Once the Module is connected, you just tell the app what type of socket you have (one or two switches) and which rooms or zones you want to control. Now, you turn to the app and follow the instructions to pair the Philips Hue Wall Switch Module with a Hue Bridge and the app. Turn on the power again, and the Hue bulbs connected to the switch that you modified will turn on. Once everything is in place, you just tuck the module into the wall box and screw the light fitting back into place. Works when the internet or Wi-Fi is down.This would work, but it would also mean that you’d have to change your light switch for whatever design Philips came up with.įor me, I like the black nickel switches that I have, so the Wall Switch Module makes more sense: it keeps my home looking nice and I don’t have to have ugly smart switches around. Potentially, Philips could have worked around the problem by having a switch that keeps the power on maximum, with a Zigbee control on the front. And, you’ll have yet another app to manage to remotely turn your lights on or off via the new smart switch. I wouldn’t use one of these switches with Hue bulbs, as Philips doesn’t recommend using a dimmer switch.īesides, if you install a third-party smart switch, then when it’s turned off, your Hue bulbs will also turn off and won’t be reachable by the Hue app. When they’re set to ‘off’ they leave a small amount of power running through the switch (effectively, like a dimmer set to its lowest setting). Now, there are smart light switches that don’t require a neutral cable, but they work in a slightly different way. Without a neutral cable, when the switch is turned off, the connected device loses power. The main argument for using batteries and hardwiring the light is that most light switches don’t have neutral cables to them. Having a battery-powered switch may seem like madness, given that there’s power at the switch. It’s worth taking a picture of your existing setup to refer to. To wire up a switch, you plug in the cable connector and then attach the wires to the same ports on your light switch that the live wires went into. If you have a lighting circuit with two or three switches, you’ll need additional Philips Hue Wall Switch Modules (one for each switch), plus you may need a push-in connector with four inputs. This module comes with cables and plugs to connect up to two switches. In this way, the Philips Hue Wall Switch Module is less convenient than a regular light switch. Once the battery dies, you’ll have to take the light switch off the wall to replace the battery. This is a battery-powered module that connects to your Hue Bridge via Zigbee, running off a CR2450 battery that Philips says should last around five years. If you’re changing the bulb in the future, you’ll need to turn off the mains power at the consumer unit. Once done, your light bulbs will have permanent power when you reconnect the power. Do not insert neutral cables or earth cables into this connector. If you have a single light switch that should be two cables a double switch should have three live cables. This should have the live cables from your existing light switch pushed into it, forming a permanent connection. The Philips Hue Wall Switch Module solves both problems but needs a bit of electrical know-how to get it to work, as you need to rewire your light switch, which means turning the power off.įirst, there’s the push-in wire connector. Often, the best place to put one of these is next to your existing light switch, which doesn’t look particularly nice. That’s usually alright, but visitors rarely seem to understand this, and I always find that my lights are turned off at the switch when guests have been.Įven if the light switch is left alone, having physical control for your lights means that you need to put a Hue wireless switch somewhere (such as the Hue Dimmer Switch or Senic Friends of Hue Smart Switch). Slightly more fiddly for lights with multiple switchesĪs Hue bulbs need power to work, they need the light switch to be left on.The trade-off is slightly imperfect control and more fiddly bulb changing, but in the right situation, this is a useful upgrade. This has long been an issue with Hue lights, but the Philips Hue Wall Switch Module is designed to fix this.įitting behind your light switch, the module keeps the power to your smart bulbs running permanently, while keeping your switch working the way it should. If you’ve got a Philips Hue system, then I guarantee that you’ve suffered from this problem: someone has turned the light switch off, cutting power to your smart bulbs.
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