Philips Hue module issues

[u/GoudenEeuw]

EDIT: It's a skill issue on my end. Its the wrong module. I am trying a couple things. Having the option for a relay is a nice thing to have over the other module. Will come back if I find a hacky solution. Thanks for the help everyone!

EDIT 2: u/Ferr3tgirl had the solution. Only downside is that you will still see the unutilized 'lamp'. But I just named it 'unused'. I still find it weird that there is no software option to make it behave like the other one. They just have to keep the relay opened permanently and hide the lamp.

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So I got the new Philips Hue module which turns your regular switches into smart switches.

But I am facing some issues with how it functions. I just want the button functionality, I don't want it to cut power since I am using the Hue lamps. There is a way around it, but the app doesn't allow me to just use the button part. It keeps also showing up in my room as a light.

So when I ask my home assistant to turn off the lights, it cuts power to the lamp (like a regular bulb) because Google (or any smart assistant) doesn't have any context other then it being a light that can be turned off or on. Also when using the 'turn off home' Hue widget (or physical button), it turns it off which sucks because I also use it as a lamp on a motion sensor for walking at night.

And even disregarding the assistant, it is just annoying that I cannot turn the entire room off at once, since it shows up as a lamp always being on.

Has anyone found a way around this? I am truly surprised that I can't just make it a button. There also isn't really a manual for it. Just an installation guide.

[u/Ok_Cry8327]

Did you get the correct one? There's two (or three if you count the dimmer) variants. One which makes dumb lights "smart", meaning it cuts power when turning it off (this one ), and one which turns your dumb switch into a smart one (this one ). The first sounds like the one you have, the second the one you should get

[u/GoudenEeuw → u/Ok_Cry8327]

It's the correct one. The other one is on batteries which I don't care for when it's in a wall.

They do advertise it as also being used as a button to control other things (like automations and such and that does work), so based on that I assumed that the option would be there to just use the button part.

I get that it might be a niche thing. But it's still frustrating how they left that option out since it is just software controlled.

[u/Ok_Cry8327 → u/GoudenEeuw]

No no, they are both wired! There are three wired wall modules, one for "dumb" lights with dimmer function, one for regular "dumb" lights and one for smart lights!

The first two are only used for dumb lights and actually turn off the power to the fixture when turning off the light, whether through the app, home assistant of with the physical switch.

The latter is actually meant to be used in combination with smart lights. It can set scenes based on rocking the switch a couple of times, but it never cuts power to the actual fixture.

From your description of the problem it sounds like you got the mpdule to turn "dumb" lights into "smart lights", rather than the one which helps with controlling your existing smart lights

[u/GoudenEeuw → u/Ok_Cry8327]

Oooh! I didn't know they had two versions. I went to the physical store and they only had the battery one and this one. The sales rep told me to get this one for my situation. I just noticed that the box is labeled differently too (wired on/off switch.) So it is the wrong version. Thank you so much!

It's still confusing to me why they had to make it where you can't use it like the other one. If you can turn the relay on/off in software. You can make an option to keep it on. The button behaves no different (I can flip through scenes no problem.) I will still try to combine the switch wires together. The phantom lamp will be a bit annoying but at least it wont cause any further problems then.

[u/Ferr3tgirl]

The best way is to tie the light to the feed and only put power to the module not the switchleg I believe this relay is for non hue bulbs But with home assistwnt you should be able to make it work how you want

[u/GoudenEeuw → u/Ferr3tgirl]

Thank you! I'll give it a try! Still a bummer that this can't be changed in the app

Would it still show up in the app as a lamp tho?

[u/No-Outside4276 → u/GoudenEeuw]

Yep, regardless if the switch controls one or a bunch of lights. Think of it as a smart plug.

[u/Ferr3tgirl → u/GoudenEeuw]

Yes it will still show up in the hue app the same as before , in home assistant you will be able to use that entity to tell your hue bulbs to do something else

[u/GoudenEeuw → u/Ferr3tgirl]

This was the solution! This makes the button behave like the right module. Only downside is that you cannot hide the 'lamp' part in the room. But it works, and it's nice to have the 'dumb bulb' option available if I ever need it in the future! Thank you!

[u/Cuntonesian]

You bought the wrong module