If you're like me, you have started building out your smart home, and one of the easiest things to build out in a smart home is lighting. I predominantly use Philips Hue lights throughout most of my home, and I use Google Home and an Echo Dot to control them. One of the hardest things I've had to deal with is the other humans in the home. My wife and kids have tried to get on board with the smart lighting thing, but unfortunately, I have found that the instinct to flip a switch is just too ingrained in people to turn on lights. I even tried duct taping the light switches in place. For a time I considered just outright removing the switches altogether.
So I went out and got some Philips Hue dimmer switches, and I stuck them to the wall. These dimmer switches unfortunately only work with Philips Hue bulbs, but since that's 90 percent of the bulbs in my house, that's ok. The switches allow you to turn lights on and off, and also dim and brighten the lights with two additional buttons. Plus, in the Philips app, you can set up to five scenes for those lights. If you want lights all the way on, press On once. If you want a night light, press On twice, etc. The light switches come with base plates that are magnetic and have double sided tape on them, so you can stick them wherever you want. I attached them to the wall, right next to the old switches which were still duct taped. It worked great, except when it didn't. Because people still flipped the freaking switches.
So I went one more step and found a neat little switch cover on Amazon designed to hold Phillips hue light switches on top of the old switches. Basically is a plastic shell with a metal washer in it, that the phillips hue light switch attaches to. And the shells are deep enough to install on top of and completely cover the existing switch - out of sight, out of mind. Plus, since the philip hue switches are magnetically attached, you can take them off to flip the physical switch if, say, your internet or wifi network goes down for any reason. When it's time to move, just take off the shell and the old switches are there ready for the new owner. It's pretty awesome.
Now, is it completely ridiculous that I had to spend more money to control my light bulbs and even more money to mount the light switches? Absolutely. But, if you happen to live in a house infested by normals, this is a good solution for you.
So there you go a two-fer of tech yeah - the Philips Hue light switch, and the light switch cover, and the Philips Hue bulbs themselves which, yes they're a little pricey, but honestly, they're the best bulbs I've tried so hard, and it's not even close.
As always, the links in this article take you to Amazon and as an Amazon Affiliate, I may get a commission on qualifying sales.
Check out the Philips Hue light bulb starter pack, dimmer switch, and switch cover on Amazon!