Phillips Hue ceiling light wiring

[Buckers2]

Hi, I have recently bought a Phillips hue ceiling light which comes with a wireless remote.

Can anyone tell me if this is OK to connect up without a hard wired wall switch? I was intending to put a blanking plate over the current switch and supply power only to the light unit via an Ashley J501 (will remove old ceiling rose).

The wireless remote has a wall mount supplied which seems to me like it renders the old wall switch useless and I can't think of any reason why I would want to specifically isolate the light on it's own when I can just flick off the mcb.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Why not leave the present switch?
Then you will be able to see to search for the remote.



Switching off a switch does not, in most cases, isolate the light.

 

[Buckers2]

The remote will stay on the wall in its holder, to be honest.

Which basically means I would have 2 switches right next to each other.

>>Switching off a switch does not, in most cases, isolate the light.

Which means that keeping a hard wired switch would be even more pointless!

 

[EFLImpudence]

The remote will stay on the wall in its holder, to be honest.

Then it is completely pointless.

Which basically means I would have 2 switches right next to each other.

Only because you are adding an unnecessary one.

Which means that keeping a hard wired switch would be even more pointless!

OR ...

 

[Buckers2]

People really do love to find fault with everything on the internet don't they?

I didn't *add* a pointless switch, I like the look of light, it came with a wireless remote. I could, of course, throw it away and use a simple on/off wall switch but then it wouldn't dim.

The question is simple - am I breaking any regs by removing the hard wired switch and just powering it?

 

[EFLImpudence]

It's not because it's on the internet. People invent all sorts of pointless things and other people buy them simply because they exist.

I don't suppose you would be breaking any regulations as it probably is too new a device for such things to have been considered but it, as you may have gathered, seems a daft idea to me - but it's your house (I presume).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

People really do love to find fault with everything on the internet don't they?

No, not everything.

But the "ooh - shiny cool techy toy I gotta have it" philosophy is fair game.

I could, of course, throw it away and use a simple on/off wall switch but then it wouldn't dim.

There are ways to have dimmable lights without adding a second switch next to an existing one.

 

[Buckers2]

It's really got nothing to do with shiny tech - it's a simpler solution all round.

1) the wiring is a lot more simple, the unit just needs power
2) don't have to find the correct type of dimmer for the LED
3) further options to control light tone if I wish (not really that interesting to me though, tbh)
4) I like the look of the light, a lot, it goes well with my room
5) I like the look of the wall mount remote, a lot, it goes well with my room

The "adding a second switch next to an existing one" is a red herring since I'm not really adding a switch, just sticking a holder to the wall, and I'm soon to redecorate so I'll fill the old hole thus solving the problem which causes you so much offence.

Typical forum trolls passing comment without actually considering that the product might work well for *me* and *my* needs.

 

[bernardgreen]

Which means that keeping a hard wired switch would be even more pointless!

Pointless until the lamp needs to be isolated for some reason. Switching off all lights at the consumer unit would be possible not convenient

 

[Buckers2]

Pointless until the lamp needs to be isolated for some reason. Switching off all lights at the consumer unit would be possible not convenient

Except chappy up there just said "Switching off a switch does not, in most cases, isolate the light", so unless he's wrong, it's fair to say I wouldn't be able to isolate lights in this way anyway?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Perhaps I should have said the ceiling rose or connections, rather than light itself.

There is usually a permanent live at the ceiling which can only be isolated at the consumer unit.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's really got nothing to do with shiny tech - it's a simpler solution all round.

1) the wiring is a lot more simple, the unit just needs power

A cable to a switch isn't exactly complicated, and that benefit you claim is only one for new-builds or significant changes, apart from that the switches will already be there. And houses built recently may well have the lighting circuit looping through the switches, which actually makes it more complicated to get a permanent live to the light position, and a PITA to get rid of the existing switches.

2) don't have to find the correct type of dimmer for the LED

Possibly a benefit, but with integrated lights, i.e. free from the problems of random bulb changes over time, maybe not as big as it might first seem.

3) further options to control light tone if I wish (not really that interesting to me though, tbh)

The clue, surely, is in the name, and that's the main USP of the light. Without that the world is awash with ceiling lights which will go well with your room.

4) I like the look of the light, a lot, it goes well with my room
5) I like the look of the wall mount remote, a lot, it goes well with my room

Wall switches also go well, as they can be made to match each other and all of the sockets.

The "adding a second switch next to an existing one" is a red herring since I'm not really adding a switch, just sticking a holder to the wall, and I'm soon to redecorate so I'll fill the old hole thus solving the problem which causes you so much offence.

You may not fill in the old hole unless you disconnect the switch cable at source. Is it safe to assume that your circuit does loop through the lights?

Typical forum trolls passing comment without actually considering that the product might work well for *me* and *my* needs.

Really?

You think that EFLI, Bernard and I have said what we have in order to sow discord by starting a quarrel or to upset you by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the intent of provoking you into an emotional response for our own amusement.

Really?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Except chappy up there just said "Switching off a switch does not, in most cases, isolate the light", so unless he's wrong, it's fair to say I wouldn't be able to isolate lights in this way anyway?

There's probably a conflict of use of the word "isolate". Strictly speaking a light switch does not isolate a light, as it leaves the neutral connected, and it certainly does not even "partially" isolate a ceiling rose.

But it does do a damn fine job of cutting the power to a light which is misbehaving and/or cannot be controlled by the remote because of a fault in the light, or the remote, or in the wireless link between the two.

 

[Buckers2]

>>A cable to a switch isn't exactly complicated, and that benefit you claim is only one for new-builds or significant changes, apart from that the switches will already be there.

That's a fair point, but the place is being completely refurbished, and by that I mean every single room with new kitchen and bathrooms. At the moment there's an old fashioned hanging light with ceiling rose in every room. The roses all need to be removed (or effectively put above the ceiling) because there is no room for them under most of the lights we have chosen. Not only this, they are orange and sticky from the previous owner smoking for 20 years so I would at least change them anyway. Therefore, the fact that all these changes need to be made mean that things being "simpler" is a benefit (well to me anyway, I'm guessing you are vastly more experienced so probably don't feel the same). Power line access is easy because it's a top floor flat with loft access and all the cables are running across the ceiling boards/joists.

>>You may not fill in the old hole unless you disconnect the switch cable at source

The cables to the switches are completely disconnected at both ends.

>>You think that EFLI, Bernard and I have said what we have in order to sow discord by starting a quarrel or to upset you by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the intent of provoking you into an emotional response for our own amusement.

Some of the comments were entirely unnecessary. So yes, I do.

>>But it does to a damn fine job of cutting the power to a light which is misbehaving and/or cannot be controlled by the remote because of a fault in the light, or the remote, or in the wireless link between the two.

Fair point.

 

[bernardgreen]

But it does to a damn fine job of cutting the power to a light which is misbehaving and/or cannot be controlled by the remote because of a fault in the light, or the remote, or in the wireless link between the two.

Which is a point so often overlooked when high tech lighting is being installed