Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to
by mjg59 on Thursday February 25, 2016 @06:06AM
(#11173693)
I was skeptical of this, but voice control of my lights has turned out to be incredibly useful. I can turn on the main lights while I'm taking my shoes off, before I'm in reach of the switches. I can dim lights from the sofa while watching TV. I can turn off individual lights. It's nothing earth-shattering in terms of importance, but it's something that does make my life better.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to
by mikeash on Thursday February 25, 2016 @12:16PM
(#11175914)
I can see the use, but what confuses me is why there's so much emphasis on putting the smarts in the bulbs. It would make a lot more sense to me to use normal bulbs and put the smarts in the switches. I'm sure there are switches out there like that, it's just not what people talk about.
Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to
by fps on Thursday February 25, 2016 @01:16PM
(#11176402)
There are modules like this: http://aeotec.com/z-wave-in-wall-switches/170-micro-smart-ap... that work with hubs like wink or smarthings, but home electrical wiring isn't consistent, so the installation isn't like the 1-2-3 easy setup you get from something like Hue.
Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to
by cweiss on Friday February 26, 2016 @11:42AM
(#11182327)
Others have chimed in on the ease of bulb installation VS ease of switch installation. One other point is that the most you can get from a remote switch-only installation is variance in brightness, no RGB control.
Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to
by bluedino on Thursday February 25, 2016 @12:28PM
(#11176001)
It's a heck of a lot easier to swap out a bulb than a switch.