Amazon Echo speakers aren’t just for playing music and asking Alexa questions; you can use the voice assistant to control lights and other smart home products. If you want to add some Alexa-controlled lighting to your home, it’s pretty easy.
Control your lighting with Alexa
There are many ways to get started with smart lights. You can buy smart bulbs, plug a regular bulb into a smart plug, or install a smart switch on your wall to control regular ceiling lights.
There are two types of smart bulbs: those (like LIFX) with integrated Wi-Fi that work independently, or those that need to connect to their smart hub (usually via the Zigbee wireless networking standard). Philips Hue is probably the best example of a hub-based lighting system.
Then there are smart plugs. If you want to control a floor lamp, for example, Kasa is one of many companies that sells smart plugs that let you remotely control anything you plug into it. And if you prefer to control “dumb” bulbs in your ceiling fixtures, Lutron is one of many companies that makes Alexa-compatible switches that you can install in your wall, replacing the old switch.
