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How to Automate Your Home With Alexa

 1 year ago
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How to Automate Your Home With Alexa

By Ravi Singh Published 6 hours ago

You don't need to spend big bucks to do smart home automation using Alexa. You can even connect DIY devices.

Home automation allows you to control and automate your appliances and devices through smart plugs, switches, and sensors. However, a home automation system often comes with a hefty price tag. Fortunately, there are other cheaper ways to automate your home without spending much.

In this guide, we will show you how you can use an Alexa Echo device, such as an Echo Dot, and the Alexa app (available for both Android and iOS devices) to automate your home and control all your compatible smart home devices from one place. We have also shared how you can build DIY smart switches and sensors that work with Alexa.

Why Use Alexa for Home Automation?

Not long ago, we had set up a Home Assistant automation server on a Raspberry Pi to integrate all smart home devices and add automation based on the information received from various sensors, events, time of the day, etc. For instance, turning on the water pump every day at 5am and turning it off at 7am or when the tank is full. For this project, we built and installed a contact-less smart DIY water level sensor based on a cheap ultrasonic module.

However, Home Assistant is a rather advanced way of automating your home. Luckily, there is a much easier way to do home automation using the Alexa app. The advantage is that you don’t need to set up any smart home automation software or server. Anyone with little to no technical skills can automate their home with the help of readily available smart switches, plugs, and sensors on the market.

Pro or advanced users can also build DIY smart switches or sensors and integrate them with Alexa to automate their homes.

The only downside is privacy when compared to Home Assistant. The data, such as when, how, and where you use your smart devices, is shared with Amazon. Thus, if you are someone who values privacy and doesn’t want to share your activity data, go with Home Assistant to set up a local home automation server.

Finding Smart Devices Compatible With Alexa

To automate your home using the Alexa app, you need smart devices that support Alexa integration. You can find many online at reasonable prices, or build your own using an ESP8266 MCU, Tasmota firmware, and a relay module. However, before making any purchase, check the description and verify that the device supports Alexa out of the box or via skills.

Tuya is one of the manufacturers of smart devices that offers free-to-brand devices and its own cloud solution. Many retailers sell Tuya-manufactured products after rebranding in offline and online markets. All these smart devices, such as smart switches, lights, sensors, etc., work with Alexa out of the box.

After the purchase, install the required app and set up your devices. Also, test them with the Alexa command and verify that they are working. To discover and add devices to Alexa, you have to say:

Alexa, discover devices.

Steps to Add Automation Using Alexa App

When it comes to automation, the Alexa app provides limited options. However, these options are good enough for basic automation and trigger your smart devices, appliances, etc. for your everyday needs. Here’s how you can set up automation in the Alexa app.

In the Alexa app, you can create Routines to trigger devices based on events, time of the day, or input from a sensor you may have installed, such as a motion sensor or ambient light sensor.

Below is an example of how you can set up a Water Pump On and Off automation at a specific time every day in the Alexa app and broadcast a voice alert on the Echo device.

  1. Install, open, and sign in to the Alexa app using your Amazon account.
  2. Tap on More > Routines and then tap the + Icon at the top.
  3. Tap on Enter routine name to give your routine a name.
  4. Tap on When this happens. You can choose Voice command, schedule, smart home device, or Alarms as triggers for automation.
  5. Choose Schedule > At Time. In the Repeat section, you may choose Every day or desired days when you want the water pump or your device to run automatically and then select the time. Tap Next.
    4 Images
    showing routines option in alexa app
    showing routine name in alexa app
    choose trigger for home automation alexa app
    choose repeat every day time alexa app
  6. Tap on Add action and then tap on Smart Home > All Devices. This will list all smart home devices integrated with Alexa or can be controlled by Alexa. Select the smart home device you want to turn on. In this case, it’s a motor switch.
  7. Tap Next, choose On, and then tap Next.
  8. Tap Save.
    4 Images
    choose action to switch on off smart device
    choose smart home from the list
    choose the smart home devices for trigger
    select whether to power on or off the smart device
  9. Open the Routines screen again and tap + icon in Add action.
  10. Choose Alexa Says > Customized. Type whatever you want Alexa to announce. It could be the status of the device. For instance, water pump is on. Tap Next > Next.
  11. Also, select the Echo device (smart speaker) listed under the FROM section. This will let you or others know that the water pump has started.
    4 Images
    select alexa says option
    choose customised to announce customised message
    enter the message you want alexa to announce when automation triggered
    routine is setup in alexa app for everyday

You can repeat these steps to set up a switch-off routine or automation. Similarly, you can trigger other smart home devices based on time, smart sensors (motion or light), voice commands, etc. to automate your house.

Build DIY Sensors and Switches That Work With Alexa

If you don’t want to buy smart home devices, you can build DIY smart switches, lights, and sensors by flashing the Tasmota firmware on ESP8266 MCUs, such as the D1 Mini, ESP01, or NodeMCU. For instance, to build a smart switch, you need a D1 Mini and a relay module. Similarly, to build a dimmer module to control brightness or fan speed, you need a D1 mini and a dimmer module. They all integrate with Alexa with WeMo or Philips Hue emulation which is built-in Tasmota firmware.

In a nutshell, by pairing various sensors with a D1 Mini or NodeMCU and Tasmota firmware, you can build smart switches, lights, and sensors that integrate well will Alexa and help you automate your home.

Using Alexa for Home Automation

You now know the basics of how to use Alexa to automate smart devices in your home. We've guided you through an example of how to set up an automatic water pump to turn on at certain times, but the principle can be used with any connected device. Using Alexa is simpler than Home Assistant, and you can even add your own DIY smart switches and sensors if you want.

About The Author
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Ravi Singh (13 Articles Published)

Ravi is an expert tech explainer, an IoT enthusiast and Linux lover with a background in big data and app development. He spends most of his weekends working with IoT devices and playing games on the Xbox. He is also a solo traveler who loves hiking and exploring new trails.

More From Ravi Singh

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