Smarthome Philips Hue and Somfy TaHoma experiences

Morning everyone,

Over the past few years, I have gradually made our rental apartment a bit smarter. Tado for heating and air conditioning, Hue for the lights, Nuki for the front door, Eve for the garden, a few sockets and window contacts, and Netatmo to stay informed. Everything is bundled with Apple’s HomeKit and nearly everything is also controlled with a few Alexas.

Overall, we are really very satisfied with our solution. So far, we have no problems running automations that, for example (where desired), switch on the lights via motion sensors, and much is controlled via geofence (cameras, heating, lights, etc.), so that actually (FOR US) hardly any wishes remain open.
Since we already have a lot of hardware, we of course want to keep all that and implement it in the new house. But of course, there are also a few things to improve here.

Just this weekend, I discovered that Philips has a cooperation with Gira and now offers switches that do not require wiring, need no batteries, and also look great. Although we enjoy almost everything automated, there are always some situations or rooms where a simple switch is still faster and better. That’s why we are currently considering placing these switches where wired light switches would normally be, simply additionally. Weberhaus also offers this solution for their houses, so it can’t be that bad. Still, it would be quite a drastic step to completely do without the “old” switches and thus also the wiring.

Here now question 1:
Who has already implemented this solution with the Hue switches and can report?

Of course, I have already imagined some worst-case scenarios and tested them at home. The light MUST always be switchable somehow — that is my basic prerequisite.
Case 1: Internet connection drops (WLAN still active).
Apple HomeKit is out of order, as well as Alexa (both absolutely bearable, since only luxury and no basic requirement). Hue still communicates and can be controlled, both via the buttons and the app.
Case 2: FritzBox total failure.
Exactly the same as in case 1.
Case 3: Hue Bridge breaks.
The light can no longer be switched, neither via buttons nor the app. BUT the emergency solution still works, switch the lamp power off and back on. Hue lamps are always ON by default when powered.
Downside with my consideration and the new Gira switches: they also no longer work then, which means you actually have to remove the lamp and put it back in. For me, that’s okay in such an exceptional situation; it never happened to me all these years and you can endure a night like that.
Therefore, the Hue solution with their switches is actually fine for me even in an emergency. Test passed!
Please name cases I have not thought of (and don’t come to me now with power outage :D).

But now, as a novelty for me, I will have roller shutters everywhere in the new house that will be controlled wirelessly with Somfy, so I need you again due to the lack of testing possibilities.

The question here is: are there wireless solutions that can also lower the roller shutter in exceptional cases?
Theoretically, the radio motors don’t need a switch anymore; are there similar wireless switches where no wiring is necessary?

What would simply be important to me is: if all standard components fail (the corresponding bridge, the Wi-Fi router…), is there still a way to somehow get the roller shutter down if I do not install a wired backup solution?

That’s it for now :D.

Maybe a quick note for clarification: I am just a user, so if I have described things incorrectly (like for example switch although it might be a button or vice versa (I could never remember that)), please overlook it :).

Best regards
from a smart home lover who actually doesn’t have a proper smart home ;)

I understand you to mean that you want an automated system with the possibility of intervention even in the event of a defect. This makes it expensive in the failure scenarios you mentioned, as you would then use cables and radio in parallel. I would think further:

[*]A light in the room must always work to be able to orient oneself, but not every light. [*]A failure of the blinds is not a serious problem; the redundancy solution is put into a cost ratio. [*]How do I assess the probability and frequency of a failure occurring? [*]Maybe it is cheaper to simply keep a spare part on hand than to create technical redundancy.

Greetings from someone who uses "dumb" rotary switches to turn on the light.

Since I will now have roller shutters everywhere in the new house as a novelty for me, which will be controlled wirelessly with Somfy, I need you again due to the lack of testing possibilities.

The question here is: are there also wireless solutions that allow the roller shutters to be lowered even in exceptional cases? Theoretically, the wireless motors no longer need a switch, are there similar wireless switches for which no wiring is necessary?

What would simply be important to me is, if all standard systems fail (the associated bridge, the WLAN router...), is there a way to still get the roller shutters down somehow if I do not install any wired backup solution?

The Somfy IO switches are paired directly with the IO motors of the roller shutters. You can imagine it similar to a Bluetooth pairing. This direct pairing also works autonomously, i.e., without Tahoma, WLAN, router, bridge or anything else. Theoretically, such a direct pairing could also fail sometimes, but honestly, I wouldn’t know how. And even if it does, you can reset and re-pair it through a defined on/off procedure. Seen from that perspective, it is like radio and backup in one :)

This is absolutely top!! Thank you very much for the clarification! So that means I actually don't need a cable solution on top here either! Do I understand it correctly that TaHoma does not function as a bridge at all but is actually only for the additional app connection (also HomeKit) in order to create automations? (Do you know the difference between the TaHoma Box and Switch?)

So if I see it correctly, both the light and the roller shutter should be completely controllable without cables, even if the internet goes down or the Fritzbox completely fails. It’s quite a big decision to completely do without the cable solution, I’m not sure if I have the guts for that :eek:. But I can’t find any other flaw in the reasoning...

I was very surprised that the Hue world also worked without the Fritzbox, so it somehow seems to work via an additional radio. Does anyone here know if the Hues pass the signal along, for example down to the basement, where there definitely shouldn’t be any more bridge reception, but several Hues are hanging there?



Thank you very much for your food for thought!
That’s how it was at least intended, in case of a defect it still has to work somehow. Cables would be included in the house price anyway, I just thought we hardly use our light switches anymore (with very few exceptions) for years, so why have cables installed if there are really nice (and above all real) switches that work via radio nowadays.
The only emergency solution of pulling the bulb out and putting it back in is unpleasant, but doable "once in a while." In the last years, everything has never failed once for us.
The roller shutter is not an emergency thing, but if you also plan to control it in the bedroom (which in my consideration also concerns Somfy shutters, even though we don't have any), it would be great to be able to lower it even if the Fritzbox is acting up :). But Hangman has already mentioned the solution here.
Otherwise, you are absolutely right, a second Fritzbox doesn’t cost the world (there should be one lying around somewhere anyway :)) and a second Hue Bridge is not the world either! This way, the lighting is taken care of in case of emergency! Thanks!


Thought in between.
It would be really cool if you could move the roller shutter with such a Hue wall switch via TaHoma and HomeKit. That would be the ultimate :cool:.

The question here is: are there also wireless solutions that allow the roller blinds to be lowered even in exceptional cases? Theoretically, the radio motors no longer need a switch, are there similar wireless switches that do not require wiring?

Yes, Somfy also offers them, we have them along with the app. If you use Somfy, then enocen and many more also work.

Yes, there are also from Somfy, we have them and the app for it.

Do you mean the switches made of glass (at least that's how they look), which are also available on the Somfy homepage?

If you use Somfy, then enocen and much more also work.

Uhhhhh, no capito...