I am a dabbler in home automation and thinking about starting to get into lighting. I have heard mostly good things about the Philip Hue line and wanted to see what peoples thoughts are about it.
Our main current automation are a large number of Google Smart Speaker and Arlo video doorbells. Everything is working now on the Google ecosystem which I think Philip Hue will connect with. Our house is 100 years old which means that our possibilities to automate are lower than a new home since we have very few overhead lights, power outlets are at a premium (we have lots of power strips running through the house).
We are thinking about doing smart bulbs in some lamps which we can leave on and a chandalier. I think the biggest issue will leaving things always powered on.
I have some. They work. They are just more expensive than other options. I have a few smart bulbs from IKEA that work just as well and are cheaper so these days I would just go the IKEA route if I needed more smart bulbs.
Edit: To clarify I do not use either the IKEA or Phlips Hue apps. I connect to all my bulbs via Zigbee.
If I get an IKEA bulb can I intergrate with google things? I am assuming I will need some kind of Zigbee hub which I then connect into things for automations.
HA will be your “hub”. What you need is more like something that lets you communicate to Zigbee devices i.e. a Zigbee dongle. There are a lot of choices and you can search online for the current best option.
HA will act as the main server that connects everything. HA can then expose all of your devices to Google Home and then you can control things via Google Home as well. As an example, if you turned off a light bulb in Google Home the chain of command will look something like this: You issue an off command -> Google Home -> Home Assistant -> Light Bulb.
I just realized that you are not using Home Assistant as your “hub”, I assumed you were due to the community. In that case I guess you would need the IKEA hub. I’ve never used an IKEA hub so I have no idea how well they work. If you plan to continue to use Google Home as your “hub” then my advice is less useful since I’ve no experience here. I would defer to someone else who is more experienced with the Philips Hue/Ikea hubs.
IKEA has its own hub. I used to have the old Tradfri one but now I just connect with a Sonoff Zigbee dongle. I think if you want to go through Google and then to Home Assistant you might need the Dirigera hub which is kinda pricey. My personal preference is to have as little as possible connect through the internet. I just want everything local.