Does anyone else here have fun with colored lights? Hue, Govee, whatever? I currently have my office decked out in Govee lights, 2 wall lights, 2 floor lamps, a light strip around my desk, and a hex wall hanging behind me. When I click the “warm” shortcut I get warm light through the whole office, “cool” gives me a light blue, and fireplace makes the whole room kind of “throb and flicker” with yellow and red. I used to think I just needed everything brighter, but it turns out I need colors that change with my moods.
The issue I have with Govee is that, while they’re inexpensive, they’re really only compatible with Alexa and only marginally so. Hue doesn’t offer the same range of light types, but they integrate better. Anyone have a colored light setup that’s Homekit compatible I should know about?
TL:DR we “downsized” and expected to simplify our life and use less tech. It’s worked by and large very happily, but not at all as we expected.
We started with some "smart heating controls, but have ended up with 150+ lights. The majority are Hue. Which presented a number of issues (including price) but also the limitation on number of devices connectable to one of their hubs (~50).
This necessitated some overall controller so went down the HomeKit route.
we ended up with a variety of Tapo, Kasa, Tuya and Unifi products…
But, especially at the time. not everything else worked with HomeKit.
tried Home Assistant (and variations) Homebridge and now use Hoobs, to link all these “Waifs and Strays” to the apple infrastructure.
I’m not 100% convinced this is the final configuration, but Homebridge and/or Hoobs will let you plug a very large variety of non-homekit devices into Homekit.
some plugins are more robust than others
If you’re happy with JSON files, there are no challenges in setup (and Hoobs removes nearly all the manual editing)
We got our first generic matter switches (this Christmas for tree lights) - that was very easy to link to homekit!
One of our very best discoveries has been the Hue White Ambience, we’re getting older so whilst softer whites are great, for detailed work (sewing / electronics / woodwork) being able to get bright white light focused on a table or other able has been wonderful.
Tuya / Smartlife compatible - colour bulbs are great
I’ve now invested about $500 in Govee lights. I have a lot of fun setting up color schemes in my office. I’m hoping when I get around to Home Assistant I’ll have some luck integrating them with the rest of thouse…
I’ll probably wait until Matter devices have matured a bit and then re-invest.