Smart Lighting Control with the Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer

Disclosure: We received a Lutron Aurora dimmer and Philips Hue bulbs to facilitate our post. All opinions are our own.

We are big fans of Lutron in our family, from our Lutron Maestro Fan Control, Serena Shade and of course our Caseta Wireless smart lighting dimmer.

We were excited to hear that Lutron is now integrating with even more smart home technology by joining the Philips Hue “Friends of Hue” program, helping Hue users regain control of their smart lighting by preventing the toggle switch from being accidentally turned off.

Smart bulb users lose control of their smart lighting when a light switch is accidentally turned off. Turning off a traditional switch could just be force of habit for many of us, or be something that a guest might do who is not familiar with the Hue system. If that occurred, then the Hue functionality of turning on via your smarthome device or the app would no longer be functional. To help prevent this unfortunate situation from happening, Lutron has introduced the Aurora smart bulb dimmer, a wireless, battery-powered dimmer that can be mounted directly over a toggle switch, keeping Signify’s Philips Hue smart bulbs and fixtures ready for use.

The intuitive, familiar style of the Lutron Aurora dimmer allows any family member or guest in your home to control your Philips Hue lights easily. Simply touch the Aurora dimmer to turn your Hue lights on or off and turn the knob to brighten or dim the lights.

We were thrilled to discover that the installation of the Aurora dimmer could not have been simpler. The completely wire-free Lutron Aurora dimmer can be installed easily over toggle switches in just two minutes. Really! A dimmer mounting base “locks” your existing toggle switch in the on/up position to help prevent it from being accidentally turned off. The round knob dimmer snaps directly onto the mounting base, and provides wireless, local control of your Philips Hue smart bulbs and fixtures.

We love using the Philips Hue system with the Aurora smart dimmer for several reasons. Philips Hue’s system gives us control of our lighting when we are home and even checking in on our house. We don’t have to worry about leaving a light on, and we even set up a Philips hue bulb to work with our backyard spotlight, giving us an extra means to rattle a potential intruder, or shine a light on some critters that we may see roaming in the backyard.

I was impressed how many compatible bulb types Philips Hue offers, such as these GU10 dimmable spotlights. 

Fortunately there is no need to worry about Wi-Fi outages affecting the lighting in your home when using Philips Hue. Just like the Philips Hue system, the Lutron Aurora smart bulb dimmer operates via Zigbee technology. You can still control your Hue lights with the Aurora dimmer even if the Wi-Fi goes down.

The Lutron Aurora dimmer, available in white, is available on MeetHue.com. The Aurora dimmer is available for purchase on Amazon.com and in-store and online at Apple, Best Buy and The Home Depot.

Lorianne Lacey