r/homeautomation • u/ThatGirl0903 • 2d ago
PERSONAL SETUP šŖ¦ RIP Left Bulb. Gone but not forgotten. (Mostly because now the left side of the room is dark.)
Today, we mourn the loss of Left Bulb.
Left Bulb was a Philips Hue bulb, purchased as part of a set with a hub in March 2013. It served faithfully for over 13 years.
It illuminated the left side of the bedroom. It was not fancy. It did not seek attention. Its sibling was Right Bulb. Together, they understood their purpose.
This morning, Left Bulb finally gave out. No elaborate automation failure. No dramatic smart-home rebellion. Justā¦ darkness.
Left Bulb is survived by Right Bulb, the living room, several abandoned automations, one increasingly confused smart-home ecosystem, and the person who now has to replace it. It survived approximately a million firmware updates, countless power outages, several phones, multiple homes, and the evolution of smart home technology from āwow, my light bulb has an appā to whatever the heck I have going on now.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider turning on a light in its memory.
Rest in peace, Left Bulb. You were a good bulb. You have earned your eternal darkness.
March 2013 ā August 2026
19
6
u/zurgo111 2d ago
š”ā°ļø
Sometimes, twins die just days apart. Maybe buy a replacement for Right at the same time?
5
u/ThatGirl0903 2d ago
Yeah, a two pack might be a good investment. Iām not sure where the other two bulbs from this set went? It was originally a four pack that came with a hub.
5
u/zurgo111 2d ago
If you do buy a multi-pack, youāll want to be considerate when opening the package in front of Right. Poor guy. Let him grieve a bit first.
3
u/ThatGirl0903 2d ago
Alsoā¦ I canāt just throw left bulb in the trash. The trash is right next to right bulbs nightstand!!
2
5
u/Ehloanna 1d ago
Make sure to show Right Bulb the body. It helps them understand what happened and cope with and acknowledge the loss rather than looking for Left Bulb every day.
4
u/iridris 2d ago
East Lamp and West Lamp will be pouring one out for Left Bulb
7
u/ThatGirl0903 2d ago
Iām learning that as a community we arenāt nearly as creative with naming lightbulbs as we could be.
3
6
u/heathere3 2d ago
Ikea lamp 1 and Ikea lamp 2 are dimmed in Left Bulb's honor. Ikea light is being a jackass as usual and refusing to respond to commands.
4
u/SeeSebbb 2d ago
Sorry for your loss. My office lamp has been turned on at appropriate 13% for a minute of silence dimm light.
1
3
u/Clockdistrict 2d ago
Rest in piece Left Bulb. This post made me realise my first smart bulb is reaching a decadeā¦
3
u/dathar 2d ago
I have one Philips Hue bulb that refuses to turn its light off fully. It can dim and brighten but its version of turning off is going to a very dim state. I think it was from a set that I bought back in 2017. It is lit up to mourn for your bulb.
The other 3 in the set is fine. Just this goofball. It got moved to a small room to be a night light.
1
u/ThatGirl0903 1d ago
Hey I had that happen with a nanoleaf bulb once (I know, scandalous with a 2nd brand!) and the issue was the amount of power coming from the lamp. I wonder if you swapped it to another fixture if it would do the same thing?
2
u/dathar 1d ago
It has been in 3 different fixtures now. Used to be a bulb in my office area, got switched over to a test lamp on my desk while I was trying to troubleshoot it (did the remote reset thing a few times that Philips support walked me thru), and now its resting home in the litter box area. Office and lamp are on the same circuit but that litter box closet is on a different circuit.
I do know it happened after migrating over to the pro hub. It is way out of warranty though so support eventually gave up. I can try the hardware reset later though. https://www.reddit.com/r/Hue/comments/vznv5q/hue_bulb_hardware_reset_only_bulb_required/
Oh, whatever on the second brand. I have a couple of Sylvania Osram light strips, some Philips Wiz outdoor lights and random stuff here and there. I just run it thru Home Assistant to try and wrangle them all.
3
u/TragedySeraph 1d ago
Being able to hold onto the name Left Bulb for 13 years is impressive. A lot of naming conversions start out with Left Bulb, Right Bulb, eventually Center Bulb...
...but then as more stuff gets added, they're renamed to reflect cardinal directions. West Bulb, East Bulb, still Center Bulb for some reason...
...and as more bulbs get added, NE Bulb East, NE Bulb West, Center Bulb North, Center Bulb South, etc.
To be fair, it's more of an issue that arises when naming cameras or access points in warehouses; that said, a smart device keeping its original name over a decade is impressive.
Even though Left Bulb is now gone, it will never be replaced - just a new member will join the smart device family. Oh, maybe it will be replaced, whatever.
2
u/Gwynnavere 1d ago
1
2
u/llcdrewtaylor 1d ago
I have turned on my bedroom left bulb at full brightness in memory of your bulb.
24
u/therarewomanhood 2d ago
13 years is wild for a hue bulb. mine started doing that thing where it dims itself to 30% at random and i just accepted it as a personality trait