Setting the mood with smart outdoor lighting from Philips Hue
Philips Hue outdoor lighting
Over the last decade, I’ve slowly upgraded and expanded my indoor lighting, going from incandescent to smart LED bulbs. However, the one area I’ve never put any thought or effort into has been my outdoor lighting. With spring here and summer around the corner, this is a great time to start thinking about upping your game with outdoor lighting and going smart, is the best way to go.
Over the last month or so, I’ve installed new lights in the front of my house as well as my rear garden from Philips Hue’s new outdoor range. While I’d recommend getting a professional to install such fittings, I was able to do it myself with little effort other than the hole I had to drill through my front wall.
After installing the new Philips Hue Resonate Wall light on my front wall and the Philips Hue Lucca Wall light on the side of my shed in the back garden, I wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner.
The Resonate has a minimalist design that looks like a black rectangular box during the day and features a white and colour light (also available in a steel finish). It has a stylish contemporary design that is ideal for those looking to get away from the more classic lantern look. The light is cast both up and down with a striking but diffused glow. It works great on walls with light colour paint to create a unique and eye-catching effect by highlighting the beautiful architectural features of your home.
It has two 8W LED lights with a 25,000-hour lifespan and peak brightness of 1,180 lumens at 4000 kelvin.
I also put a new Philips Hue colour smart bulb in my porch so that I could match the colours with the Resonate. Using the Philips Hue app, I enabled both lights to come on as the sun goes down and the light fades. This works by gradually increasing the brightness of the bulbs automatically in sync with the advent of dawn. You can set the lights to a scene or a specific colour and brightness. I also set them to dim and turn off as the sun comes up in the morning but you can also schedule them to turn off at a set time instead.
I also installed the Philips Hue outdoor motion sensor so that when someone walks toward the house, the two lights change to a bright white light to illuminate the front of the house. The lights are then set to return to the preset colour scene after five minutes. You can adjust the motion sensitivity as well as daylight sensitivity so that during daylight hours, the lights won’t be triggered to come on.
In the back garden, I installed the Lucca light above my garden furniture. With its sleek, round shape and modern black bands, the Lucca offers a wide distribution of light, capable of making your outdoor space come to life at night. It has added a lot of atmosphere to the area by creating a relaxing mood. I didn’t think there was any need to add a motion sensor here. However, if you use the Lucca on a low wall on a pathway, for example, the outdoor wireless motion sensor would make life a lot easier. Instead, I just use Alexa to turn on and off the light.
Philips Hue outdoor smart lights come with all the benefits of the Philips Hue system and are made to withstand any weather conditions. The lights can be controlled via the Philips Hue app, optional remote control, voice control via Alexa, Siri or Google Nest, or an outdoor motion sensor.
The Lucca and Resonate are both Zigbee compatible and so they will work with compatible bridges such as the ones found in some of the Alexa smart speakers, but the Philips Hue bridge is required to take full advantage of all its features including Automations — set lights to turn on when you’re near home or automate the lights to mimic your presence while away.
Philips Hue Lucca €94. Philips Hue Resonate (black) €156 or (steel) €166. Philips Hue Outdoor sensor €52.90. Available from Lights.ie
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
