Philips Hue bulbs are one of many best methods to provide your present lighting fixtures good residence capabilities, together with via Apple’s HomeKit platform. The issue with Philips Hue switches is that each time a wall mild swap is flipped off, the good lights grow to be unresponsive. The Lutron Aurora dimmer is a straightforward but ingenious method to remedy this drawback.
Replace: Since I initially printed this evaluate, 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 a vital position in my good residence implementation. I do want they labored past Philips Hue equipment, however apart from that, I’ve only a few gripes.
The best long-term answer is devoted Lutron Caséta switches, however in case you’re renting and that’s not an possibility, the Lutron Aurora continues to be my go-to suggestion for consumers in america the place these flip switches are frequent.
The issue
Most of my complete home is outfitted with Philips Hue bulbs, together with lamps and fixtures. I’ve slowly been constructing out my HomeKit lighting setup over time, and the flexibility of Philips Hue bulbs has made it straightforward to take care of the setup, regardless of transferring residences and ultimately right into a home.
Philips Hue bulbs are additionally extremely helpful for renters: They merely exchange “dumb” bulbs and require no wiring adjustments or every other upgrades that may not be authorized by your landlord.
For me, I’ve grow to be completely acquainted with by no means utilizing a bodily mild swap — I do know that every little thing might be managed with ease, due to the House app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in addition to Siri. I’ve automations arrange for particular instances of day, scenes for issues like work and leisure, and automations for leaving and arriving residence.
However as anybody with Philips Hue good bulbs has skilled, each time a wall mild swap is flipped off, the good lights will go unresponsive. It is because Hue bulbs require the lights to remain within the “on” place always to be managed by way of the Hue app or HomeKit. It’s possible not you flipping that mild swap on and off, however slightly somebody you reside with or company.
Lutron’s Aurora dimmer is designed to resolve that drawback.
The repair
The Lutron Aurora is a straightforward accent that’s designed to suit over your present toggle switches. The set up course of is extremely easy, with the round-shaped dimmer snapping over your toggle swap. 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 via the “Pals of Hue” platform. As you may see within the screenshots under, simply select the Lutron Aurora from the “Pals of Hue” listing within the Hue app. From there, you may select what occurs when the Lutron Aurora is managed.
Aspect be aware: Every part is managed by way of the Hue app — not the House app or the Lutron app. This implies you’ll want to verify your rooms and equipment are in sync between the House app and the Hue app. This could be a painstaking course of, however it’s price it ultimately.
You possibly can pair the Lutron Aurora with a number of equipment, which suggests one swap doesn’t have to regulate 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’ve got two fixtures or lamps, you may 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 swap. The Aurora might 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 good residence management, even in case you or another person in your home by chance flips the handbook mild swap.
There are some limitations. First, the Lutron Aurora solely works with Philips Hue bulbs, so when you’ve got different good bulbs scattered all through your good residence setup, it’s best to hold that limitation in thoughts. Secondly, Lutron Aurora dimmers solely match over the basic United States “flip” fashion switches. When you have one other fashion of wall swap, the Lutron Aurora received’t give you the results you want.
Different options
There are different options to giving good residence lighting in-wall management. For example, the Lutron Caséta in-wall dimmers (evaluate) exchange the prevailing mild switches in your 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 with the ability to management celling followers (evaluate), however neither are as straightforward and renter-friendly because the Lutron Aurora.
The Lutron Aurora is out there on Amazon for just below $40. When you’re a Philips Hue person, that is a straightforward manner so as to add some extra comfort to your good residence setup, even when it’s extra to learn different members of your family and company than you.
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