How To Control Smart Home Remotely With Amazon Echo

You beloved Amazon'south Repeat. Or, if yous don't, y'all soon volition.

Echo is the smart speaker that has just near everyone talking to smart speakers. You employ it to listen to your favorite radio station or podcast, purchase products from Amazon, hail Uber, order food, control the temperature in your abode and then many other skills.

Yet, fifty-fifty if you lot've been using Echo, and its voice-activated banana Alexa for some time now, you probably don't know that you can control your home with Alexa's help. You'll exist surprised to know that you lot can ask Alexa to dim the lights in your business firm to brand it cozier and turn the temperature upward.

We'll tell yous well-nigh fourteen smart-habitation products that fit almost everyone's budget that you can start using right at present. Just think about how much money you can save and how much stress and effort you can alleviate by maxim something like, "Alexa, shut the garage door," rather than getting upwards off the couch, heading to the dark and scary garage to press the button yourself.

Psst! Don't skip No. 14 – you'll exist shocked and pleasantly surprised that yous no longer have to do this hated task!

one. Smart dwelling house hub

There are so many Alexa skills and so many smart-dwelling devices that tin control everything from your thermostat to lawn sprinklers, that yous can easily feel overwhelmed. But, at Komando.com, nosotros help with solutions.

Ane solution to all of this new technology is a smart home hub. Try saying that three times fast!

Only, a smart abode hub is one device that lets you lot control all the other smart dwelling house devices. With Amazon's Echo and phonation-activated assistant, Alexa, you can tell Amazon to control the hub.

Y'all tin can schedule your lights to dim or burnish or turn up the heat or AC. You're in control of your abode's settings, or yous can save money past scheduling all the lights to be turned off, for instance, and the rut turned downwards when no one is abode.

Insteon utilizes dual-mesh tech. That just means it uses wireless radio and your utility lines to communicate to Alexa.

2. LED bulbs

Yes, these days, your lightbulbs are smart and hands controlled with Alexa. Just make certain you're buying Wi-Fi enabled LED bulbs that are compatible with Alexa.

Yous'll exist able to dim your bulbs, schedule them to come on and go off at sure times of the solar day and more. "Alexa, turn off the lights."

The Kasa Smart Wi-Fi LED bulb, for instance, is dimmable and you lot can schedule it to plow on and off. More to the point, though, simply say, "Alexa, turn on the lights" and you won't need to fuss with property bags and trying to plough on lights in the nighttime – no more of that creepy feeling.

Tip in a Tip: When you're shopping on Amazon, type "works with Alexa" into the search bar.

3. Smart outlets

Y'all may be wondering, "What's a smart outlet?" Once you employ it, you'll wonder how y'all've gotten by without one all these years.

It's an outlet that allow's you control your electronics with your voice. Just plug the smart outlet into any wall socket.

Then plug in your electronics, such as a lamp, sprinklers or air conditioner. Then, actuate it by talking to Alexa, rather than walking around the business firm turning things on and off.

4. Locks

Do y'all ever wake upwardly in the eye of the night wondering if you've locked the doors? We all have!

Now, y'all don't demand to become out of bed in the centre of the night to check all the locks. "Alexa, lock the doors."

Smart door locks similar Kwikset Kevo can exist set up to work with Alexa. These are door locks that use Bluetooth iv.0 technology to wirelessly open up with your smart phone or Alexa, or a regular door central.

5. Dwelling house security system

Nothing is more of import than your family unit'due south rubber. You as well desire to keep your valuables safe when yous're gone for the 24-hour interval or leaving town for months.

Home security systems take come a long way the by few years, with wireless systems that are easy to install and easy to remotely monitor. Now, you can control your abode security system with Alexa.

That includes home security cameras like the Canary View Indoor 1080p Hard disk drive security camera. It streams loftier-definition 1080p video with a 147-caste lens and has night-vision capabilities.

Bonus: You can scout the video stream if you have an Echo Prove or Echo Spot.

half-dozen. Thermostats

Retrieve the days when yous turned your thermostat punch upward when information technology was common cold and downwardly when it was hot? Those were the one-time days, although you lot may still have one of those thermostats in your home.

Thermostats these days are programmable with Alexa and take features that include different temperatures for different rooms. The brand Nest has been on the forefront of these advances and the Nest Learning Thermostat is on a new cut border – it learns the temperature you prefer.

That can save you money when Nest starts adjusting the temperature when you're not domicile. With Alexa, you lot only use your voice to command the temperature.

seven. Garage door opener

It's never been easier to open up, close and monitor your garage door. These days, thanks to wireless technology, you tin can remotely control your garage door and become alerts when it'southward open.

The Nexx Garage NXG-100 remote, for example, lets you open up and shut the garage door with your voice. "Alexa, shut the garage door."

Notation: Nexx Garage uses a two.4 Ghz Wi-Fi connection.

viii. TV

Once you speak to your TV's remote control, instead of tapping on its keys, y'all never want to go back to life before a voice-activated remote command. Now, y'all can control your TV with your vocalism.

The 43-inch Sony XBR43X800E tin do just that and at but $648, is a few hundred dollars cheaper than almost voice-activated TVs. This is a top-of-the-line Tv, too.

It has a 4K ultra-high-definition display along with Loftier Dynamic Range technology for life-like images. Information technology has border-lit LED and Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/due north/air conditioning plus a 60Hz refresh rate.

ix. Appliances

These days, dwelling appliances barely resemble the ones that your parents used. Simply think about vox-activated appliances like the Kenmore Smart dryer.

It has 14 different drying cycles and yous tin make your own cycles. At that place's also a steam option to reduce wrinkles in nearly 10 minutes.

x. Electric car charger

Have you jumped into the electrical car trend? If y'all're like almost people, you're still thinking well-nigh it.

One concern yous may have is charging it. Fortunately, chargers have gotten smaller and are easily installed in your garage.

Now, you can also get Wi-Fi enabled chargers that yous tin control with your vocalization. ChargePoint Home WiFi charger, for instance, is a 32A EV charging station that can requite you a 25-mile range with virtually an hour charge.

The Wi-Fi lets yous schedule the time when y'all're charging. Or apply Alexa to remotely turn it on.

11. Ceiling fan

Ceiling fans typically spin around to push air down on you lot to cool you lot off. They used to exist loud and wobbly and didn't always do much good.

The Hunter 59222 Symphony ceiling fan uses WhisperWind tech then that information technology'south ultra tranquility. It's sleek, besides, with three plastic blades that pitch up thirteen degrees at the stop to optimize airflow.

12. Remote control

Smart habitation hubs control just most every smart device yous have in your home (encounter No. 1). Smart home remote controls do the same thing, including turning your Boob tube on and off, but from a remote command.

13. Audio

It's nice to listen to music on Amazon Echo. "Alexa, play disco classics."

But if you lot want to really become your groove on, you lot need a bit more power. You tin can observe that in wireless speakers like the Sonos Play:i.

It has two class-D digital amplifiers. It has a tweeter for clear high-pitched audio and a mid-woofer for thumping bass and vocals.

14. Vacuum

Permit'south confront it, almost no 1 enjoys vacuuming. That's why families are moving away from carpeting to wood flooring or tiles.

It'southward too why so many people take embraced robotic vacuums that practice the work for y'all. At present, information technology's even easier to go those robovacs cleaning past using request Alexa to turn the vacuum on and off.

The Neato Robotics Botvac D3, for instance, can be turned on with your voice or its on-off push. It uses lasers and smart navigation to move effectually your room and spin menstruation engineering science to power clean your floors, no matter what kind of floor yous have.