Philips Hue Low-Volt or Mains Outdoor Lights: What Does Each Need?

• An existing outside light on a circuit that can take it. In England, replacing it is not notifiable, and additions to existing circuits outdoors stopped being notifiable on 6 April 2013
• An earth for Class I fittings such as Econic, Muscari, Struana, the Welcome floodlight and the Secure Flood Light Camera. Some older lighting circuits have none, so the pro runs one or you choose a Class II model such as the mains Impress, Semeru or Scenova
• A permanent live. The indoor switch has to stay on, or get a Hue wall switch module, or the light drops out of the app
• RCD protection. BS 7671 expects a 30 mA RCD on new or significantly altered lighting circuits; where a fitting swap meets an older circuit without one, the pro records it and advises an upgrade
• Signal. The front of a London terrace can be a long way from the Bridge, so a mains-powered Hue light inside near the door helps carry it

• An outdoor socket. Hue's instruction is to plug the power supply into one; where there is none, a pro adds one spurred from an existing circuit, which is not notifiable in England but must have 30 mA RCD protection
• Room for the plug. Some reviews on Hue's UK pages say the power supply's 13 A plug is too bulky for a standard weatherproof socket, so the pro fits a socket with a deep in-use cover or a weatherproof enclosure
• A power budget. Add up the watts: Hue says one 40 W supply runs five Lily spotlights or three Lily XL
• A cable plan within Hue's limits, routed where spades and mowers will not reach it, and in conduit under paving. Hue's UK pages give no burial depth, so this is JACK practice

• A new circuit for garden lights, a shed or a garden room, for example where no existing circuit is near enough or has room for the load
• A new or replacement consumer unit, including one needed to make space for that circuit

• Lighting a wall where an outside light already is: a mains Hue light is the tidier swap
• Lighting borders, trees and paths across the garden: low-volt, because one plug feeds the run and the cable carries low voltage
• A roofline or eaves: Festavia permanent, a low-volt system with a 2.5 m lead before the first light, fixed along the fascia from a ladder
• Lights near neighbours' windows: the Environmental Protection Act 1990 treats artificial light that causes a nuisance as a statutory nuisance, so floodlights are angled to keep their light on your side

• Photos of each wall or bed to be lit, taken from far enough back to show the route to the house
• The outdoor socket you would use, or where one could go, and the existing outside light if you are replacing it
• The indoor switch for the outside light
• The Hue products, and how many of each

A vetted pro prices your Hue job from the products and your photos, and the JACK app shows that fixed price before you book.

Whether the job touches your wiring matters more than how many lights there are. Fitting B22 or GU10 bulbs, setting up a Bridge and plugging in lamps, Play bars or a lightstrip is set-up work. Ceiling lights, Perifo track, wall switch modules and mains outdoor lights are electrical work on your existing circuits, priced for the isolating, connecting and testing each one needs.

Then the home itself: a heavy fitting that has to go into a joist, a high or sloping ceiling, a two-way landing that needs a module at both switches, old cable with no earth, or a long garden run for low-volt lights. On a high ceiling or a long fitting, your pro can ask another pro on JACK to help through the Pro2Pro feature. Several Hue jobs, and devices from other brands, go on one booking for one fixed price.

You buy the Hue products; JACK does not sell them. Accessories the job needs, such as a deeper back box, an in-use cover for an outdoor socket or aluminium channel for a strip, are agreed and added at cost before you book, and so is parking where it has to be paid for. Prefer to pay for time? As a guide, hourly hire is typically £45–£95 per hour for smart home work and £55–£110 per hour for electrical work, and a full-day handyman booking is a flat £350–£400 for up to 8 hours on site, which suits a whole-house Hue fit.