Philips is currently in talks with Google owned thermostat company Nest on integrating thermostats into smart bulbs, according to a Slash Gear report.

In the report released in early July, Philips emphasized the smart Hue bulb will be built on existing computability linked by IFTTT. Recent updates noted the two companies are still exploring possible technologies at this stage.

Philips Hue LED bulbs (left) and Nest thermostat (right). (Photo Courtesy of Slash Gear)

"We are working with Nest to investigate what new features we could bring to our users through the combination of the hue developer programs and Nest developer program," said a Philips spokesperson.

There are several Nest IFTTT recipes that enable the linkage of thermostats, and smoke alarm Nest Protect with the hue bulbs. The online service enables the bulbs could to turn into an alarming red automatically to signal the presence of carbon monoxide or smoke.  

Philips Hue system architect George Yianni noted the company is investigating how light color and tone can affect temperature perception and lead to savings in HVAC costs.

The color temperature of lighting can affect people’s perception of room temperature and delay the need to turn up heat or power of air conditioning, explained Yianni. However, this is currently not possible with IFTTT, but could be achieved by improving Nest and hue’s SDKs communication.

When Google announced the Nest Developer program in June, several home automation and wearable firms signed up. Philips Hue was absent at the time, even though rival LIFX had joined, other partners include Jawbone and Whirlpool.