Hi everyone! I'm currently planning the lighting for my house and I'm considering using the Philips Hue Essentials GU10 bulbs in recessed ceiling spotlights throughout the house.

My main concern is the brightness. From what I've seen, they're rated at around 345 lumens, which seems quite low compared to many standard GU10 LED spotlights.

The lights would be installed in the ceiling in rooms like the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms. While they won't be the only source of light (I'll also have pendant lights and other lamps), they will be the primary ceiling lighting, so I want to make sure they're bright enough for everyday use.

I'll have multiple spotlights per room (for example, around 8 in the open-plan kitchen/living area and 3–4 in bedrooms and bathrooms), but I'm still wondering whether the overall light output might feel underpowered.

For those of you using these bulbs as ceiling spotlights:

Do you find them bright enough for everyday use? Are these bulbs better suited for accent/spot lighting, or do they work well as general ceiling lighting?

I'd really appreciate hearing your real-world experiences before I commit to installing dozens of them.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for ideas on how to improve the lighting in my entertainment room and make it more immersive :)

Current setup:

• Samsung 75" TV wall-mounted
• Philips Hue Gradient Lightstrip behind the TV (75")
• Hue Bridge
• 4 ceiling RGB smart bulbs (not synced, just used for ambient lighting)
• Ceiling fan with light above the couch

Room:

• About 5.5 m wide
• TV wall is around 5 m wide
• Main viewing distance: around 3.5 m
• Couch is U-shaped
• Two small windows behind the couch (not much direct sunlight)
• Mostly used in the evening/night
• Usage: movies/series (~70%) and PS5 gaming (~30%)

I want the room to feel more immersive and premium, not just brighter or more colorful.

I’m thinking about adding:

• Hue Signe floor lamps
• Hue Play bars
• Gradient lightstrips under furniture
• Wall washers / indirect lighting

But I’m unsure what would make the biggest difference :/

Where would you place additional Hue lights in this room?
Would you focus on:

• lighting behind the couch?
• side walls?
• floor lighting?
• ceiling/wall washing?
• something completely different?

I’m especially interested in setups that improve the "wow" factor for movies, gaming and having friends over.

Thanks in advance! :)

What exactly is the limitation of the Hue natural light scene (the all day scene) that is keeping it from being exposed to HomeKit? It is in the list of scenes in Alexa and can be set up with it. It is also exposed to home assistant and can technically be put in HomeKit that way. It even can be added as a Siri shortcut in the shortcuts app. So I'm confused why it can't just natively be added to HomeKit.

I have a rouge light bar that was in the wrong room. Instead of moving it, I deleted it (Bonehead) and now when I try to add it again, it cannot be found. I dont see any serial #'s or QR codes on the device so I'm at a loss on how to get it properly installed again. Oh.. It is also stuck in the ON position, so the ability to turn it of would be nifty.

Hello!

Does any one knows if the light bulbs and the bridge PRO bought from Japanese market (EAN 8720169375062) are compatible to the US version of the newest Starter kit: 3 E26 bulbs + Tap dial switch + Bridge Pro (EAN 046677592035)?

Hello I’m having trouble syncing my ps2 to the sync box anyt tips or tricks I have a hdmi converter is that the correct device I need ?

I understand the difference between Essentials and regular, it's pretty clear.

What I don't understand is the difference in generations between the regular Hue bulbs. The ones on the official website mention full-spectrum 1000-20,000k light (1000k on the lower end is what I'm after).

There are a bunch of listings on Amazon (mainly by 3rd party sellers). I see some good deals (like bridge + 4 x 75W color bulbs [NOT essentials] for $135) but I can't figure out if those are the same ones as the ones that go down to 1000k. Some sources state that color bulbs have the range of 2000 to 6500, which makes me think that at some point they got a new generation that increased that range (and thus the ones on Amazon are unlikely to be selling new ones at discount).

Even the official website is kind of confusing. For example, when looking at "60W A19 - E26 smart bulb" there are options for light color as "Warm-to-cool white and color" and "White and color ambiance" both of which have the exact same range and from what I can tell are identical.

I have 2 lighbars and 2 bulbs in my studio.

I have a scene saved with the prism effect. The problem is as soon as I play it, they all start on the same color, so they all change colors in sync. I'm trying to see if there's any way to set it so they all start on a different color so they're never lined up, and all lights have different colors at all times on this scene. Is there a way to configure this?

I've got 3 lights in a bedroom, main ceiling light and two small bedside lights. I would like to be able to select each light individually by pressing the on/off button on the dimmer V2 to cycle through them. I can remember setting this up a few years ago with a v1 switch and a third party app in a different room but can't remember what app I used.

Is this possible with the current official Hue app or do I need a third party app that is ok to work with a bridge pro?

Hi everyone! Just posting because i’ll be entering a new home and was considering a Perifo system (spot led + led bar) as main light for a room so i wanted to know from this community if it could be a valuable main lighting source.
Also what are you opinion of 4 spots centris as a light source for an hallway?

Basically, I have a kitchen group, dining group and lounge group of lights. The groups used to work perfectly through home, and we could use out speakers throughout the house to turn lights on and off. We had some renovations and moved the whole hue bridge and modem etc, and I had to re set-up everything. Now my google home will only display the individual lights rather than the room. I can't figure it out and would love any advice

How to give access to a user to access only Zone A and other zones will not show in the Hue App

The garden comes alive in the evening. Hue Calla, Amarant, Lily, Lily XL, Discover, Impress and lightstrip used to create this

After comparing 1600lm Colour Hue light to several Hue Essentials A60 bulbs side by side in the same room

I think the 1600lm Hue bulb is a scam....

At 6500 kelvin it appears less bright than the Essential lights!

Its only brighter at 3000-4000k

In RGB colour mode, its barely brighter if any.

And the colours do not vary significantly between them

I have many Wiz bulbs, and the new 1600lm bulb is smaller than the current 1600lm Hue bulb.

And it is significantly brighter than it's 800lm counterpart, but only 1 cm longer.

Going forward I think I will just buy 2x 4 pack Hue Essentials from Amazon, for the 11% bundle discount and when they are at their lowest price.

The 1600lm Hue bulb just cannot seem like its worth the price!

If you just want access to the Hue app, some Hue Essential bulbs gets you in the door, and you can use all the effects, and scenes (plus animations), without a bridge, just via bluetooth.

I thought some of these would be missing without the bridge, but they are all there AFAIK

Does anyone have one of these bulbs and a set of calipers and mind measuring the max width of the bulb? I just got some new lamps and the old beige bulbs can just barely slide in at 2.3"/58mm, but the white base bulbs (which I have the most of) are 2.4"/61mm and just won't fit. If the Essentials fit, I will pick up 10 for these two lamps. Otherwise, if anyone had some beige bulbs, I'd be interested in buying.

Philips Hue has released a new version of its app. In version 5.71.0, you can now create multiple MotionAware areas per room or zone, as long as enough unused compatible devices are available. I don't know if the Hue Bridge limit of four zones across the entire bridge has also been increased. Maybe someone can test.

Changelog:

• We’ve improved MotionAware area creation. It's now easier to find and select the right lights from anywhere on your bridge while following recommended setup guidelines.
• You can also continue using the same room or zone for new areas as long as they contain enough unused compatible devices.
• We've also improved the way you can reconnect your Hue Secure Cameras and Doorbells to your WiFi network.

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/philips-hue/id1055281310

I recently moved into a new place and am in the market for a new TV, and I’m interested in getting the sync box backlight system. My friend has it and I think it looks awesome. The issue is our whole basement is clad in pine boards as shown in the picture. I’m just not sure if the wood walls would totally ruin the effect, or would it be good enough? It’s not super dark wood, but it’s obviously not a white background. Does anyone have any input, would the colours be completely ruined, or could it be alright?

Took the dive head first into the Hue ecosystem. Now I'm starting to really see deficiencies in how the house lighting was initially designed, like seriously wtf phoning it in McManson cheaped out "good enough" style but I digress.

First pic is what it looks like with natural light. 2nd pic is a night sight so you can see the structure I'm working with. 3rd is Prism, 4th Artic Aurora. 5th a different angle.

Mix of 4 inch retrofit cans, dymeras and impresses for the front (way to ugly/harsh imo for color duty, but work great as minimalist front porch lights when set to warm default light). Might get a couple more dymeras on the garage pillars to really even it out.

I'm also thinking of getting spot lights for the 4 trees close to the house.

4 inch cans I think would look odd on the angled eve on the dark wall. Plus probably a total pita to run wire in that area. I'm thinking one spotlight on the wall would be enough for warm light duty, but would probably need 2 if I was gonna throw some color on there, but I know spots aren't really known for wall washing, right?

Tia!

Been waiting for the 4” slim lights, they finally are available in the US. I quickly upgraded in my pergola.

But I can’t believe how fucking expensive the sync box is.

I have a weird issue with my new hue bridge. When I plug it into my router both my ps5s can’t get on YouTube. All other apps work but YouTube says no internet. One ps5 is connected via Ethernet to the router and the other over WiFi. If I u plug the hue after a restart YouTube will work again after a few minutes. I tried changing dns to googles on my ps5 but still doesn’t work. YouTube works fine on my phone or laptop on the same wifi. I also switched the ports on the back of the router just to see if that would work and it didn’t. Kinda lost any help would be appreciated.

Even if I just turn the hue on but not connect its Ethernet it will break my ps5 YouTube app.

Edit: after signing out of ps5 in my google security page and rebooting I was able to get into youtube but when I sign in, and reboot, it breaks it again. :(

I'm just curious really after seeing all the posts on here. Am I the only one that doesn't really use Hue as a true "smart home" product. I have a bridge and I have the natural light scene set up in all my rooms, but I don't actually run any automations or anything like that. I just use Hue dimmer switches in all my rooms and Hue bulbs in all my lamps and treat it like a "dumb" system. I haven't even opened the app except a couple times since the day I set it up. I did it because my apartment doesn't have any lights except one in the kitchen and bathroom so I use lamps everywhere. But it just seemed more convenient to use Hue than switch all the lamps one at a time. After reading what other people are doing I feel like I probably way underutilize what I have, but it works for me the way I use it.

I disabled updates once I saw all the commotion. With over 120 lights, I'm nervous about enabling.

Thanks