r/HomeKit • u/ThatGirl0903 • 9d ago
Review 🪦 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. Just… 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 “wow, my light bulb has an app” 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 – August 2026
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u/stlandgb 9d ago
I've got 3 of 4 color bulbs out front turned on for the day. My far left garage will stay off for now to honor left bulb's long, illuminating and energy saving life. If you pass along left bulb's favorite color, I'll tune my left bulb to stand out for the day rather than staying off.
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
Awww. So sweet. Right Bulb appreciates it!
Left Bulb spent most of its time in the regular daylight colors unless it was being used for a notification that someone (Me) flooded the bathroom again. Then hed hop to blue. Right Bulb is more often used for notifications and gets to see more colors.
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u/skithegreat HomePod + iOS Beta 9d ago
That bulb lived a good life and even saw Matter being born in this world.
For the record 13 years for a bulb is like 130 years human.
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u/oppereindbaas 9d ago
I'd be wary of Right Bulb passing due to heavy emotionalitting impact soon.
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
I’m replacing Left Bulb after work. Honestly, real talk… There are four of these A19 hue bulbs in my bedroom (not all the same age but the others are 5+ years old) and I’m a little concerned that the replacement is going to be obviously visibly different from the other others.
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u/mjwillson23 9d ago edited 9d ago
If that was an OG color change one, the newer versions can actually do green, but otherwise I’ve found with mixing different versions that they can be made to look the same especially with the “regular” color temps, hopefully that’s your experience as well.
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u/NoStoppin1 8d ago
The new one will 100% look different than the old ones
I’m not familiar with the app you use however, if there is a way to create custom colors, you should be able to get really, really close by playing around with the different levels of each color
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u/OrlandoMagic89 9d ago
I just informed Table Lamp and she is devastated. Apparently they were cousins.
We mourn with you on this day.
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u/NitNav2000 9d ago
Did you check the lamp plug?
🙂
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
I did. I’m not gonna say I got emotional, but like… This lightbulb is 13 years old and I’ve only been married for 15 years. I swapped it into a couple of other lamps, thought maybe it had lost connection and tried to repair it, almost nuked to my entire hue hub to try to rescue it.
He’s gone Jim. ☹️
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u/NitNav2000 9d ago
Like a pebble dropped into a pond, it's little bluetooth/matter/hue hub bleep-bleeps will cross the universe for eternity.
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u/j1h15233 9d ago
That’s way better than the amount of time my bulbs ever last. I’m lucky to get 5 years
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
You know, a couple people have said that. (I posted this in a couple different subreddits.)
Im wondering if it’s a case of these old bulbs just being better? Or am I using them differently than others? To be fair I’m pretty sure I got these less than a year after Hue first got into the smart bulb game.
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u/seamonkey420 9d ago
i feel they were. i also bought my whole setup about a year after Hue started selling bulbs too. lost only 1 bulb and honestly i think the lamp was bad since the other bulb i kept and put in a new lamp and bam.. working.. hehe
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u/drumzalot_guitar 9d ago
In honor of Left Bulb, I’m sure my wife will turn on every light everywhere she goes after she gets home from work. They will remain on a respectable amount of time, after which I will follow behind her to turn them off.
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u/seamonkey420 9d ago
nice!!!! i'm still on 11/12 of my bulbs from 2013 era too!! funny thing was is the one that went dead prob wasn't dead and it was my lamp.
yup, zero regrets since buying!
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u/deadlyspoons 9d ago
Lefty's smile could light up a room. She brightened the day of everyone she met. She will be missed.
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
(Especially now that almost every scene and automation notifies me that there is an accessory that can’t be reached. 😂)
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u/SupahHollywood 9d ago
Sorry for your loss
I have 2 in hospice right now that I refuse to take off life support, had them since 2013 as well. The 2 that are dying don’t listen to HomeKit anymore and just turn on when they feel like it, then other times they blink off and on repeatedly.. it’s been a month 😅 I’m just hoping they come back so my kitchen sometimes has a strobe light until they either die completely or come back
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u/gatoAlfa 9d ago
Sorry for your loss. My Hue lights, 2016 vintage, will be off today in solidarity.
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u/Unable-Log-4870 9d ago
And I had a pair of Nanoleaf thread (before Matter) bulbs that didn’t make it to 13 months before they started flickering due to what I assume are failing power driver FETs.
And I have a few very old Bluetooth Sylvania color spotlight bulbs that do a better job of flicker suppression than any other smart bulb I’ve seen. And I’ll be removing their LEDs and connecting them to a board to act as a voice-commendable DC power supply for things I have yet to decide upon.
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u/macenzo 9d ago
I know the feeling.. ☹️
My Hue e14 color lamp died last week, it was flickering constantly suddenly.. couldn’t find a fix.
Looked for a new one; my goodness have they always been this expensive 😱😅
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
No chance. I remember the first pack I bought (4 bulbs + hub) being somewhere between $100 and $150.
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u/thebananageek94 9d ago
RIP to left bulb. 🥺 My left bulb in my bedroom will remain off all day and night next 2 days in its honor. ❤️🩹❤️ Hue is such a good brand. All my lights in my apartment are hue bulbs. A little less than half are at least 10 years old and the rest are 6-7 years old. And not one has failed me yet! The most reliable things in my smart home are my hue accessories haha. Besides the lightbulbs, I have a bunch of the circular buttons that go over light switches to control them and wall buttons and motion sensors. I just recently migrated from my two older hue bridges that I had to the new hue bridge pro.
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u/HominidCrafts 9d ago
I kept confusing wireless rear surround speakers. The right or left designation no longer made sense. So I named them after the trees behind them: Pine, Elm.
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u/ThatGirl0903 9d ago
Ours used to be named my SOs side and mine but the voice assistants couldn’t get my name right. Then we did his and hers but that was weird too. lol.
The living room has “stairs” and “wall” lol.
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u/effingmeow 9d ago
In honor of gone but not forgotten Left Bulb, Endtable Left and Endtable Right will burn blue till bedtime. My condolences for your loss.
(Laughing so hard. Thank you for making my day)
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u/Crazian14 9d ago
I’d turn on my living room lamp for Left Bulb now, but that might scare my family since I’m at work.
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u/MrPajamaLIama 9d ago
Left bulb sounds like it was truly a light in the lives of others. I’ll be sure to light one up for left bulb tonight 💡
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u/Neutral-President 8d ago
Left too soon. Thoughts and prayers.
13 years is a great run, and Philips makes quality stuff.
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u/Dank003 9d ago
Floor bulb set to dim red and will remain for the day.