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27 Creative Philips Hue Ideas You Will Want to Try

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Just got your Philips Hue bulbs or looking to buy, here are some great ideas and creative ways to use them and thing you can do with your smart lighting you may have not thought of.

From mood lighting, to using it as a notification system, party lights, movie lighting or using it to help you sleep or wake in the morning. Here are some great ideas for Philips Hue lighting system. 

Philips Hue Ideas

We are going to have a look at some ideas for the Phillip Hue. These ideas will incorporate the different Apps and services you can use with the Phillips Hue.

1. Hue Light Alerts

The Phillips Hue gives you access to 16 Million light options, so what better way to use them but to create alerts in the home. Alerts for what? Well when connected to a Smart Home Hub the Hue lights can be used to create signal alerts for different things.

The App IFTTT ( If This Then That) app, along with other automation systems can alert users that someone has come through a certain door or someone has entered a less monitored area such as the garage or conservatory.

To create this Alert you can integrate a Phillip Hue color changing light bulb with the specific Connect System and a Z – Wave Smart door controller to the the assigned door to be monitored.

So when some enters that door, a command can be sent to the living room. This is done by the command sending a signal to the connect system which will tell the Phillips hue Bulb in the living room to flash a certain color. That way you are able to track if someone is coming and going, catch the kids out of they miss their curfew and maybe an uninvited visitor.

Alerts can also be created without a Smart Home Hub. with the IFTTT app other alerts that can be set. One example of that is If it rains you can set up the hue lights to blink, by linking the app to the weather channel.

No better way of know that its is time to take the washing in. it can even be set to match the severe weather warning, which nowadays is so important. So look around and find those cool alerts that will suit you and can in the meantime possibly save your life.

Flash your Lights when you get a Text Message

This is an impressive mod and a fun way to use Hue!

Flash your lights red like a warning light when you get a text message – Read the how to guide here.

2. Feature Framing

Feature Framing is another cool way to use the Hue lighting system. You can use the lights to frame or highlight furniture like cabinets and shelves. You can get light strips that are LEDs which can be embedded or put in plastic tape and then attached to these different things for a dramatic effect.

Many people use them in an concealed way so that the light just comes out from under things. For example around the bottom of coffee tables, on top of kitchen units ,under living room shelves, or even to highlight steps.

You can use the application to create a soft glow of your preferred color. This innovation can jazz up your living space, give it an outer space feel or just prevent you from missing a step and tripping up.

3. Dress Up the Stair Cases

The Phillips Hue light strips are idea for a number of different reasons and purposes. Because of its overall flexibility, these strips can be used virtually any place in the home. Therefore. Homeowners can actually pick and choose the best places that will suit their specific needs.

Also, since these little lighting ideas can serve as a multi-purpose solution for varying needs, the owner may choose to place these lighting strips strategically on the wall of their stair cases. When this installation is complete, the family can take advantage of extra lighting at night to walk up and down the stairways with ease, and it can improve the looks of the stair area greatly.

4. Create a romantic setting in the home

Philips Hue light strips are also idea for setting the tone in a home. In fact, if an individual has planned a romantic night with their spouse, they can change up the looks quite dramatically. Because these lighting strips can be placed in different areas, all the person has to do is choose the place and complete the installation. Because these lights have been made with smart technology, the areas can be dimmed and lit up as brightly as they desire. These lights are absolutely great for setting up a romantic dinner in the dining area.

In addition to controlling the mood in the dining area, these lights can also change up the ambience in the bedroom too. So, if the owner or a family member would like add a little bit more ambience in their bedroom, they can set the tone any way that they wish. For example, if they want the bedroom to be a quiet serene room where they can unwind and relax, they can place the lighting strategically around the bed and other areas. The color that these lights may also emit a light blue so that it will have a calming effect.

5. Improve the Looks of Your Home Theatre

The home theatre is a place where everyone gathers to be entertained so it is not uncommon for people to spend a lot of their time in this room. For celebrations and other special times, a home theatre should always be set up with various activities in mind.

If you would like to create a mini theater at home, you need to firstacquire a big screen. Getting the screen might be fulfilling at first, but there is still room for improvement to make it closer to a theater experience.

One of the options you have that work perfectly include adding lights, specifically the Lightstrip Plus, which has a stickable strip that offers multi-color LEDs that can be controlled from your smartphone.

And what’s the beauty of all this? The fact that you can set the color you want makes it more interesting to watch your favorite teams play as you can choose to have the color your team of choice uses. It even allows you to choose a deep dark red theme for horror films. Basically, the color choices you are offered are limitless (16 million).

In some cases, the owner may want to improve its overall looks by focusing on the lighting in the room. To avoid spending a lot of money out of pocket, the owner can save money by using the hue light strips to create a very bright look or a dim area for everyone to enjoy themselves.

Sometimes all a room needs to pick it up is a little bit more color in the room. Even though painting the room is a viable option, there are other ways to add more color to any room in a home. One of the most effective and time saving options is to add a touch of color by installing Philips Hue Light strips in the color that the person desires.

6. Sync with your TV

The Hue lights can make watching a movie or an exciting series very special, on the Appstore the Hue Camera App can use the devices camera to pick up colors from the TV and change the color of the Hue light to match the atmosphere.

You can imagine watching something like Blue Planet or the Film interstellar being literally out of the world. the Hue will certainly pick up Blues, Reds, pinks. Obviously like all things, you may need to do a little trail and error with the the app and the lights to get them to work exactly as you would like them , however once you reach the right setting then this will make such a great feature.

With Hue entertainment we hope that it will become easier to sync onscreen action with your Hue lights.

7. Celebrate your Team scoring

Flash your lights and start the celebration when your team scores or wins. Check out this set up where the celebrations take over the living room.

This video shows exactly what happens when there is a goal when watching NHL. This is a great set up and an epic celebration, once you have seen this you will be itching to get this set up yourself! Read more here.

8. Party Night

As the bloom create a bright light effect up the wall they are ideal for getting the party started an creating a stunning party feel within any room of the house. Combining these with apps such as Hue Disco you can have the lights changing color and adjusting to the beat of the music.

This really is a great way to use these, even if you are just listening to music and having a relaxed night in, slowing down the fade of the lights can be relaxing and enjoyable.

Android and Apple users can also sync their Phillip Hue Bulbs to Music. The Hue Disco uses the microphone feature of your phone to pick uo the sound of music and change s the colour of the lights to the beat of the music. With this app you are able to create your specific co,our scheme or downloand a pre prrogrammed one.

By adjusting the microphone sensitivity you can reduce the amount of interference that background noise creates. The intensity of light can also be changed to create different moods. These features are good for when it is Date Night, perfect for setting the mood. Or when it comes to party time it is a great party starter and with the ease of use with the disco app you can use the features to your liking.

9. Automate your Lighting

The Phillips Hue app can turn your lights on and off for you when you arrive home or even when you are leaving. You can use the App setting “Routines” and then going onto “Home and Away”. If you enable the Location aware feature , then you can adjust it to turn on specific lights at specific times. The same with turning it off.

So if you wake up at a certain time, leave the house for work or want to come back home to a lit up house without worrying that electricity is being wasted then what a better way to do so. By using the Phillips hue inbuilt app the lights seem to act a bit more responsive.

As the article has shown, there are many ways of using the Phillips Hue lights for the home. So whether you are new to the smart lighting world or you have finally found time to use your lights in a more than general way, the hue lights will prove to be a great addition and also a feature that could put your home on the map, create the right party environment or most importantly even save lives. Be cool and try out these Cool Ideas for the Phillips Hue.

10. Wake up to the Sunrise

Use the Hue bulbs and set a routine so that you get a sunrise effect in the morning when you wake up. Have your bedside lamps light up getting warmer and brighter in the morning before your alarm clock sounds.

This is great for helping you wake up in the morning feeling fresher and more awake making it easier to get up in the morning. It is also great for those winter months where it maybe dark still when you get up.

11. Relax with a Sunset

Using the wake up feature you can create beautiful sunset lighting effects, ideal if you have them in your bedroom, you can set them to fade down before turning off, from a bright white light, to orange, red, getting darker and darker before turning off.

They can also be used to create a sunrise too, getting brighter and brighter before your alarm goes off, this helps you to wake up and helps you to feel more awake when your alarm does sound.

12. Movie Night

How about having one either side your tv, creating a cinema feel to your living room you can use apps to sync the on screen action with your Hue lights, as the action unfolds in the film you can have your Hue Bloom lamps adjust to the main color on screen.

In this video you can see the bloom lamps either side of the tv adjust depending on the color and what is happening on screen. They have also used a light strip behind the TV too, making the light effect even brighter.

13. Add a splash of Color 

Your lighting systems don’t have to be static all the time. There is the Hue Go lamp that you can carry around to add some splash of color to your rooms as you like. The system comes with a rechargeable battery so you do not need to always have it plugged it to enjoy its usefulness.

It comes in handy especially where you regularly host get togethers and it is the perfect choice when you want to add some ambience to specific areas within your home; for example in your backyard barbecue. Most importantly, it is also a good nightlight that you can use to provide ambient lighting to your kids’ living space. All you need is to ensure it is charged up and you will definitely enjoy how practical it is.

The Hue Bloom is a mains powered lamp that displays a full spectrum of colors just like a Hue coloured bulb. Instead of just a bulb the Hue bloom is a lamp that you can place anywhere around the home and plug into the mains.

14. Automate with Motion

The Philips Hue cannot be your best option if you have not included a Philips Motion Sensor. The sensor helps to add better technology for automation and it helps you to easily controlsome lights depending on motion. It can detect movement to turn lights on or off. The system is customizable, which translates to the benefit whereyou can have different lights at different times.

One of the ideas you could try includes placing one of these sensors upstairs so it triggers lighting when somemovementis detected, probably in a case where someone is heading upstairs. At night, the system uses an intelligent formula that automatically dims the lights unless it detects some motion. The sensors ensure the sleep of everyone is not disturbed. It is one of the most interesting technologies as you don’t need to raise your finger to switch lights on; just move and the lights are turned on automatically.

15. Automate with HomeKit

If you have got your iPhone running iOS 10 or above, you can take advantage of its new apps that allow you to integrate home automation. The Philips Hue Bridge allows support for Apple’s HomeKit.

The result is thatyou can easily control the entire lighting system from you smartphone using the app. What’s more interesting is that this can be triggered remotely as all you need is set up your iPad or Apple TV to integrate with the Apple Home Hub app, whichis super simple to accomplish.

16. Control with Switches

You might be asking what would happen in case your phone was not on the ready to help you turn lighting on. Well, there is an alternative solution that you might find useful as well; the Hue Wireless Dimmer.

Philips Hue Personal Lighting Wireless Dimmer Switch Review

It includes a removable remote control that you mount on the wall that helps you control lights in your home. You could mount it anywhere you find ideal like next to the front door so when you return you simply tap on the button to switch lights on in your living area. To those who regularly host guests, the Dimmer might come as a perfect purchase as you can hand your guests the switch to allow them to easily control lights in the rooms they will be staying in.

17. Control your Lights with Voice

Hook up your smart lighting to voice hubs such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home, or Siri and have your lights turn on and off, adjusting the brightness or color through a short vocal message. ‘Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights’, ‘Hey Siri, please turn off the bedroom lights’,

18. Light up your Gaming

Make your gaming even more immersive with smart lighting, working with your on screen gaming action and compatible with Razor, Hue lights can take your gaming to the next level. Have your gaming set up light up, flash and explode with color depending what it happening and the game you are playing. 

19. Change your lights with the weather

With the aid of IFTTT technology, you can make your lights change on a rainy weather. It also provides an SMS capability where you can switch a bulb on and off.

Adjust your smart lights using IFTTT to change color deeding on the weather outside. Have your lights go blue if it is raining so you know to bring the washing in, or have your lights follow the sunrise and sunset and adjust accordingly. 

20. Disco lighting with Spotify

Connect and sync your Hue lights with Music so your lights flash and change to the sound and beat of the music. Hue works with Spotify and can be connected and linked via the Hue and Spotify apps. using the Hue app hit sync and select Spotify from the options and link your account and go. 

21. Use Light to improve your mood

Lighting can have a big impact on your mood and productivity, specific colors can make your mood better and make you feel more awake, while others or reduced light can make you feel tired and not so happy. Bright white can make you feel awake and focused, while yellow can help you relax and unwind. Read our full guide on lighting colors for your mood here.

22. Light up your garden and driveway

When the sun falls and it gets dark outside, you can still bring your garden to life with outdoor lighting, lights can also light up your driveway and front garden as a security feature and also to help when you retune home from work so you can see. 

Party into the night outdoors and create love island style lighting and cool outdoor mood lighting. 

23. Light up your Kitchen

Lightstrips are great for use in the kitchen and can change the mood and setting there, while also being great for working light and cooking. Running Lightstrips under cabinets or along the top, smart bulbs in hanging pendants above breakfast bars and islands can help allow you create mood lighting or bright white light when needing to focus. 

24. Saving energy

Hue bulb uses less power as compared to other fluorescent and tungsten bulbs, saving more than 40% of energy. With only 8.5Wof electrical power, your standard Philip Hue can emit 600 lumens of brightness.

An incandescent bulb will use up to 60W to generate an equal level of brightness. Besides, it saves you on costs in the long run. Philip hue is long lasting as compared to ordinary bulbs. It last for 15000hrs as opposed to an incandescent bulb that last for only 1000 hours. That means that if you buy Philip hue, you will not have to buy any other bulb sooner for replacement because it will still be functioning.

25. Turning off lights

With the help of geofencing technology, you can switch off the lights when you are vacating your room without necessarily removing your iOS device from your pocket. The device works by sensing paired device leaving or entering the room.

26. Motion Sensors

The motion sensor is a great addition to the Hue range, it’s completely wireless and works with all the Philips Hue light bulbs and has a fee clever uses.

On/Off – Walk into a room and have the lights turn on or off, no need to press a button, just walk into the the lights come on.

Light up your Pantry – Similar to the point above, add this into a pantry and when you open the door the light comes on for you.

Nightlight Sensor – Use this as a sensor at night so lights come on dimly if it is set off in the evening, ideal for yourself or kids that may get up in the night to go to the toilet or to get a glass of water.

27. Pretending you’re in 

With Hue you can have the lights turn on when you are away, great for security and pretending you are home by having lights turn on and off in the evening.

More colors and brighter lighting

You could also upgrade your lighting to include additional colors and brighter light. The company recently came up with the Color Ambience bulb that offers brighter colors and with more rich colors. It gives you more light and you can pick the colors you love to highlight in your living space. In case you are looking for bulbs that can illuminate better than the ones you already have installed, here is one of the options you could embrace.

Upgrade to the White or Color Ambience and replace the darker bulbs, which can be installed in the bedroom. Don’t just stick to traditional lighting options when you can revamp your experience with a better light system.

Replacing your Lights

Philips offers you good answers to your home automation needs and what this means is the company has acquired a lot of information that has been key in supporting them to come up with inter-connected bulbs at a reasonable price.

What you get with this is smart bulbs that can be connected to a network to coordinate lighting at various locations across different times. You might adjust the settings to allow the lights to come on at particular times of the day, or you could let the system automatically detect changes in time to switch the lights on or off accordingly.

There are a huge range of different Hue smart bulbs that mean you can easily replace your bulbs around the home for Hue bulbs.

If you have used any lighting equipment from Philips before, probably thought it was best suited for switching your bulbs off and on. But there is a lot more that you could accomplish with the lights to enhance your living experience.

Those looking for automation solutions for their homes will particularly find Philips Hue useful as it comes with a number of accessories that are easy to assemble and relatively affordable as well as designed perfectly. Here are some ideas highlighting how you can get the most out of Philips Hue for your home.

How have you used Hue in your home? Any creative ideas or ways we have missed? 


Founder & Editor

Mike is the founder of Hue Home Lighting, a huge Hue fan with far too many lights, covering home and garden. A smart home gadget addict and also enjoys the odd bit of DIY

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2 Comments

  1. Nigel Burrell

    I have recently invested in Philips Hue lighting and smart home autiomation devices and I really love the way the Philips Hue system comes together so easily to provide smart and intelligent lighting options around my home.

    I really enjoy reading the articles on your website – thanks.

    Reply

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