So I have what seems to be a basic question. Philips Hue requires the light switch to be “on” in order to operate them. Is there a light switch that I could install that would replace the current light switch so when flipped off it will turn the lights off but keep the circuit “on” so the lights can still be turned on via scenes and other things.
You want the switch off, but the electricity on. That’s not going to happen. I see a couple of possibilities for you.
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Tie the wires togeter at the switch, bypassing the switch and leaving the circuit always on. Then turn the light On and Off via the Hue controller/scenes.
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Replace the switch with a Z-Wave switch. Make your scenes turn the Z-Wave switch onn and then control the Hue. This seems unnecessarily expensive. See 1.
This is why I have never bought any “smart” bulbs, and instead am using z-wave switches and “dumb” LED bulbs.
“Smart” bulbs like the Hue sound fun, but in practice they would be a hassle. Sure, you can turn them off from the app, but you can’t turn them on from the app unless the switch was left on, meaning you had to shut them off last time from the app. Want to turn on the bedroom light from the app? No can do, because you turned it off from the switch when you went to bed.
The solution is simple: The manufacturer needs to make a wall switch that will send the command to the “smart” bulb to turn on/off, but always leave the power to the circuit on. None of the “smart” bulb makers make a wall switch though. They often include a remote, which is nice, but remotes get lost and moved around. Walk in to a dark room and have to search around in the dark for a remote to turn on the light? No thanks. It’s nice to be able to control the lights from an app, but you don’t want to have to.
With z-wave switches, you can always control the light from either the wall switch or from the app. Even if you turned it off via the switch, you can still turn it back on from the app.
I wonder how soon “smart” bulb manufacturers will finally get smart and make wall switches that can control their bulbs via the same mechanisms their apps/remotes do?
Thank you James. That was my question. I was hoping there were switches on the market that when turned off it would just activate a scene to turn the lights off. Then in theory I could use either the actual light switches or an app/automation to control lights.
As far as tying wires together to bypass the switch, that is not best use as you will always want to use a switch at some point in time.
So sounds like the only way to get this to work is to purchase z-wave dimmers and replace the switches with those that way they can be controlled even if they are turned “off”. But that just sounds like we are doing double the smartness??? Which makes a negative?
Hmmm, if you can control your Hue lights via a scene, maybe a Cooper Aspire RF9517 would work. I am speculating; I have not tried this.
http://store.homeseer.com/store/X-P475C122.aspx
It’s a z-wave on/off switch that is meant as the slave remote for 3-way configuration along with other Cooper Aspire switches. The notes specifically state that it does not control the load directly (so it always leaves power on), but instead you associate it with the main switch that actually controls the load. In theory, since it’s sending a z-wave command, maybe you could associate this switch’s on/off command with a scene that controls the light…?
I think this was an answer above … So let me second it.
You can use a zwave switch that does not control the HuE circuit… Make a scene so when that switch is detected it runs and turns off HUE bulbs.
This is what I did in my office. (Yes I have hue bulbs over the cubicles in our office)
Yes it’s expensive… But it works
The same situation applies to MiLight Wifi-controlled LED lamps: They really need to be left powered if you want the benefits of controllability. This is fine until a guest goes looking for a regular light-switch…
My solution is to use Fibaro FGS211 modules in the wall-switches but feed the lamps directly from the Live supply. I then have scenes triggered by the wall-switch that set the lamps on and off. I also use FGS221 the same way for double switches. It would be good to have a lower-cost solution without the unused relays but this works. 
Thank you all for the replies. So in theory, if I tie the wires together for an always on experience and use the GE 45631, linked below, it will work?
[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OUWABU/ref=s9_simh_se_p60_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=1V3KXA0WZ1GCHZEQ7Y8K&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=VRCS4-MRX]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OUWABU/ref=s9_simh_se_p60_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=1V3KXA0WZ1GCHZEQ7Y8K&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=VRCS4-MRX[/url]
I found the Leviton switch, but that is $144. Just hoping to save a little bit of money.
[url=http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Vizia-RF-4-Button-Scene-Controller-White-031-VRCS4-M0Z/100662458#.Us_rq3k7CdI]http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Vizia-RF-4-Button-Scene-Controller-White-031-VRCS4-M0Z/100662458#.Us_rq3k7CdI[/url]
Don’t use a Z-Wave dimmer to control the Hue. If you are going to use a Z-Wave switch to power it, the switch needs to be a relay, not a dimmer.
The GE 45631 controller pad might work, but I have not used it. Recent posts on this forum suggest that it might not work for activating Vera scenes, but the posts seemed to be from inexperienced users, so I really don’t know.
JamesDVB and RexBeckett offered up a good solution, although it is still relatively expensive due to redundant controllable devices. As James DVB suggested using a wall mount Z-Wave controller like his linked Cooper Aspire RF9517 or a little less expensive Evolve LTM-5 Wall Mount Accessory Switch would allow you to have a Z-Wave scene activating switch on the wall, for more normal local control, and an always live circuit for the Hue.
To do it you would bypass the switch, as I previously described, but tap into the circuit to power the Z-Wave controller. See the diagram below. The Hue remains powered, the LTM-5 activates scenes on Vera, and your light bulb now costs more than $100.
I’m not a licensed electrician but this sounds like it would violate electrical code and is inherently dangerous. Anyone in the future changing the light bulb would be working with the socket hot even though the switch was off. While you shouldn’t stick your finger in a light socket even with the switch off, accidents do happen. More than once while unscrewing a bulb I’ve had the glass separate from the base, exposing the wires which would be hot in your scenario.
If you really want this to work and want it to be safe and to meet codes use a Z-wave switch (on/off, not dimmer) to control the load and setup a scene that turns on the switch when you go to control the bulbs. It’s the only safe way to do it.
You are right to be cautious. Electrical codes vary. My above recommendation and diagram complies with the U.S. National Electrical Code(NEC).
People regularly change bulbs in live sockets(they don’t know the switch is on or don’t care). It does carry a little risk, but it doesn’t violate the NEC.
I use this project: http://www.opennethome.org. It allows you to use any simple RF-Switch for the 433MHz band to control Philips Hue ligts (and other kinds of remote controlled lights). It does however require some kind of small server to run it on, like a RaspberryPi or any other small server. I use the simple battery powered “stick on the wall”-type of RF switches to control on/off/dim/color and scenes of my Hue Lamps.
[quote=“greysonmorrow, post:8, topic:178757”]Thank you all for the replies. So in theory, if I tie the wires together for an always on experience and use the GE 45631, linked below, it will work?
[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OUWABU/ref=s9_simh_se_p60_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=1V3KXA0WZ1GCHZEQ7Y8K&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=VRCS4-MRX]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OUWABU/ref=s9_simh_se_p60_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=1V3KXA0WZ1GCHZEQ7Y8K&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=VRCS4-MRX[/url]
I found the Leviton switch, but that is $144. Just hoping to save a little bit of money.
[url=http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Vizia-RF-4-Button-Scene-Controller-White-031-VRCS4-M0Z/100662458#.Us_rq3k7CdI]http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Vizia-RF-4-Button-Scene-Controller-White-031-VRCS4-M0Z/100662458#.Us_rq3k7CdI[/url][/quote]
I am using the Leviton switch that you mentioned the VRCS4-M0Z. My switch was controlling an outlet, so I tied the line and load wires together to make it always be on.
I have the top button controlling the philips hue bulb via an On Scene and turning it off via an off scene. The LED lights can be flaky causing them not to go on and off properly. This will cause the controller to get confused at times. To get around this, within the advanced tab of the scene, I select the controller and set it to explicity turn the LED light on or off depending on which scene I am running.
I have the 2nd and 3rd buttons running each running single scene that turn on/off my Kitchen and dining table lights. I’ve found that on these two scenes, the dimmer up and dimmer down buttons always work. The key is to use the setloadleveltarget in the advanced tab. This appears to put the switch/light into a mode where it allows the dimming via the buttons.
The 4th light runs an advanced Hue scene that turns on a total of 6 hues lights to the color and dim level I want and also turns off all other lights.
I’ve been running this setup for about 3 weeks now and it’s been great! The reponse time of the top hue button has been very fast for me with the light turning on 1 to 2 seconds after I hit the button. My controller is about 40 feet from the switch between 2 walls.
The controller was a little tricky to pair but easy to configure once it was added to the z-wave network. I have a seperate on/off scene for each button (8 total). And I make sure to explicity turn on/off the scene controller LED lights in order to make sure that my status is always correct and the scene is controller is in sync. I also have triggers on the kitchen and dimmer lights that set the scene controller LEDs to the correct status in case someone turns the lights on via the normal wall switch.
I bought mine from Amazon:
There is also a more expensive version of the switch that you can buy that has local load control if you don’t want to tie the two wires together. I believe you lose functioning of one of the buttons on the swich if you do this though.
[quote=“Z-Waver, post:9, topic:178757”]Don’t use a Z-Wave dimmer to control the Hue. If you are going to use a Z-Wave switch to power it, the switch needs to be a relay, not a dimmer.
The GE 45631 controller pad might work, but I have not used it. Recent posts on this forum suggest that it might not work for activating Vera scenes, but the posts seemed to be from inexperienced users, so I really don’t know.
JamesDVB and RexBeckett offered up a good solution, although it is still relatively expensive due to redundant controllable devices. As James DVB suggested using a wall mount Z-Wave controller like his linked Cooper Aspire RF9517 or a little less expensive Evolve LTM-5 Wall Mount Accessory Switch would allow you to have a Z-Wave scene activating switch on the wall, for more normal local control, and an always live circuit for the Hue.
To do it you would bypass the switch, as I previously described, but tap into the circuit to power the Z-Wave controller. See the diagram below. The Hue remains powered, the LTM-5 activates scenes on Vera, and your light bulb now costs more than $100.[/quote]
This is basically how I have my leviton scene controller wired in. Although my original switch was wired to an electrical outlet. The outlet is wired to always be on now and looks like Z-Waver’s diagram.
And from what I’ve read about the GE switch it has trouble controlling device IDs above 32. I stayed awayed from this switch because I didn’t want to have to worry about this limitation in the future. I’m also not sure how well it works with scenes. The Amazon reviews on the GE were not favorable.
Looks like this:
Will be the best switch for hue after all.
I know this is old, but I’m sure others will find their way here.
Another solution is to bypass and remove the existing switch (similar to Z-Waver’s diagram, but without the switch) and then cover the hole with the Philips dimmer module, which is sized perfectly to do just that.
At least this gets around the issue of someone thinking the light sockets are off. It’s still a damn-near $100 light, though.