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How to change the color of the lights depending on the weather outside

Before you walk out the door, it would be helpful to know if you need a coat or if you can skip it. To give you a quick indicator, you can set one of your Hue bulbs to change color when it’s too hot or too cold outside. Here’s how to do it.

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To do this, we will use a service called IFTTT (if this, then this). If you haven’t used IFTTT before, check out our getting started guide for information on how to create an account and connect apps. Then come back here to create the required recipe.

To do this, you need to turn on the Philips Hue and Weather Underground channels in IFTTT. You will also need a Hue light that can change colors. Some other smart lights like LIFX can also change colors, but we’ll demonstrate this with Philips Hue. For your convenience, we’ve created a sample applet here using Philips Hue lights, or you can follow it below to make your own.

To get started, go to the IFTTT homepage and sign in. Then click on your profile picture.

Then click «New Applet».

Click on the word «it» highlighted in blue.

Search for «Weather Underground» or find it in the product table below. Click on it when you find it.

There are two in the list of triggers that will be relevant here. One labeled «Current temperature goes lower» and the other labeled «Current temperature rises higher». You can set them based on what the weather is around you and what you are comfortable with. For example, you can get a notification if it drops below 40 degrees to let you know to wear a coat, or when it dips above 75 so you know it’s time to wear warmer-weather clothing. Choose the one you want and continue. We will demonstrate with «The current temperature rises higher».

Note. You can only select one trigger per applet, so if you want your lights to change one color when it’s very hot and another color when it’s very cold, you’ll have to go through this process twice.

On the next page, enter the temperature in the first field that you want to be notified about. In my case, I want to know when it’s hotter than 75 degrees outside. You can also choose between Fahrenheit and Celsius in the second box if you need to. When you’re done, click «Create Trigger».

On the next page, click the word «that» highlighted in blue.

Search for the IFTTT channel of your smart light. In this case, we are looking for Philips Hue. Click on a channel when you find it. From now on, the steps may be slightly different depending on which brand of smart lighting you’re using, but the basics should be the same.

Find «Change Color» in the list of triggers and click on it.

On the next page, select the light you want to change from the dropdown list. Then enter the color name or hexadecimal code value for the desired color. I preferred to slightly tint the color of my lights without making them bright like solid red or blue. For warm weather I set my light to #ffee99 and for cold weather I used #ccddff. These colors give a distinct enough color to tell that the weather has changed and the lighting in the room looks terrible. (Though you could use something more intense if you were doing it on, say, a porch.)

On the final screen, name your applet and click Finish.

Repeat these steps to create a second cold weather recipe. This recipe works best for lighting in a room where you are likely to see it and which you don’t turn off very often. For example, you probably shouldn’t be using this in your home theater room. However, it can be very handy for a bedroom lamp or an outdoor lamp that you’ll see when you’re getting ready in the morning.

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