Just set up groups in the Alexa app.
For example:
Create a group called "kitchen"
Add the following devices to the "kitchen" group: Big Light, JWLV's Echo Dot. (this assumes that a light called Big Light and JWLV's Echo Dot are both located in your kitchen).
When you are in the kitchen and speaking to the JWLV's Echo Dot, you can just say "turn on the light" and Big Light will turn on.
I second this. I've had this configuration for two years, so I'm not sure what took so long to simplify the explanation.
Though in my usage:
each echo is named after the room it's in (kitchen, living room, garage, etc)
I made a group for each room and named it after the room (kitchen, living room, garage)
for the lights, they are named after the room with a suffix of " light"
Then I put the appropriate Echo and lights into their corresponding group.
I have one echo per room and at least one light per room wired up. My living room is a bit more complex with reading lamps (ex. one is called "reading lamp")
If I am in the living room, I can say "turn on the light" and the lights in the living room turn on.
If I am in the living room and want the kitchen turned on before I get there, I say "turn on the kitchen light"
I also made a scene for Lights Out and Red Alert which turn all the lights on or off.
When I use the Good Night routine, it sets the Lights Out scene.
I found that numbers or obscure names were not helpful. I seldom see Echo-confusion where the wrong unit hears the command, but I do not have multiple Echoes in an unenclosed area (ex. my living room and dining area are conjoined with no walls so I consider that one room).
16 Replies
18994 Views