Alexa Smart Home Guide
Amazon Alexa Smart speakers deliver a super smart, voice-controlled home controller setup, which allows you to control compatible smart home devices, such as lights, plugs, switches and more.
This could get daunting for some, so if you’re stuck on how to pair your smart home devices to Alexa, don’t fret as we’ve got you covered!
Amazon Alexa smart speakers are gateway devices – they are the key that unlocks easy control of the smart home. Research has shown that the preferred devices of Amazon Alexa users are smart bulbs, followed by smart home hubs, thermostats and cameras.
In this guide, we look at how to connect your devices up with Alexa and how to control them.
Why Connect Your Home With Alexa?
So first of all, why bother to go the effort of buying Alexa-compatible devices? Well, to put it succinctly, Alexa really starts to make sense in your home when controlling smart devices.
Alexa is extremely adept at making smart home tech work together. It’s easy to set up
Amazon Alexa smart speakers are gateway devices - they are the key that unlocks easy control of the smart home.
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 time, or just switching everything off before bed.
How To Set Up Smart Home Devices In Alexa
The first bit comes down 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 within the Hue app.
That goes for any device that’s not Amazon-made – you’ll need to install it properly first within its own app and ecosystem before you get going with Alexa.
Using The Amazon Echo Plus
The exception to this rule is if you’re using the Amazon Echo Plus, which has the power to discover some smart home devices, if they use the Zigbee protocol. While this will need a little investigation on your part, Belkin WeMo, Honeywell thermostats, IKEA Tradfli, Philips Hue and Yale locks are all Zigbee.
How To Add Devices To Alexa
Unless you’re using the Amazon Echo Plus, you’re going to need to install Alexa skills for the devices you want Alexa to discover. This isn’t a complicated process, but you will need the login info for each of the smart device ecosystems you’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 list, then search. The app will take you through the process of adding your login details.
Once you’ve set your devices up in their own ecosystems, it’s time to hook them up with Alexa. You can do this two ways:
• Just ask “Alexa, discover my devices”.
• Head to the Amazon Alexa app, tap Devices on the bottom right of the screen and then press the + button at the top right. Alexa will scan your home network and use the preinstalled skills to locate devices. Whatever you’ve named them in your app will be the default name when it’s sucked into the Alexa app.
Rename Your Devices In The Alexa App
Alexa will take the name of a device, found in its native app, but it can lead to clashes between devices, if for example, you have two different manufacturers of smart bulb, which have both defaulted to “lounge light”. The result can be chaotic. However, you can name devices in the Alexa app separately, so you’ll want to go through and give them all easy-to-remember and logical names. Also, 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 separate.
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 exact device.
4. Tap on a device and select the Settings cog in the top-right corner.
5. Tap Edit Name.
The Top ALexa-Compatible Smart Home Tech Smart Plug: Amazon Smart Plug
If you’re in the Alexa ecosystem, Amazon’s own smart plug is the slickest, if not the most feature-packed, of the bunch.
Security Cam: Ring Video Doorbell 2
Ring’s doorbell offers all the essential features along with some decent Alexa integrations. Now in its second iteration, it’s one of the best smart doorbells money can buy.
Smart Lights: Philips Hue (Starter Pack)
Philips Hue still offers the best in smart lighting, with a great range of high-quality bulbs and full Alexa compatibility.
Smart Thermostat: Ecobee4
The Ecobee4 isn’t just Alexacompatible, but even has the assistant living inside it. It’s also a fantastic smart thermostat in its own right.
Set Up Alexa Groups
From within the Smart Home menu of the Amazon Alexa smartphone app, you can add any device into a single group, which can be controlled by voice.
Do so using these steps:
1. Open the Alexa app.
2. Tap Devices.
3. Press the + button in the top right.
4. Tap Add Group.
If you're in the Alexa ecosystem, Amazon's own smart plug is the slickest, if not the most feature-packed, of the bunch.
5. Choose Smart Home Group and give it a name that you’ll remember. This could be “main lights” or “downstairs light” for example.
6. Tap the devices you want from within the list and then you’re done.
Import Scenes From Third-Party Apps
If you’ve designed scenes within apps such as Philips Hue, Alexa will also detect and import them. During a scan of your network, scenes will be added to the Alexa app. You just need to have installed the relevant skills. Once registered in the app, you can then ask Alexa to control them.
What Alexa Commands Can I Use?
So you have your lights, cameras, plugs and more set up with Alexa, and your scenes and groups too. Here’s some ideas to get you started.
• “Alexa, lights on”
• “Alexa, lights off”
• “Alexa, dim main lights to 50%”
• “Set the light to blue”
• “Set the light to soft white”
• “Make the light warmer/cooler”
• “Alexa, set the temperature to 21”
• “Alexa, it’s bedtime” (to activate a Scene)
What Happens If Alexa Can't Find You Device?
If you’ve gone through all these steps and Alexa isn’t seeing your device, there’s some steps you can take. For brevity, here’s your essential Alexa troubleshooting checklist:
• Check it’s a “Works with Alexa” product.
• Is it 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.
• Turn Alexa and the device off and check how to do a hardware reset.
• Update your router settings.