How To Set Up Echo Dot To Turn On Lights

An Alexa smart speaker has the power to control your lights, plugs and other devices – and it's and then piece of cake to set upward.

First, you're going to need some Alexa devices, which including smart bulbs, connected plugs, followed past smart abode hubs, thermostats and security cameras.

Buying a connected seedling is the simplest mode to become Alexa to control your dwelling house lighting, but information technology tin can be a petty impractical if you had scores of bulbs around the room.

All-time Alexa uniform smart home devices

Nosotros unremarkably advise newbies simply to choose some mood lights to start off with, and then you can trick out the residuum of your domicile lighting after.

And don't forget, lighting tin too be controlled vis smart plugs for lamps – and yous can even make the low-cal switch itself connect to Alexa and leave the bulbs well alone. Read our guides for that, for more than ideas.

In this guide we look at how to connect your devices upwardly with Alexa and how to control them.

Why connect your home with Alexa?

So kickoff of all, why bother to go to the try of buying Alexa-uniform devices? Well, to put it succinctly, Alexa really starts to make sense in your home when decision-making smart home tech from an Repeat device.

Alexa is extremely adept at making smart abode tech work together. It's easy to set up single command groups that can control multiple lights, plugs and other devices together – which means a single command can set the mood in your entire house, be it walking in the door, getting ready for some TV fourth dimension, or merely switching everything off before bed.

How to set up smart dwelling devices in Alexa

The start bit comes downwardly to following the instructions of the specific device. We'll take Philips Hue lights as an example. Before you get started you'll make sure the Philips Bridge is installed, that your lights are plugged into fittings and they're working properly inside the Hue app.

That goes for any device that's not Amazon-fabricated – you lot'll need to install it properly first inside its ain app and ecosystem before you get going with Alexa.

Use the Echo Zigbee smart home hub

The exception to this rule is if you lot're using the new 4th-gen Repeat, Amazon Repeat Plus or ane of the newer Echo Show models. These Alexa smart speakers double up as smart habitation hubs and have the power to find some smart home devices, if they use the Zigbee protocol.

While this will need a petty investigation on your office, Belkin WeMo, Honeywell thermostats, Ikea Tradfli, Philips Hue and Yale locks are all Zigbee compatible.

Instead of needing to utilise an Alexa skill, you can search and find devices when they're plugged in. Yous might non become total functionality, however. For example, y'all might not go all colour shades of a smart bulb.

How to add devices to Alexa

Unless you're using a Zigbee-enbled Repeat speaker (detailed higher up), you lot're going to need to install Alexa skills for the devices yous want to Alexa to discover. This isn't a complicated procedure, but you will need the login info for each of the smart device ecosystems y'all're going to add.

That's because an Alexa skill effectively links your Amazon account to that of Lifx, Philips Hue, Hive, Nest or whatever service you're using. The easiest way to install the Alexa skill is to go to the app, open the side menu and select Skills & Games from the listing, then search. The app will take you through the process of adding your login details.

In one case you lot've set your devices up in their own ecosystems, it's time to hook them up with Alexa. Y'all can do this two means:

ane. Merely ask an Alexa-enabled speaker: "Alexa find my devices"

2. Or, head to the Amazon Alexa app, tap Devices on the bottom right of the screen and so printing the + button at the peak right (see above).

Alexa volition scan your home network and too apply the pre-installed skills to locate devices you might want to add.

Whatever you've named them in your app will be the default name when information technology's sucked into the Alexa app - but those names can always be changed...

Rename your devices in the Alexa app

Alexa volition take the proper noun of a device, found in its native app – merely this tin lead to clashes betwixt devices, if for example, yous have 2 different manufacturers of smart bulb, which accept both defaulted to "lounge light".

The event can be cluttered and you'll observe yous'll accept some Alexa housekeeping to do.

All the same, you can proper noun devices in the Alexa app separately, so you'll want to become through and give them all easy-to-call back and logical names. Besides, avoid clashes in Alexa between even random types of device. Having a "lounge" Sonos speaker and "lounge lamp" can play havoc with Alexa, so try and keep things divide.

To rename, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Alexa app

2. Tap the Devices tab at the bottom

3. Choose the type of product from this screen, which makes it easier to find the verbal device

iv. Tap on a device and select the Settings cog in the summit-right corner

5. Tap Edit Name.

Set up up Alexa smart home groups

From inside the Smart Home menu of the Amazon Alexa smartphone app, you can add any device into a unmarried group, which tin be controlled past voice. For example, yous may desire to group all lights on your ground flooring into a single "Downstairs lights" grouping.

That way, information technology'll be much easier to integrate the devices into routines, or command multiple devices with a single vocalisation command.

Practise so using these steps:

i. Open the Alexa app

2 . Tap Devices

3. Press the + button in the top right

4. Tap Add Grouping

5. Cull Smart Home Group and requite it a name that you'll remember. This could be "main lights" or "downstairs lights" for instance

half-dozen. Tap the devices you want from within the list, so you lot're done

Import scenes from third-party apps

If y'all've designed scenes inside apps such as Philips Hue, Alexa volition likewise detect and import them. During a scan of your network, scenes will be added to the Alexa app.

You lot simply demand to have installed the relevant skills. Once registered in the app, yous can then inquire Alexa to control them.

What Alexa commands can I apply?

So you have your domicile lighting, cameras, plugs and more set up with Alexa, and your scenes and groups, too. Here'southward some ideas to go you started.

"Alexa, lights on."

"Alexa, lights off."

"Alexa, dim main lights to 50%."

"Set the light to blue."

"Set the calorie-free to soft white."

"Make the calorie-free warmer/cooler."

"Alexa, set the temperature to 21."

"Alexa, information technology's Bedtime" [to activate a Scene].

What happens if Alexa tin't find your device?

If y'all've gone through all these steps and Alexa isn't seeing your device, at that place'southward some steps you tin can take. For brevity, hither's your essential Alexa troubleshooting checklist

Check it's a Works with Alexa product
Is information technology powered on and ready to be discovered?
Delete and reinstall the Alexa skill, and sign in
Check your phone, Alexa and this device are all connected to the same Wi-Fi network
Plough Alexa off, the device and check how to do a hardware reset
Update your router settings

How to delete smart home devices from Alexa and remove duplicates

If you're sick and tired of hearing Alexa say, "A few things share that proper name, which i did you lot desire?" or "Delight effort again using 'percent' for effulgence or 'degrees' for temperature" later on you lot give a basic smart home voice command, and so take a look at our guide on deleting devices from your Alexa smart domicile.

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