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Expand your Philips Hue system at a price that won’t break the bank

I’ve mentioned that I’ve got Philips Hue bulbs in almost all my lights in my condo now.  I’ll admit my setup was very expensive, and I spread the purchases out over about four years.  Prices started out at about $50 per bulb for the original color-changing bulbs, then they introduced some white-only bulbs, which were about $25/each as I recall.  The best price I recall paying for any of my bulbs was about $15 each for white-only.  But now Philips is offering a box with four Hue white-only bulbs for $42.49.  That’s about $10.62 per bulb!

The bulbs are the white A19 60W-equivalent, dimmable LED smart bulbs.  The bulbs use 9.5W to produce 840 lumens at 2700K, so they are soft-white bulbs – not color-changing.  Of course, you’ll need to provide a Hue bridge to use these smart bulbs.  And like all Philips Hue products, they are controllable with Amazon Echo devices, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Nest, IFTTT, and iOS and Android apps.

The Philips Hue White A19 60W Equivalent Dimmable LED Smart Light Bulb 4-Pack is $42.49 at Amazon.

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Expand your Philips Hue system at a price that won’t break the bank originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 30, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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MIOU Solar Motion Sensor Light Review

It never fails.  I always seem to forget to take out the trash until after the sun has set.  It also figures that the place where my trashcans are located is a very dark side of our house.  Most of the time I just stumble around hoping to get to the proper trash can (we have 3 – each for a different kind of trash).   Lucky for me I just got the opportunity to review the MIOU Solar Motion Sensor lights.

What is it?

The MIOU Solar Motion Sensor Light is a solar powered light that has 30 LED bulbs inside.  It has a built in Lithium-Ion battery that converts solar energy to power and stores it for use at nighttime.    No external wiring is necessary, you just need to make sure the solar panel on the top of the light has several hours of direct sun access.

Hardware Specs

  • It is IP64 waterproof certified.  I personally tested this by accidentally leaving the unit on the ground where I was initially charging it right where my sprinkler system could easily give it a good shower.
  • It has an automatic motion sensing function that will turn the light on when it senses people or animals coming within 10-26 feet of the light with a 120 degree lighting angle.
  • It has 30 LED bulbs.
  • Internal Lithium-Ion battery that stores energy from solar power.

What’s in the box?

The box itself was a rather plain cardboard box.  Inside the box and very tightly packed there was the following:

  • 2 solar powered lights
  • 2 packages of mounting hardware.  The mounting device for the light, 2 wood screws and two anchors for mounting the light in sheet rock.
  • 1 user manual

Design and features

The first thing I had to do before I could use the lights was to give it an initial charge.  There is an on/off button on the bottom of the light that I pressed on to make sure it would light up properly.  Once I confirmed the light was working I then had to place it outside in direct sun for an initial 8 hours.  I did this for both lights and actually spread it out across 2 different days.  While the lights were getting their initial charge, I installed the mounting hardware.   The above picture shows you how simple it is.  Simply have the arrow facing up (although I will admit the light will mount in either direction).  When installing in wood I did drill a small pilot hole first.  That made the install much easier.

Once the lights were charged, I simply slid the back of the light which had two matching grooves onto the mounting hardware.  You should note that you do want the screws screwed all of the way in or it will interfere with mounting the light.   The picture above shows the light mounted above my trash can area.  I purposely tilted it so that it would better illuminate the area and catch the sun’s rays.

I mounted the second light right above my storage shed door.  That area is also rather dark and I figured the light would make it much easier to find the keyhole when trying to open the shed.   Both pictures above will show you the location of that mount.

I left the switch on the bottom of both units in the ‘on’ position.  When it is ‘on’ the unit will go into standby with a light glow like the picture above.  It was much darker than what the picture shows, but my camera is trying to do me a favor by adjusting for the light.

When I approached the gate, the light saw the movement and activated the brighter LEDs.  You can see how well the entire trash can area is lit up.  I am really happy with how it is lit.

The next two pictures show the lights in the low standby position in the first picture and on bright in the second picture.  Once again you can really tell a difference.

What I like

It was super easy to install.  Having a cordless drill certainly made the job even that much easier.  It is pretty hard to mess up the installation of the mount and the light.  They give you all of the necessary hardware.   I also like that it came with 2 lights.  I had no problem thinking of additional places I would install future lights.

What needs to be improved

The only suggestion I would give is to have an option for the lights to come in white instead of black.  In south Texas, the lights will get extremely hot during the day.  Only time will tell how well the plastic will hold up to the heat.  I had replaced an older solar light in my trash can area and it had been white.  I will be sure to try and give an update on how well they have held up after our predicted super hot Texas summer.

Price: $24.99
Where to buy:  Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by MIOU.

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MIOU Solar Motion Sensor Light Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 24, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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No more bathroom trips in the dark with the Vansky motion-activated LED bed light

Navigating to the bathroom in a dark bedroom can be tricky when you don’t want to turn on a bright lamp and disturb your bedmate.  Having a continually-lighted nightlight in the bedroom isn’t an ideal solution either, because being exposed to light while you’re trying to sleep isn’t good for you.  What you need is a motion-activated nightlight, and you need it to shine on the floor to light your path.  What you need is the Vansky motion-activated bed light.

This LED strip uses 3M adhesive to attach to your bed frame.  It has 45 warm-white LEDs (color temperature 2700-3000K) and a built-in “human body passive infrared” (PIR) motion sensor that turns the lights on when it senses your movement.  A timer turns the lights back off in 30 seconds – 10 minutes (adjustable).  Be aware that the PIR sensor needs a dark room to operate correctly.

You can use the Vansky light strip other places where you need light: on stairs, in bathrooms, or under cabinets or furniture.  The strips are rated for up to 100,000 hours of lighting, and they come with a one-year guarantee.  The Vansky motion-activated bed light is $17.99 at Amazon.

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No more bathroom trips in the dark with the Vansky motion-activated LED bed light originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 14, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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IKEA is offering a connected home lighting kit and accessories

If you want to introduce an internet-connected home lighting kit for a reasonable price, and you don’t care about color-changing bulbs, you need to check out the Tradfri kit from IKEA.  Of course, these lights come with a smartphone app (Android Kitkat 4.4 or Lollipop 5.0 or Apple iOS 8 or later), and it’s Apple HomeKit compatible, but this kit also comes with a remote control so all members of the family can easily control the lights.

The kit includes a gateway, the previously-mentioned remote control, and two E26 standard-base LED white-spectrum light bulbs.  The included bulbs have 980 Lumen luminous flux at 2700K color temperature.  You’ll use the Tradfri app to create and control lighting groups for your home.  There are other bulbs that can be added to your home kit, including chandlier-base bulbs ($14.99), GU10 bulbs ($19.99), and 950 lumen clear-topped or 980 lumen frosted-top E26 ($17.99) bulbs.  IKEA doesn’t specify a maximum number of bulbs or lighting groups that you can add to your gateway.

The Tradfri Gateway Kit with two bulbs and a remote control is $79.99 at IKEA, with additional bulbs priced as shown above.  IKEA also offers dimming kits, motion-sensor kits, and other accessories for the Tradfri system.  The kit is available at IKEA stores or at the IKEA website.

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IKEA is offering a connected home lighting kit and accessories originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 30, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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Retrofit your existing downlights with smart IPhilips Hue kits

I have an old-style downlight in my foyer, and I wanted a smart bulb for it.  I saw a lot of  retrofit kits for recessed lights with the light source and trim kit in one.   But those weren’t what I wanted, because none I found were wirelessly controllable.  I gave up on those kits and just bought a new trim kit and a Hue BR30 bulb that’s a bit too short for the old-style downlight.  It works okay, but it’s a bit dimmer than it should be because the end of the bulb is recessed in that old, deeper-than-normal fixture.  I may have to replace that with the Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Retrofit Recessed Downlight now that I’ve found them.

The Hue downlight kit is available in sizes to fit 4″ or 5/6″ recessed fixtures.  Just like other Hue bulbs, these retrofit kits must be paired with the Hue bridge.  Once paired, they can be controlled, dimmed, and scheduled using the Hue app, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s HomeKit, and Hue Tap and dimmer switches.  These aren’t the color-changing bulbs; they are White Ambience, meaning they have what Philips describes as 50,000 shades of white, from warm to cool white.

You can purchase the 4″ kit or the 5/6″ kit Philips Hue White Ambience Smart Retrofit Recessed Downlight for $35 at Home Depot.  If you don’t already have one, you’ll also need the Philips Hue bridge.

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Retrofit your existing downlights with smart IPhilips Hue kits originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 17, 2018 at 8:18 am.

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