Review: Lutron Aurora Solves Biggest Problem With Philips Hue Smart Bulbs

Philips Hue bulbs are one of the easiest ways to give your existing lights smart home functionality, especially through Apple's HomeKit platform. The problem with Philips Hue switches is that every time a wall switch is turned off, the smart lights stop responding. The Lutron Aurora Dimmer is a simple but ingenious way to solve this problem.

The problem

Most of my house has Philips Hue bulbs, including lamps and light fixtures. I gradually built up my HomeKit lighting setup over the years, and the versatility of the Philips Hue bulbs made it easy to maintain the setup, despite moving apartments and ultimately into a house.

Philips Hue bulbs are also incredibly useful for renters - they simply replace 'dumb' bulbs and don't require any wiring changes or other upgrades that your landlord might not approve of.

For me, I'm perfectly familiar with never using a physical light switch - I know everything can be managed easily, thanks to the Home app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, as well as Siri. I have automations set up for specific times of the day, scenes for things like work and play, and automations for going out and home.

But as anyone with Philips Hue smart bulbs has seen, every time a wall switch is turned off, the smart lights stop responding. This is because Hue bulbs require the lights to be left on at all times to be controlled through the Hue app or HomeKit. It is probably not you turn that light on and off, but rather someone you live with or guests.

The Lutron Aurora Dimmer is designed to solve this problem.

Lutron aurora

The Lutron Aurora is a simple accessory designed to fit your existing rocker switches. The installation process is incredibly simple, with the round shaped dimmer snapping onto your toggle switch. Then you tighten the base with a screwdriver and install the front cover.

Once the hardware is installed, you configure the Aurora integration with the Philips Hue app. The Aurora dimmer integrates with Philips Hue via the “Friends of Hue” platform. As you can see in the screenshots below, simply choose the Lutron Aurora from the “Friends of Hue” list in the Hue app. From here you can choose what happens when the Lutron Aurora is controlled.

Side note: Everything is handled through the Hue app - not the Home app or the Lutron app. This means that you will need to make sure that your parts and accessories are synced between the Home app and the Hue app. It can be a painstaking process, but it's worth it in the end.

You can pair the Lutron Aurora with multiple accessories, which means that a switch doesn't have to control a single set of lights. For example, I installed mine to control the ceiling light as well as the floor lamp, both of which use Philips Hue bulbs.

It also means that you don't necessarily have to purchase multiple Lutron Aurora dimmers for each room. For example, if you have two light fixtures or lamps, you can set it up so that one Lutron Aurora controls both - or even all of the lights in the room.

Once the installation process is complete, the Lutron Aurora largely functions like a normal light switch. The Aurora can be pushed like a button to turn the accessories on and off or turned left or right to increase or decrease the brightness of the accessories.

Again, the benefit here is that you retain control of the smart home, even if you or someone else in your home accidentally flip the manual light switch.

There are some limitations. First of all, the Lutron Aurora only works with Philips Hue bulbs, so if you have other smart bulbs scattered around your smart home setup, you should keep this limitation in mind. Second, Lutron Aurora dimmers only fit traditional “flip” type switches. If you have any other style of wall switch, the Lutron Aurora will not work for you.

Other solutions

There are other solutions to give intelligent control of domestic lighting at home. For example, the Casron recessed dimmers from Lutron (review) replace existing light switches in your home with connected switches. Philips Hue also sells its own smart dimmer switch, but it doesn't fit your existing switches.

These solutions offer their own benefits, like the Lutron Caséta switches that can also control celling fans (notice), but neither are as easy and user-friendly as the Lutron Aurora.

The Lutron Aurora is available on Amazon for just under $ 40. If you're a Philips Hue user, this is an easy way to add extra convenience to your smart home setup, even if it benefits other members of your household and guests more than you.