I am a sucker for a good Amazon Black Friday deal and this past week was no exception. After a brief moment of weakness and a single click on the “Buy Now” button, a brand new Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote was sitting on my front porch – all within 48 hours. Thanks Amazon Prime!
This would be my first time using Amazons voice recognition technology – Alexa. Similar to Siri on the iPhone, Google Now on Android or Cortana on Windows, personal assistants were supposed to change all our lives for the better. But would it? What better way to find out then to make Alexa do my dirty work. In this case, turning up my heat when I am laying on the couch using an IFTTT recipe. A perfect combination of technology and first world problems!
Getting Started
What you will need
- Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote – $34-50
- Honeywell RTH6580WF Wi-Fi Thermostat – $80-100
- IFTTT account – Free
You can also swap out the Fire TV Stick with any Alexa compatible device like Amazon Echo, Amazon Fire TV or even the Amazon Alexa app for iOS. Any Honeywell WIFI Thermostat that supports the My Total Connect Comfort app will also work.
While Honeywell WIFI thermostats lack some of the advanced features found in Nest, they are significantly less expensive and can still be easily controlled with your smartphone.
Create an IFTTT Recipe
IFTTT allows you to connect your favorite products and apps together. Want to automatically turn your lights off when you leave the house. Their is a app recipe for that!
1) Connect the Amazon Alexa and Honeywell Total Connect Comfort Channels to your IFTTT account.
2) Create a New Recipe and select Amazon Alexa for the “Trigger Channel”.
3) Select the “Say a specific phrase” trigger action. Notice all the other things you can make Alexa do for you.
4) Finish the Alexa trigger by entering the phrase you want to use to turn on the heat
5) Choose the Honeywell Total Connect Comfort as your Action Channel and select the “Set Temperature for a period of time” Action.
6) Finish the Recipe by choosing your Thermostat and temperature settings. Make sure you Publish the recipe when complete.
7) Your recipe is complete
The Result
Simply say “Alexa, trigger me some heat” into your Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote and voila – your recipe will run and your Honeywell WIFI Thermostat will turn on the heat to your specified temperature.
Alexa is still fairly new for Amazon but I am excited to see what other creative applications people come up with. Let me know how you are using Alexa for home automation in the comments below.
