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Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

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Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#61

Post by tzs »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

The reasons I have a small number of smart bulbs are:

1. I want to be able to turn them off without getting out of bed to use the switch on the wall or the lamp, for the case where I fall asleep reading in bed.

2. I want good dimming. The dimmable LED bulbs I've found that work with regular incandescent dimmers have not been very good--they don't go as dim as I'd like and they often flicker a lot when dim. There are dimmers specifically designed for LED bulbs that may work better, but I don't want to replace my lamps.

The Philips Hue bulbs dim excellently. The TP-Link/Kasa bulbs and the Merkury Innovations bulbs, which I first experimented with (they are a lot cheaper than Hue, so I used them to check out the basic idea of smart bulbs) don't dim as well as Hue--their dimming is smooth and free of flicker, but they don't dim as much. 1% on an 800 lumen Kasa is quite a bit brighter than 1% on a Hue.

3. I want to be able to change the color temperature to match what I'm doing and the time of day.

Getting a smart switch, as opposed to a smart bulb, would only address #1.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#63

Post by foobarbecue »

salex89 wrote: post #62

Was a pinhole reset button so hard to implement?

Yeah, it would be. You want the user to stick their hand up in a lamp, with the power on? And try to poke a button with a sharp metal object?

I suppose you could add a big capacitor or battery so that it could be reset when not in the lamp, but that is non-trivial.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#64

Post by tzs »

OT: I've noticed that my local Walmart has the GE bulbs. They are over in the lighting section, out on the shelves with the non-smart bulbs. If you want them, you just toss them in your cart and go pay for them at the regular checkout.

They also have smart bulbs by Philips, TP-Link/Kasa, and Merkury Innovations--and all of these are in a locked display over in the electronics section. If you want them, you have to find an employee in electronics to unlock the display and grab them for you, and then you have to pay for them at the checkout in electronics. They won't let you just toss them in your cart and pay at the regular checkout.

Finally, they also have some Monster smart light products, which are in the electronics section, but not in a locked display, so you can buy them without assistance.

I have not been able to figure out any good reason for the different smart bulbs to be in different sections like this, or for some to be locked up and some not.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#65

Post by dTal »

dx7tnt wrote: post #28
abledon wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when people look over my coworkers shoulder and see his 23K HN point count at the top of his screen, they acknowledge hes calling the shots in code reviews.

Why - because he's got nothing better to do than post on HN all day?

Sadly, HN doesn't provide the far more interesting statistics of average karma per post and submission, respectively.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#66

Post by notatoad »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

my house was wired by drunken baboons, which means that the stairwell to my bedroom has three different lightswitches in it, and my bedroom itself has four different lightswitches.

What i want is a simple way to turn all the lights on and off, and by far the easiest way to accomplish that is smart bulbs. Especially since i'm renting, and landlords typically frown upon tenants rewiring their properties.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#67

Post by tomcam »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

> Stop buying smart bulbs.

I must confess when I read statements like that I am inclined to do precisely the opposite. My favorite comments on HN are those expressed with less preaching and more reason.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#68

Post by thechao »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

Damn right! Smart bulbs go in out-of-the-way lamps so I can turn them off when the kiddos leave them on. Smart switches for the porch lights. The rest of the house is “smart enough”.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#69

Post by reaperducer »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you can no longer use the most convenient way to switch off?

You seem to assume that every lamp in every home maps 1:1 to a wall switch. This is far from true.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#70

Post by justwalt »

throwaway34241 wrote: post #59

I've had these bulbs and done this reset process more times than I can count. For years the software was some of the worst I've ever used. It would constantly lose pairing with the bulbs. In order to re-pair with the bulbs, all the bulbs had to be reset individually using this process, and then all configuration had to be deleted from the app and every bulb needed to be re-added as a new bulb. Pairing was error-prone…

Oh my goodness. Why did you put up with that for so long? Surely there are other bulbs that are just as capable and don't come with this ridiculous software.
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