How to Convert a Philips Hue Dimmer Switch to a Tap Switch 1

How to Convert a Philips Hue Dimmer Switch to a Tap Switch

If you don’t want to pay $60 for the Philips Hue Tap switch, here’s how to spend half that and still get the same functionality as the $25 Dimmer Switch.

While the Philips Hue range is mostly made up of different bulbs and lights, there are actually two different physical light switches you can buy for your Philips Hue lights: dimmer button and Faucet.

The Dimmer Switch is a fairly new addition to the Philips Hue lineup and while both offer different functions, the Tap switch has been around for a while.

The Tap switch comes with four different buttons that you can customize and assign each to a specific scene, while the Dimmer Switch is a simpler solution with an integrated dimmer that acts like a regular light switch.

This may be why the faucet costs more than twice the cost of the Dimmer Switch. That said, here’s how to save money and turn the Dimmer Switch into a Tap switch.

First Thing First: Buy a Dimmer Switch

There are two ways to purchase a Philips Hue Dimmer Switch. The first way is simply to buy $25 by itself.

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But if you still need more Philips Hue bulbs, Dimmer Switch Kit for $35It comes with a Dimmer Switch and a Hue White bulb.

If you go this route, you’ll essentially only pay $10 for the bulb and save $5 for doing nothing (as the Hue White bulb costs $15). I’ve done this for all three of the Dimmer Switches in my house, grabbing three Hue White bulbs in the process and saving $15 with no extra effort.

Convert a Dimmer Switch to a Faucet Switch

Now that you have your Dimmer Switch(s) it’s time to turn them into Tap switches. You will need an app to make this possible and iConnectHue.

Unfortunately, iConnectHue is only available on iPhone and iPad, but we hope the developers will release an Android version sooner or later.

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The app costs $4.99 in the App Store, which is truly a steal considering all the functionality you get, so while we’re only using the app to show you a feature, there’s still a ton to explore within the app.

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In any case, once you have your Dimmer Switches connected to your Hue Bridge and ready to use and download the app, open them and we will start by creating scenes that you will program into your Dimmer Switch. , just like on Tap.

Unfortunately, iConnectHue cannot import the scenes you set in the official Hue app, so you have to re-render them in iConnectHue.

To do this, tap the Menu icon in the upper left corner and then select . On this screen, you will see all the groups you have put together and the Dimmer switches you have already installed. If you don’t have any groups set, you can do so by tapping on it.

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Next, select a group and adjust the lights to create a scene you want. It may take some time to understand iConnectHue, but the basics can get you where you want to go: Double-tap to turn on the light, once-tap to open the color picker and turn on the dimmer, then drag and drop. Drop a light on top of another light to copy light states to another bulb.

Once you have the lights where you want for the particular scene you want to create, tap the Scene icon in the upper right corner.

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A popup will appear where you will find the group associated with the lights you turned on, then tap . Give the current/scene a name and then tap .

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After creating all the scenes you want, tap the Menu icon and then tap . From here, select . This is where your Dimmer Switches will appear. Tap the Dimmer Switch you want to customize.

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This next screen is where you can customize the buttons on the Dimmer Switch and set up to eight actions for each switch.

Initially, each button will have a default action assigned to it. Just swipe left and press. After that, tap on it.

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When the popup appears, select and select the preset/scene you want associated with this button in the Dimmer Switch.

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Also, instead of clicking once, you can set a different scene when you hold the button and even set a different scene when you double-click a button.

Repeat this process for each of the buttons on your Dimmer Switch. It can be a long process depending on how many actions and scenes you want to set up with your key, but it’s well worth it. Also, doing this is definitely better than paying $60 for the Tap just to have physical buttons to switch to different scenes.

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