Control Your Lights with Amazon Alexa: Controlling the lights in your smart home is one of the most fun and practical things you can do with Alexa. In this guide, we will show you how to configure your smart home lighting and master your lighting situation.
How to control your lights with Amazon Alexa
- Open the Alexa application on your smartphone and click Add device.
- Click the + symbol in the upper right corner to add a new device.
- Click Add device.
- A screen will show a notification “what type of device are you configuring?” It will show popular brands and categories of devices. Here you can choose the brand or click Light.
- Select the brand of smart light you wish to configure. In this example, we will choose Philips Hue.
- After selecting Philips Hue, the first thing you will be asked is “which Philips Hue bridge are you using?” Many smart lamp manufacturers require a bridge or hub device to allow their lights to speak with their voice assistant. Make sure you have a center if needed for your smart bulb! Select your bridge device.
- You will then be asked to connect your Philips Hue lamp to Alexa by downloading the Philips Hue application and following the configuration procedure.
- After connecting Philips Hue Light to Alexa in both applications, you will be asked to press Continue and enable the Philips Hue Alexa ability. Again, this is common for many smart lamp manufacturers. Click Enable to use the skill and you’re ready to go.
However, if you want to do more with your smart lighting, like controlling entire rooms or setting themed ambient lighting, read on.
How to set up a group of smart lights with Alexa
- From the Devices tab in the lower right of the Alexa application, click on the + symbol in the upper right corner.
- Click Add group.
- Here you can select a predefined group name (for example, by room) or add a custom name.
- Click Next, then choose which devices (such as bulbs) you want to add to the group and then click Save.
How to set up an intelligent lighting routine with Alexa
Setting up a routine is one of the most powerful things you can do with your smart home with Alexa. Routines allow you to link numerous activities to a key phrase or trigger, which can automate many processes that are important to you. For example, I have an established bedtime routine that turns off all lights and music and lowers the thermostat to 76 degrees when I say “Good night Alexa”.
- Open the Alexa application and click Routine.
- From this screen you can see the previous routines you have configured and choose from the highlighted routines that Amazon is promoting. To create a new routine, click on the + symbol in the upper right corner.
- On the New Procedure screen, you can select the trigger by clicking When This Happens and then add an action to that trigger.
- For example, when you click In this case, you can choose to activate actions based on voice input, a program, an action of a certain device, exit or reach a position, an alarm or press an echo button.
- By clicking Add Action, you can choose different responses to triggers, such as adding a calendar event, sending an email or message, reading the latest news or turning on / off the smart lights in the Smart Home tab.
- After clicking on the Smart Home tab, you will see a screen that says All devices or control group. If you select All devices, you can choose which device to add to the action. If you select Control Group, you can choose which of your groups to add to the action.
How to configure your smart lights with Alexa Guard
Alexa Guard is a security service that uses the array of microphones in any / all Echo devices to listen for intrusion signals (broken glass) or smoke/carbon monoxide alarms when configured in absent mode. You can also connect the Ring and ADT security systems to Alexa Guard for convenience and safety.
- From the Settings menu, scroll down and click Guard.
- The Alexa Guard screen will appear. Tap on the Settings icon in the upper right corner.
- If the smart lights have already been configured according to the previous sections, you can click to enable remote lighting.
- This will allow Alexa to automatically turn on the connected lights when Guard is set to absent mode, so it appears that you are at home, even if you are not.
Thus you can Control Your Lights with Amazon Alexa. If you feel any issues, comment us in the comment box.