Top 5 Uses For Alexa Smart Lights & Easy Set-Up Guide
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5 ways Alexa smart lights can add magic to your day:
#1. Controlling Alexa smart lights with your voice is awesome
It may seem commonplace these days, but it’s pretty satisfying to turn your lights on and off just by saying “Alexa, turn on living room lights.” Click here for a few handy Alexa smart light commands.
#2. Lighting routines can upgrade your wake-up and bedtime
Awaken at your usual time as the lights gradually come on. And when you’re ready to fall asleep, just say “Alexa, good night” to turn off the lights.
Pro Tip: You can also set up a nighttime routine for your little ones so even a new babysitter can handle bedtime.
#3. Automatically have the lights turn on when you get home
One of the cooler Alexa features is the ability to create routines that cause smart lights to turn on based on your location.
#4. Make it look like someone’s home even when you’re away
All you have to do is create a simple nightly Alexa routine that automatically turns the lights on and off even when you’re not home. If you want to be fancy, set up different routines for different days of the week so the routines look less automated to onlookers.
#5. If you have the multi-colored Hue lights, have fun with them!
With Hue White and Color Ambiance Smart Lights, it couldn’t be easier to light up your living room in red, purple and blue or any other color of your choice. And don’t worry — you can easily put the lights back to soft white.
Just say, “Alexa, turn floor light to purple!” Or adjust your light’s color in the Alexa app to see all the different color options.
Alexa smart light set-up just got way easier
The ALL NEW Philips Hue bluetooth smart light bulbs are the easiest to set up smart lights ever. That’s because they connect directly to Alexa via bluetooth — which means that no smart hub is required. So no separate Hue Bridge hub, and no Echo with a built-in smart hub. These brand new bluetooth bulbs can be set up with any Echo speaker (or smart display)!
#1. Pick the right bluetooth smart lights for you
You have 3 options for buying these new smart bluetooth light bulbs with the easy set-up:
- The most basic (and cheapest) white light option
- The mid-range option with different shades of white light (also works better in dimmable light fixtures)
- The super cool multi-colored ones
Note: New bluetooth Alexa smart light bulbs have 1 limitation…
This bluetooth set-up only allows for a maximum of 10 Alexa-connected smart lights. For most people, this is plenty of smart lights — especially if you’re just setting them up for the first time.
And the good news is that if you end up loving your smart lights set-up and want to do the full set-up (with either a regular Echo or an Echo with a smart hub built in), you can still use the same bulbs — you’ll just also need to also get a Hue Bridge or an Echo device with a smart hub built in. With a Hue Bridge, you’ll be able to control up to 50 Hue smart lights in your home (that’s A LOT of smart lights!).
In case you were wondering… I prefer Hue’s smart lights because they are the easiest to set up, most common smart lights on the market and have a wide product range (indoors, outdoors, garage, etc.).
#2. Easily set up your new bluetooth Alexa smart lights!
A. Screw the bulb into your light fixture, then turn the light fixture on
The bulb will turn on.
B. Easily connect your new smart bulbs to Alexa!
Just follow these steps:
- Go to the Devices tab in your Alexa app (lower right corner of the bottom navigation bar)
- Tap the + in the upper right corner of the Devices tab
- Tap “Add Device”
- Tap “Light” (under the All Devices section)
- Tap “Philips Hue” when prompted for the brand
- Tap the “Discover Devices” button (you can ignore the on-screen instructions for set up with an Echo Show or Echo Plus)
- You will see an “Alexa is discovering devices…” screen for up to 45 seconds
- Alexa will discover your new Hue lights!
- Tap through the 2 set up screens, skipping these steps for now
#3. Check out 4 pro tips to make your Alexa smart light set up work even better
- Assign easy-to-remember names to your new Hue lights
- Put your Hue lights into groups by room so you can turn them on and off together
- If installing smart light bulbs in a dimmable light, set the dimmer all the way on
- Make sure everyone in your household uses Alexa to control your new smart lights
#4. Light it up!
Just say “Alexa, turn on living room lights!” (Insert your light / light group name!) Click here for some more Alexa commands to control your new smart lights.
See Also
6 Best Alexa Routines Right Now & Easy Set-Up Guide
8 Alexa Settings That Will Seriously Upgrade Your Alexa Experience
8 Best Uses For Your Alexa Speaker & Best Alexa Speaker For You
The Ultimate Guide To Alexa Hue Lights