Philips Hue bulbs are one of many best methods to provide your present lighting fixtures sensible house capabilities, together with by Apple’s HomeKit platform. The issue with Philips Hue switches is that every time a wall mild change is flipped off, the sensible lights turn out to be unresponsive. The Lutron Aurora dimmer is a straightforward but ingenious solution to resolve this drawback.
Replace: Since I initially printed this evaluation, I’ve continued so as to add to my Lutron Aurora setup. I can even vouch for his or her long-term reliability. They now play an important function in my sensible house implementation. I do want they labored past Philips Hue equipment, however aside from that, I’ve only a few gripes.
The perfect long-term resolution is devoted Lutron Caséta switches, however should you’re renting and that’s not an choice, the Lutron Aurora continues to be my go-to advice for consumers in america the place these flip switches are frequent.
The issue
Most of my total home is outfitted with Philips Hue bulbs, together with lamps and fixtures. I’ve slowly been constructing out my HomeKit lighting setup through the years, and the flexibility of Philips Hue bulbs has made it simple to keep up the setup, regardless of shifting flats and ultimately right into a home.
Philips Hue bulbs are additionally extremely helpful for renters: They merely substitute “dumb” bulbs and require no wiring modifications or some other upgrades which may not be permitted by your landlord.
For me, I’ve turn out to be completely acquainted with by no means utilizing a bodily mild change — I do know that every thing could be managed with ease, due to the Residence app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in addition to Siri. I’ve automations setup for particular occasions of day, scenes for issues like work and rest, and automations for leaving and arriving house.
However as anybody with Philips Hue sensible bulbs has skilled, every time a wall mild change is flipped off, the sensible lights will go unresponsive. It’s because Hue bulbs require the lights to remain within the “on” place always to be managed through the Hue app or HomeKit. It’s doubtless not you flipping that mild change on and off, however quite somebody you reside with or friends.
Lutron’s Aurora dimmer is designed to resolve that drawback.
Lutron Aurora
The Lutron Aurora is a straightforward accent that’s designed to suit over your present toggle switches. The set up course of is extremely simple, with the round-shaped dimmer snapping over your toggle change. Then, you tighten the bottom with a screwdriver and set up the entrance cowl.
Upon getting the {hardware} put in, you arrange the Aurora’s integration with the Philips Hue app. The Aurora dimmer integrates with Philips Hue by the “Associates of Hue” platform. As you possibly can see within the screenshots beneath, simply select the Lutron Aurora from the “Associates of Hue” checklist within the Hue app. From there, you possibly can select what occurs when the Lutron Aurora is managed.
Facet word: Every little thing is managed through the Hue app — not the Residence app or the Lutron app. This implies you’ll want to ensure your rooms and equipment are in sync between the Residence app and the Hue app. This generally is a painstaking course of, however it’s value it ultimately.
You’ll be able to pair the Lutron Aurora to a number of equipment, which implies one change doesn’t have to manage one set of lights. For instance, I’ve mine set as much as management the overhead fixture in addition to the ground lamp, each of which use Philips Hue bulbs.
This additionally means you don’t essentially have to purchase a number of Lutron Aurora dimmers for every room. For instance, when you have two fixtures or lamps, you possibly can set it up such that one Lutron Aurora controls each of them — and even all the lights within the room.
As soon as the setup course of is full, the Lutron Aurora works largely like a standard mild change. The Aurora could be pushed like a button to energy equipment on and off or turned to the left or proper to extend or lower accent brightness.
Once more, the profit right here is that you just retain sensible house management, even should you or another person in your own home by chance flips the handbook mild change.
There are some limitations. First, the Lutron Aurora solely works with Philips Hue bulbs, so when you have different sensible bulbs scattered all through your sensible house setup, it’s best to hold that limitation in thoughts. Secondly, Lutron Aurora dimmers solely match over the traditional United States “flip” model switches. In case you have one other model of wall change, the Lutron Aurora gained’t give you the results you want.
Different options
There are different options to giving sensible house lighting in-wall management. As an illustration, the Lutron Caséta in-wall dimmers (evaluation) substitute the present mild switches in your own home with related switches. Philips Hue additionally sells its personal Good Dimmer Change, however this doesn’t match over your present switches.
These options supply their very own advantages, such because the Lutron Caséta switches additionally having the ability to management celling followers (evaluation), however neither are as simple and renter-friendly because the Lutron Aurora.
The Lutron Aurora is accessible on Amazon for slightly below $40. When you’re a Philips Hue person, that is a straightforward manner so as to add some further comfort to your sensible house setup, even when it’s extra to profit different members of your family and friends than you.
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