iRacing Plugins – Philips Hue Smart Home

There are a lot of great iRacing plugins out there to improve your overall game experience. Today we’re going to talk about how you can use your Philips Hue color lights or light strips to give a cool effect for your live stream or even to help you see the flags right away. First, we have to disclose that we are an affiliate partner with Philips Hue, so if you click one of the Hue links, we’ll get a small commission from your purchase and it goes a long way to helping us develop F-R Racing and provide awesome content to you!

Philips Hue Equipment

Hue Bridge

Firstly, you’ll need to purchase a Philips Hue Bridge to make this all work work. Philips Hue lights can work via Bluetooth, but only a limited number of devices. The Hue Bridge connects to your home router and manages the light connections. To save some money, take a look at one of the starter kits that includes a bridge and a color bulb. I know this should go without saying, but the white bulb will not work with this, you need a color bulb.

Hue Color Lights/Light Bulbs

There are three different option color bulbs to pick from and we’ll go into each briefly. I have personally used all three options and all are good solutions. As a result, the solution that works best for you may vary depending on the size of room and if you stream.

Hue Color Bulb

A light bulb is the most basic option. This bulb will work in almost any lamp you have sitting around your home. These bulbs work as both standard white bulbs or color bulbs and come in a variety of sizes. If you want to use a BR30 bulbs in your recessed ceiling lights, that is an option as well.

Hue Play

The Philips Hue Play light comes in a one pack or two pack and with the option of a black or a white light frame. It includes a mount to attach it to your desk, wall, or even stick it to the back of your tv or monitor. If you don’t have room for a lamp, this light is designed to last 10+ years. This is a very compact unit and therefore is a great selection if you do not have room for a full lamp on your desk.

Hue Light Strip

Light strips are really cool. I currently have one of these Philips Hue Light strips mounted to the wall just behind the top of my couch, so it gives an awesome effect when the light turns on. See below for a video of the final product.

TUnbehaun Phue Race Flags Plugins

TUnbehaun Phue Race Flags is the key to making this all work. The software works for Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, and iRacing. After that, you’ll need to scroll down to “Usage”, download the exe file, and install it on your iRacing PC. Note that Windows or your antivirus software may try to block the software thinking it’s a virus.

You’ll need the IP address of your Hue Bridge to complete the setup. You can find this by going into the Philips Hue app on your phone, click “settings”, click your Hue system, and Hue Bridge to see the IP. Note that depending on your network setup, this IP address could change periodically. If the app stops working, check your Hue app to see if the Hue Bridge IP address changed.

Note: While Phue is enabled, you will not be able to control the Philips Hue lights if you have them synched to a smart home system. This list includes, but is not limited to Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, or your Google Home system. In other words, you’ll have to “stop” the sync to regain control of your Hue lights.

iRacing Plugins – Hue Lights Final Product

For my setup, I have a Hue Play behind my monitor that notifies me of a flag change. For my stream, I have a light strip mounted just above my couch behind me that changes colors as flags come out. It’s pretty awesome choice of all the iRacing plugins and provides a cool effect for when I stream online.

Merchandise

New in the F-R Racing shop, the 2022 team jersey! This “jersey style” material is great to wear when it’s warm outside or when you’re sweating from a marathon streaming session.