Best light bulb system?

[georgetoon]

I want to set up my outdoor lights to turn on and off automatically and with my Echo.  What is the best solution for this?  I'm not sure if I want/need to do new wiring.  Right now, all I have access to is a light switch which turns lights and off inside house and a light switch which does the same form inside the garage.

[renegade600]

if you are just talking about regular lights, just about any bulb system will work as long as they are within wifi range and you are using the proper hub/gateway.  I use tcp connected bulbs for my outside lights and had them long before getting the echo.  If you are talking about flood lights, tcp connected used to have flood light (they made changes so not sure now) and they worked the same. 

There are wall switches where you can replace the switch if you have a neutral wire but may not work if you have more than one switch to the same light.  I know wemo has that limitation.  Dont know about the others. 

the only disadvantage of using bulbs is if you, family or guests turned off the lights manually, then it would have to be manually turned on before using the echo or and if you have it turning on automatically. 

[DParker]

if you are just talking about regular lights, just about any bulb system will work as long as they are within wifi range and you are using the proper hub/gateway.

All of the Echo's home automation integrations that I know of...with the exception of WeMo...are cloud-to-cloud, so distance between your Echo and your automation system's hub (or in the case of wifi-enabled smart thermostats like Nest and Ecobee, the devices themselves) is irrelevant.  They just all need to be internet connected.

I use tcp connected bulbs for my outside lights and had them long before getting the echo.  If you are talking about flood lights, tcp connected used to have flood light (they made changes so not sure now) and they worked the same. 

There are wall switches where you can replace the switch if you have a neutral wire but may not work if you have more than one switch to the same light.  I know wemo has that limitation.  Dont know about the others.

There are several Z-Wave/Zigbee 3-way switching options available now from mfgrs like GE and Leviton.

the only disadvantage of using bulbs is if you, family or guests turned off the lights manually, then it would have to be manually turned on before using the echo or and if you have it turning on automatically.

Another disadvantage pops up if you have multi-bulb light fixtures, in which case the cost of multiple smart bulbs quickly begins to match of exceed the cost of a single smart switch/outlet.

[renegade600]

if you are just talking about regular lights, just about any bulb system will work as long as they are within wifi range and you are using the proper hub/gateway.

All of the Echo's home automation integrations that I know of...with the exception of WeMo...are cloud-to-cloud, so distance between your Echo and your automation system's hub (or in the case of wifi-enabled smart thermostats like Nest and Ecobee, the devices themselves) is irrelevant.  They just all need to be internet connected.

You can be too far from the tcp gateway and the gateway can be too far from the router as I found out when I was installing tcp connected bulbs.    I also found distance was an issue when installing wemo insight switches. 

[DParker]

You can be too far from the tcp gateway and the gateway can be too far from the router as I found out when I was installing tcp connected bulbs.    I also found distance was an issue when installing wemo insight switches.

To be sure.  I thought you were referring to the distance between the Echo and the devices/hubs you're trying to control.

[renegade600]

You can be too far from the tcp gateway and the gateway can be too far from the router as I found out when I was installing tcp connected bulbs.    I also found distance was an issue when installing wemo insight switches.

To be sure.  I thought you were referring to the distance between the Echo and the devices/hubs you're trying to control.

I was wondering :-)  I did not even have the echo when I installed the lights.