What Are Alexa Smart Switches?

Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated smart assistant that responds to your commands. What is the weather like today? Who won the baseball game? What is the world’s largest city? Alexa can answer these questions and many more. Alexa also performs a variety of assistant duties including setting alarms, and timers and enabling smart home speech management of your smart devices like smart light switches and smart thermostats using your voice. A smart light switch that works with Alexa is referred to as an Alexa smart switch. Smart assistant Alexa is embedded into the Echo devices, such as the Echo Dot and Echo Show. The microphones and speakers embedded into these smart devices allow them to respond to voice instructions. To enable voice control throughout your home, you can place many Echo smart home devices around the house. Even though there are numerous Alexa-enabled light switches, not all smart light switches are created equal. We assist you to choose the perfect smart light switch that works with Alexa for your home’s smart makeover. ” The best Alexa-compatible smart light switches have been put through rigorous testing and the results are listed below.” Alexa-enabled smart dimmers and Alexa-enabled conventional on/off smart light switches are both included in this list.

How Do Alexa Smart Light Switches Work?

To use an Alexa-enabled light switch, just remove your old one, replace it with the new smart one, and then connect it to your phone via the manufacturer’s app. With the Alexa Skill installed, you can manage your smart light switches with your voice on Alexa devices by saying “Alexa, turn my bedroom lights” to activate the lights. Smart light switches operate with Alexa in two ways. For the most part, smart light switches connect to your wifi network first, and then, after being set up using the manufacturer app, to Alexa via the phone app. If you don’t have a home control hub, Alexa-enabled light switches that link directly to your wifi network are the simplest to set up and install. The other type of Alexa-enabled smart switch requires a smart home hub to communicate with the smart light switch and your home network. Direct-connect wifi smart light switches are what we normally recommend, but we’ll go through why it isn’t always the best option down the page.

How to Connect Alexa to a Smart Switch

To use Alexa with a smart switch, you first need to install it. Check the manufacturer’s instructions on how to install the smart switch in your home’s wiring system before you get started. If you are unsure about the switch’s proper wiring, contact a licensed electrician.

1. Open the Amazon Alexa app on your mobile device and begin using it to control your devices.

2. Go to the Devices menu and click the tab you want to change to.

3. In the drop-down menu, select “All Devices”. A list of suitable devices will be presented by Alexa when it performs a search for them.

4. Find the smart switch you wish to connect by scrolling down. During the initial setup, it will show up as a bulb symbol with the name that you gave to the device.

5. To finalize the setup, tap the smart switch’s name.

Typical Features of the Alexa Enabled Smart Light Switches

When you replace your regular light switch with an Alexa-enabled smart light switch, you’re gaining a lot of functionality in a small package that takes up very little space on your wall. However, don’t be deceived by the simple appearance of these smart light switches; they are packed with a lot of technology. A smartphone app is required to install and control Alexa-enabled smart light switches. You can see if your smart lights are on or off, as well as turn them on or off, all from the convenience of your smartphone using the smartphone app. You can turn on and off your Alexa-enabled smart lights from anywhere in the world as long as you have a wifi connection in your home. Smart light switch apps allow you to arrange daily routines as well as group light switches into rooms so that you may more easily operate a group of light switches situated in the same area. To use Alexa’s voice controls, you must first connect your smart light switches that are compatible with Alexa to Alexa. Using an Alexa-enabled device like the Echo Show 5 or Echo Dot, you can use voice commands to control your smart lighting. It is possible to utilize Alexa voice commands on all Alexa Echo devices and even on your smartphone with the Alexa app. It’s as simple as saying “Alexa, turn off the kitchen lights” to turn them off. Your Alexa assistant will take care of the rest. Your smart light switches should have names that are easy to remember and make sense, as you will be managing them by name.

You can also use Alexa voice commands to dim your lights if you install a smart light switch with built-in dimmer capabilities. You only need to tell your smart dimmer light switch what percentage adjustment you want it to make to establish the dimming level. In this case, you might say, “Alexa, set the kitchen lights to 80%.”

Why Smart Lighting Is a Good Idea?

Even though smart lighting is one of the best modifications you can do to a home and will dramatically increase the value of your home when you decide to sell it, millions of people have already upgraded their houses with smart thermostats and smart doorbells. Why aren’t more people upgrading their light switches to smart ones? In actuality, Smart Alexa light switches offer numerous benefits that most people aren’t even aware of because most people think it’s too complicated or unnecessary. Smart lighting may be installed in your entire home by simply replacing your old switch with a new one or by using Amazon Home Services to contact a local electrician who would do it for an affordable price. Smart light switches that can be controlled by Alexa can aid you in several ways, including the following:

1. Smart light switches allow you to save energy by remotely turning off lights that have been left on.

2. It is possible to swiftly switch lights on and off using your voice if you have children and are unable to use your hands.

3. To dissuade burglars, you can program your lighting system to turn on at specific times, such as at night or while you’re gone.

4. By using Alexa-enabled smart light switches, you may turn on and off lights even when lying in bed or sitting on the couch without risking a trip.

Some Popular Alexa Smart Switch

1. The Leviton Smart Dimmer Light Switch – Compatible with Alexa 

They are compatible with Alexa and the other main voice assistant services, allowing you to choose which voice assistant to use in the future. There is no need for a smart home hub with these Leviton smart light switch dimmers because they link to normal home wifi networks and can be operated via a smartphone wifi app. Connecting Leviton lights with the Leviton app is simple, but you must follow the instructions to set the light switches into pairing mode when connecting to the app. Using the smartphone app, you may manage the smart light switch dimmers at home or remotely with a flick of your phone. Using the Leviton Alexa Skill, you may operate these smart light switches with Alexa voice commands once they have been set up on the Leviton app. Using your voice or a tap on your finger, you can turn on or off the light switch using one of these smart light switches. Dimming is as simple as tapping up or down on the side toggle to raise or lower the level of brightness. Alternatively, you can regulate the brightness from your phone or by speaking into the device.

2. Alexa Works with TP-Link Smart Dimmer Switches

One of the most popular smart home brands, TP-Link has been making smart house light switches and plugs for many years. TP-Alexa-enabled Link’s smart home dimmer switches may be used to control all aspects of your house’s lighting. The TP-Link app allows you to operate the light switches remotely for on/off control, dimming adjustment, and establishing schedules. They also function with Google Home for voice control. It is possible to lower the light by pressing the large paddle that sits atop the light switch, as well as two smaller buttons that sit on top of the switch.

3. Caseta Smart Dimmer Kit by Lutron

If you live in an older home that doesn’t have neutral wires in the switch boxes, these smart light switches are ideal. You may use the Lutron Caseta smart light switch dimming kit to make your existing light switches smart. If you want to expand the Lutron Caseta smart light switch dimming system, you can connect more of the dimmable smart light switches to the hub. To use the app, the hub connects to your network and may be accessed via wifi. Both Amazon Alexa and Google Home can be used to control the Lutron Caseta dimmers. Two unique characteristics are supplied by the Caseta smart light switch dimmers that are not seen in many other smart light switches. Because they don’t require a neutral wire, Caseta dimmers are an excellent option for retrofitting an older home, where neutral wires are sometimes missing from the switch boxes. Neutral wires are standard in switch boxes installed in homes built after 1975, although they are not in switch boxes in earlier homes. Without a dimmer, the finest smart light switches for Alexa are the Lutron Caseta models from Lutron.

Conclusion

I hope you have a better understanding of Alexa smart switches now that you’ve read this. Alexa smart switches can be set up by paying attention to the instructions provided in the user manual. For the most part, the smart light switches we’ve described above have performed flawlessly and reliably during the years we’ve used and tested them. Here are the basics of smart switches, so you should be able to find one that suits your needs and add some intelligence to your lighting system. Many of the same benefits can be gained by using smart light switches instead of replacing a home’s full set of light bulbs.