30 downlights in my house, can’t afford 1.5k to upgrade them all to smart. Will stay with the LEDs
58 in my house :(
Was bad enough switching to led down lights instead of traditional
Brutal. Some guy showed up at my house with free LED replacements for my downlights - some kind of save the Earth thing.
Had about 40 lights, and he seems to get money per light he installs - so got all replaced to LED, pls a couple 'spares'
In Victoria, there's a government energy saver scheme that rebates this. I've had both my downlights, and separately, my outdoor spotlights, replaced by unsolicited workers who just showed up. Was a bit concerned the first time that it wasn't dodgy!
@Jonty766: Yeah same, lived in Victoria when it happened. Hasn't been around Queensland that I've noticed
These are bigger and brighter then your normal 90 downlights
I just saw the specs on them. 125mm cutout for only 600 lumens?
Should be able to price beat at Bunnings for an extra 10% bringing it down to $49.68
Do i read the electrician bit to mean these dont plug into the power socket?
My lights all have normal 3 prong plugs and when they die i just unplug it and plug in a new one. Does this mean it is non aus or old stock?
yeap it means they dont plug into power socket and needs to be connected to wires instead. i dont think that means they’re old model as most downlights i’ve seen come like these. The ones that come with 3 prong cable are generally more expensive as well.
These lights dont come with a plug. I dont suggest to hard wire them because the terminals are small. Just get a plug and lead for about $3. That way you can unplug them in future if you want.
You can't legally connect them yourself which is why the electrician required
True, just explaining its no big deal for sparkys.
Do you need the Hue hub for all Phillips hue products? I was going to get a bulb when they dropped in price to give it a go until I found out you had to buy a $100 hub to connect to it. If you are doing a house it's not a major cost but too much to test it out IMO.
You can use an Echo Plus or a Philips Hue dimmer switch. Functionality will be limited without the Hue bridge though.
Yes. Hue hub is better then the echo plus
bigger cutout something to remember if you're buying these, once you go Philip, you can't go back! (without a reducer - gross)
…. Should be added to the description IMHO.
True, typical cutout is 90mm or 70mm in Australia. These are 125mm.
AFAIC (and AFAIK) these are NOT downlights even if they look like them. The diffuser that I think they have spreads the light. It doesn't go down. Therefore not a downlight. You may as well just use one big lampshade Inthe middle of the ceiling.
They are a nice slim looking downlights
Well it doesn't go up…
I can't find a beam angle quoted, but yes they're not going to be 60 degrees like traditional halogens, probably 120 or more.
If you're looking for the wall wash of the halogens or a spotty beam for task lighting, these aren't what you want.
Have these in the kitchen and hallway, extremely happy with them and they look great very modern looking. I have motion sensors so when i walk in to the kitchen or down they hall they automatically come on.
I run the hall lights at 80% and warm, so the only time i really have to use voice to operate them is when i steam mop the hall. I will switch them to white and 100% to give more light and better colour reproduction.
Really happy with mine and if you get get Bunnings to price beat for $49 that's a great price.
I use motion on most of my hue bulbs like stairs etc. I have been looking at these for the hallways and bedrooms with motion and hue dimmers
Yes i have motions on the stairs, kitchen, laundry, pantry, en suite bathroom, main toilet, hallway and walk through wardrobe. 3 of those have 2 sensors with sensor couple… A crack habit would of been cheaper lol.
But then you would have to get up and flick the light switch
They are not bright enough for kitchen use.
I have 4 in my kitchen and they’re plenty bright enough with good spread. Very happy with them
These lights are 600 lumens. Two would be fine for a bedroom but a kitchen will need at least 4 or maybe more for a large kitchen.
Have you tested in your kitchen?
These are larger and spread the light more
My comment is based on lumens. I've tried 3 philips hue globes and it was not bright enough. I had to put back my standard 1400 lumens led globes otherwise the boss would not be happy.
These dont suit everyone. Personality i dont see the benefit your talking about, you can have these and still do everything you need to do in a kitchen, each to their own. Most people have under cabinet strips for extra working lights
I swapped out some GU 5.3 globes for the Aphelions in the kitchen and they are way better, liked them so much i done the hall with Aphelions also.
How do the compare to the Philips Master LED MR16 7W 60D Warm White Dimmable?
Retrofitted them about 5 years ago and they have been ok but the room really isn't bright enough. Quick look at the specs and these white ambiance globes are 600 lumens compared to the older 460 lumens but I'm not sure how much difference that would make to the overall room (15 globes)
These are much bigger in size
The size is ok but if I am going to spend the money I really want the room to feel "brighter". The corners of the room feel a bit "shadowy" with the existing lights
Price match with bunnings and test one out if not happy you should be able to return. Or go to a lighting place that doe hue bulbs to see in action
These should be around 136 in size so larger then normal 90 downlights
I have one of these. Paid $59 from Amazon. They are a high quality fitting. Control via my Echo Show. Works great. These will allow you to dim without dimmers and to set the mood in each room. Cos each is smart. You can control each one even if multiples are powered from a single switch. You cant do that with dumb lights and a smart switch. This is the way all lights will go in future for sure.
Adding to this now hue has zones it means you can control multiple lights/rooms by a zone like downstairs/upstairs etc
They same price on amazon now https://www.amazon.com.au/Philips-Hue-Downlight-Compatible-A…
Might be worth looking at reviews 7x 5 stars on the australian amazon
Does anyone know when the sale ends?
These are great, I used 13 in recent family room/kitchen/laundry renovation at a previous $55.10 each. They can be controlled individually or in groups including on off, dimming and full range of whites. Sparky wired sockets, but these needed leads before being fitted. Also 125mm hole saw. I got to place lights exactly over benches etc and very pleased with the result. These are not 1:1 replacements for halogen downlights though, but great alternative to a new fitting where you were considering a smart bulb.
I bought a starter Kit with Bridge and 3 x gen 3 white/color E27 globes from Bunnings, and a few items JB, including a white/ambiance globe.
I have used one of the white/color globes and the white/ambiance globe in two separate bedrooms. I have to say that while I like the concept of controlling the globes, I am disappointed with the lumens output. I have previously had CFL globes in these rooms and was happy with them.
I also bought a base Hue outdoor spotlight and 3 x extension spotlights……am very happy with these
Also bought a dimmer and motion sensor, which I am yet to set up.
As for the end date, the Current JB HiFi catalog expires on 15 May.
Also
FWIW you might be better off getting regular ‘dumb’ downlights and linking a group to a smart switch thing. Can’t remember the name. Look it up. I was all for it, but ended up getting dumb lights and not going smart. I feel like smart stuff is too flaky and I also hate saying ‘ok google’ they need a better trigger word that’s not a business’s name. Sorry for the rant haha