4 ms·

Other than as an interesting hobby project to see if you can do it (which is completely valid, I've absolutely done projects that, from a practical perspective

Other than as an interesting hobby project to see if you can do it (which is completely valid, I've absolutely done projects that, from a practical perspective don't make sense but I learned lot in the process), this doesn't seem worth it. Unless there are literally no open source Wifi smart bulbs, even after you fix this one, this cheap AliExpress bulb almost definitely has terrible heat management that will kill it far faster than an LED bulb actually should die (which seems to be a problem among cheap LED bulbs more generally and I can't imagine is better in smart bulbs). If anyone has any experience with this though, I'd love to hear about it.

IntelMiner 3y ago
I bought some "Kauf" model light bulbs about a year and a half ago in a direct quest to get something "HomeAssistant Only" The "RGB" color reproduction is...poor and the illumination they offer is a bit middling. But the biggest issue I had was the things would simply die after a while! I'd get maybe 3-4 months before they'd start flickering, then eventually stop entirely Thankfully since you can only buy either 1 or 4 packs I had plenty of spares, but I have to admit I've since retreated from the idea of "smart bulbs" for now
- monocasa 3y ago
  Yeah, there's a lot of awful bulbs out there at the moment. Poor heat dissipation really does a number on the LEDs and smoothing capacitors.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Given how frequently even high end LEDs die I’m sure the cheap ones have to be really overdriven.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- sprobertson 3y ago
  On the other end of the price/quality spectrum, I have Hues that are still going strong after 6+ years of daily use. You can use them hub-free in HA using a ZigBee dongle.
adfm 3y ago
I built the original WiFi light bulb back in 2003. Does that count? https://web.archive.org/web/20090923154300/http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/h/352 https://web.archive.org/web/20090923154300/http://www.oreill... Coincidentally, this post and another post[^1] about the cantenna[^2], something I built with old friends back in 2001, are currently on the HN front page. Random and fun! [^1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37826256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37826256 [^2]: https://makezine.com/article/home/food-beverage/pringles-can-antenna-turns-10/ https://makezine.com/article/home/food-beverage/pringles-can...

IntelMiner 3y ago

I bought some "Kauf" model light bulbs about a year and a half ago in a direct quest to get something "HomeAssistant Only" The "RGB" color reproduction is...poor and the illumination they offer is a bit middling. But the biggest issue I had was the things would simply die after a while! I'd get maybe 3-4 months before they'd start flickering, then eventually stop entirely Thankfully since you can only buy either 1 or 4 packs I had plenty of spares, but I have to admit I've since retreated from the idea of "smart bulbs" for now

monocasa 3y ago
Yeah, there's a lot of awful bulbs out there at the moment. Poor heat dissipation really does a number on the LEDs and smoothing capacitors.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Given how frequently even high end LEDs die I’m sure the cheap ones have to be really overdriven.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
sprobertson 3y ago
On the other end of the price/quality spectrum, I have Hues that are still going strong after 6+ years of daily use. You can use them hub-free in HA using a ZigBee dongle.

adfm 3y ago

I built the original WiFi light bulb back in 2003. Does that count? https://web.archive.org/web/20090923154300/http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/h/352 https://web.archive.org/web/20090923154300/http://www.oreill... Coincidentally, this post and another post[^1] about the cantenna[^2], something I built with old friends back in 2001, are currently on the HN front page. Random and fun! [^1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37826256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37826256 [^2]: https://makezine.com/article/home/food-beverage/pringles-can-antenna-turns-10/ https://makezine.com/article/home/food-beverage/pringles-can...