EEs: Harmful to plug Philips Hue lights into switched outlet?

Factual Questions
1

I just bought a starter kit for Philips Hue smart light bulbs. These bulbs connect to a Hue hub, which connects to my router through an Ethernet connection. The bulbs can be controlled over the Internet with an app (or Amazon Echo, etc.).

The bulbs seem intended to have full-time power. Is it harmful to the bulbs to have frequent power cycles (3-4 times per day)? I want to plug them into a switched outlet, and power them down and up like conventional bulbs, when I don’t need the bells and whistles of the app. The app controls brightness and color, but sometimes I just need to turn them on and off. And my wife is technically challenged and does not find these devices nearly as cool as I do, and for some reason cannot remember to say “Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights.”

I called Philips product support and I sense that due to the fact this is a mass market item they get a high call volume and the people who answer the phone are marginally trained and not experts in these products. The guy I talked to said they had not tested it in that mode and it might or might not work. I told him that it definitely works, but I don’t want to damage the bulbs. He really had no clue.

2

It seems to me that plugging into a switched outlet (if you mean 120VAC) would be the same as turning them on or off by other means. And I noticed that one of the apps is able to control the lights and switch them on/off rapidly in time to music. If that doesn’t harm them, I don’t see why slower switching would.

But I’m sure better electricians than me will be along shortly to give a more expert opinion.

3

One difference is that when you use the app to turn off the lights, they’re not completely off. (Otherwise, how would you be able to turn them back on?)

4

**Dewey **is correct. The light is turned off but these things have little always-on WiFi connections in them. I am not worried about the LEDs being affected; I just wonder if it would shorten the life of the control electronics for them to power cycle.

5

I doubt it, but if you want a better answer, there is a contact form on the website you can fill out, or you can contact them on Facebook or Twitter. Your question may get to a more experienced person that way.

6

Mine are switched and they work just fine. The instructions I read said ‘no dimmers’.

I spent $40 on an Echo Dot and now just say “Alexa, lights on”. They come on at the previous setting.

7

Switched is fine, I have been running them for years and just use the switch when I don’t want to wait for the app etc…

It is just a xbee transmitter and a MCU, dimmers will mess with the voltage that reach the components which is the reason they are not recommended.

The firmware version on the lights has been stable for quite a while now but if it says that it is updating the lights firmware ever in the future you obviously don’t want to use the switch while running that update.

8

That is how I started. I submitted the web form, and got an answer that didn’t address my question and they gave me a number to call which is when I got Mr. One Answer Fits All on the phone.

Thanks, that’s good info. My switch is a three-pole switch but no dimmer.