I recently decided to install ‘smart home’ lighting and other devices in my home, and after some research I decided to give the Philips Hue system a try. I also have quite a few basic non-smart LED bulbs in my home.I’m very happy with the Hue system so far although it takes time to fully understand all of the ways it can be varied and used. I use Hue bulbs with the Apple HomeKit system, and the integration with HomeKit has been automatic and without difficulty.These candelabra style bulbs are installed in my office ceiling fan, which has a light fixture with four bulbs. I decided to spend the extra money for the Hue bulbs because they'll give me the ability to adjust not only brightness but also the color 'temperature' - the Hue bulbs can be varied from 2200 Kelvin ('warm white') to 6500 Kelvin ('cool daylight'). These candelabra bulbs provide 450 lumens of illumination and draw 6 watts at maximum brightness. When I'm working at my desk, I generally want the daylight color that I can get from these bulbs, but at other times I'll go for the warmer light as well as dim them down. I don't know that there are many other LED bulbs that offer this flexibility, along with the 'smart' home integration.These are slightly larger than standard candelabra bulbs, but for my particular application the difference is not an issue. The additional length is due to a plastic outer bulb that I assume is to protect the glass inner bulb.There is a huge difference in the price of individual LED bulbs, both from Philips and from other suppliers, depending on what they are capable of. At the most basic are LED bulbs that don’t provide for varying the light intensity (dimming), to bulbs that can be integrated with the Hue system (for remote operation and programming), and continuing to bulbs that are a part of the Hue system and have features including full color control (most expensive).The Philips Hue system requires the use of a Hue hub connected to your home Wi-Fi system to connect and control Hue specific bulbs and accessories, and there are starter kits to obtain the hub together with two or four bulbs.Initially it took some time to understand the differences between the various Philips bulbs, both Hue and non-Hue LED, so here is a quick intro. The comparison below refers to standard style bulbs and not the candelabra style that is listed on this page.There are five basic Philips LED bulb types (both Hue and non-Hue bulbs). ALL ARE 60W equivalent, Dimmable, E26 type (standard light bulb):- 1. (NOT Hue) 800 lumen Warm 2700K- 2. (NOT Hue) 800 lumen Daylight 5000K- 3. Hue 840 lumen Warm 2700K- 4. Hue 800 lumen White ambiance 2200-6500K- 5. Hue 800 lumen White and color ambiance 2000-6500K plus ’16 million’ colorsAll of the bulbs above use approximately 9-10 watts at maximum brightnessThere is a huge difference in prices for the 5 types listed above, from about 2-3 dollars per bulb (1 & 2 above), to 10 per bulb (3 above), 20 per bulb (4 above), and finally 40 per bulb for all the bells and whistles (5 above).I quickly learned that if I don’t need to vary the ‘warmness’ of the light in a certain room or area, then all I need is the basic LED bulb, either warm or daylight, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be a Hue bulb if I don’t need to control the bulbs from an App. The brightness can always be controlled from a LED compatible wall mounted dimmer switch or other smart home dimmer that can integrate into the smart home system.If I want lighting in a certain area or room to have the flexibility to change from warm white to bright daylight, in addition to dimming, then the White ambiance style Hue bulb works great.Finally, if I want to add special effects, varying colors and everything imaginable about the lighting, then the White and color ambiance bulbs give that capability.Starter KitsThe Hue system requires a hub, which you only need to purchase once. You can purchase the hub by itself or there are several kits that include the hub - I started with this basic kit, which includes four of the White ambience bulbs plus the hub:Hue Starter Kit 4 x 800 lumen White ambiance 2200-6500K plus hubOther starter kits are available, either with two or four basic white Hue bulbs, or with two of the White and color ambiance bulbs.LightstripsI’ve installed the Hue lightstrips under the counters in our kitchen, and they are terrific. I've also installed them under the sides of the bed in our bedroom, to provide night and ambience lighting. They are great, but like everything else in the Hue system, they are a bit expensive:Hue LightStrip 1600 lumen White and color ambiance 2000-6500K plus ’16 million’ colorsThe lightstrips have turned out to be one of the more enjoyable parts of the system and are very easy to install.Accessories and Control OptionsAll of the Hue products can be controlled using the App, and there is a huge amount of flexibility available in how the lights are programmed. They can be organized by room or in other ways, and controlled in groups or separately.Hue bulbs are not intended to be used with a wall mounted dimmer switch unless the dimmer is specifically intended to be used with the Hue system. Once a light is turned off using the wall switch, then it can’t be turned back on using the Hue controls (power needs to be supplied to the bulb at all times in order for the bulb to be controllable by the Hue system, even if the bulb is turned off. This is not intuitive at first and is a part of why installing these kinds of bulbs in a home requires considerable thought about how you will use them and what is most convenient for any particular situation).The Hue dimmer switch / remote is a handy accessory to have, if you want to be able to control lights without using the App:Hue Smart Dimmer SwitchHue Smart Dimmer Switch plus 1 800 lumen White ambience 220-6500KI have two of these dimmer switches and use one to control the undercounter lights in our kitchen. For those particular lights it is the only way they can be controlled all at the same time since they plug into different outlets and the outlets are not controlled by any wall switches.There is also a ‘tap switch’ available, and a motion sensor. I have not tried either of those products yet.There is a lot more that could be said about this Hue system but my intention here is only to give a quick introduction to the types of lighting available and some of the ways in which they can be used.