Echo devices

The link on the left is to the main Echo device but it's just one of a family of devices all of which can be used for home automation. You can see the whole family here.

We use an Echo in the living room - it gives good sound quality and includes the technology to control Zigbee devices.

We use an Echo Dot in the bedroom - where sound quality is less important. That being said, the quality is not at all bad.

As Amazon has released better quality devices (and when they are on offer) we've purchased better quality Echo devices for the living room and placed the superseded ones elsewhere. The one in the kitchen is good for playing music while cooking. The one in the exercise room allows us to play music, change channels and skip tracks without having to stop exercising.

Echo routines

Once you've installed the skill needed to control a device, you can start operating it with your voice. For example "Alexa, turn Andy's blanket on".

Routines provide far more flexibility. For example, you can:

• String commands together and execute them with a single request. For example "Alexa, spotlight settee" turns on the lights above our settee to full brightness.
• Control devices from different manufacturers in one routine.
• Add delays between steps in the routine.. For example, we have a routine that turns on the ceiling fan in our bedroom then turns it off after two hours.
• Start a routine at a given time of day (or sunrise or sunset - it just knows what that is). For example, we turn the lights on and off and open and close our living room curtains while we're away.
• Specify the exact phrase you want to use to execute the routine. For example we can say "Alexa, Sky" to turn on the TV, amplifier, Sky box and switch the TV to point to the Sky box.
• Execute any echo command as if you'd spoken it. For example, there's no built-in routine command to play a BBC station - but we can use a routine to execute voice command "Alexa, play BBC Radio 4 extra" as if we'd said it.
• Trigger routines from a variety of devices including buttons (see on). and Alexa software running on PCs, laptops, mobile phones, tablets and a whole raft of Alexa-equipped devices.

None of the above needs any IT expertise.

Scenes

There's more. Alexa skills don't always provide full control over devices. Device manufacturers provide their own mechanisms to send commands to their equipment using many of the features described above for Echo devices, and routines can execute those scenes giving even more flexibility.

Alternatives

You can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Echo devices, but there are alternatives:

• Google Nest/Home (the name keeps changing). There seems to be a consensus that Google devices sound better (albeit marginally) and are better at answering questions but they lose out on price and flexibility.
• Apple HomePod - worth considering only if you are heavily invested in Apple stuff - be prepared to pay more for less flexibility, however.
• Amazon licences its Alexa technology to third parties so there's a load of Alexa-equipped devices out there that you can use instead of an Echo.

In fact there's a ton of different devices implementing the same function. You're spoilt for choice. Apart from simple plugs like the one on the left, you can also find power strips containing several sockets each of which can be remotely controlled.

Again there are a ton of these around. I chose this one because:

• It is cheap - four switches for £25
• It works with the Smartlife app so we continue to use that app for most of our devices

We use three of them to control the three banks of lights in our kitchen so we can say "Alexa all kitchen lights" and "Alexa all kitchen off" to turn them all on and off. We also connect them to a motion sensor (see below).

These switches are tiny: smaller but a little deeper than a matchbox. They have two wings that slide out to allow you to secure them to something if you want. The wires are secured only by the contact screws so they should not be used if tension can be put on them (one of the images on Amazon shows one in line with a lamp - don't do it!)

Just one of many

Again, there are loads of competing products. This one (and, I guess most others) is deeper than a normal switch. We installed a spacer to allow it to fit in the existing cavity.

We use it to control a ceiling fan and it works well without a capacitor (see below).

Take precautions

To install the switch you need to remove the existing switch and wire in the new one. That's a simple process, but you will need to take care to ensure there is no power to the switch before you start. I have a multi-meter to double-check.

No neutral wire required, but...

This switch works with most UK light fittings that have just one wire in and one wire out. It also works (and works better) if the wall cavity also has a neutral wire which will then directly power the switch.

Without a neutral wire, the switch gets its power by:

• Letting a small amount of current through when in the off position.
• Adding a small impedance to the line when in the on position.

For analogue devices like old-fashioned bulbs, fans and halogen devices powered through a transformer, that works well.

The method can cause problems for digital devices such as LED lights, including flickering and randomly switching on. To address that problem, Yagusmart provide a capacitor to fit across the neutral and live wires. That means getting access to the light fitting. It's worth trying the switch without a capacitor first, though.

Dimmer switches

As I write this, there are no 'no neutral wire' remote control dimmer switches. If you already have a dimmer switch installed, however, it's likely you also have a neutral wire in the light fitting. If so, there are a variety of remote control dimmer switches available.

Alternatives

If you're not keen to rewire your light switch, there are alternatives:

• WiFi or Zigbee controlled LED bulbs can replace any mains powered bulb to give you remote control. I used them to replace our halogen ceiling lights - more here.
• A button-pusher (see below) that can work the switch for you.

• Reliable
• Work well over distance with good battery life (the hub is USB-powered but the buttons use commonly-available coin batteries)
• Provide three operations per button (click, double-click and hold)
• Each operation can execute a wide variety of functions - most importantly executing Echo routines

The buttons need a hub connected to your broadband network by cable or WiFi. Each hub can work with 32 buttons.

For the time being, the Flic2 buttons and hub are available only direct from the Flic web site which ships them from Stockholm. Keep orders below £135 (at time of writing) to avoid having to pay import duty.

We use them to execute Echo routines:

• in places where we don't have an Echo
• in the bedroom so we don't need to use voice
• instead of using voice - frequently saying "Alexa..." gets tiresome after a while

The hub can also be used as blaster (see below).

It's a battery-powered robot with a little arm that swings out to press a button. An attachment also allows it to turn rocker switches (such as light switches) on and off.

It needs a hub that connects the button pusher to your Wi-Fi network.

The same hub can also operate other Switchbot devices such as curtains (see below). It can also be used as blaster (see below).

It's an alternative way to operate light switches if you don't fancy rewiring. We use one to press a button.

We use one to switch off the fire in our living room. It pushes the relevant button on the fire’s remote control for 10 seconds. OK, I kept forgetting to do that myself so the fire was on all night. I couldn't replace the remote control with a blaster because it uses ultrasonic signals, not infra-red.

See it in action...

The latest version also provides the ability to control devices that use wireless signals (as opposed to WiFi). These aren't as common in the UK as they are in the US.

Since we bought this we also bought a Switchbot hub and a Flic hub each of which can do the same job.

Once installed, you use a phone to load profiles of remote controls to operate your devices. For example, we had to experiment with the profiles provided for Panasonic TVs before we found one that worked for us. Alternatively you can create a 'blank' remote control and record buttons from an existing remote. You can also mix and match if a supplied profile doesn't implement all the buttons you need.

You can then use the phone as a remote control for all your devices or you can operate them using voice commands via a combination of routines and Broadlink scenes (important because routines do not have the ability to use all possible buttons.

When using infra-red, the device works best if it has line of sight to the infra-red receivers on the devices you are controlling. You can try bouncing signals off walls and ceilings but might not work well.

You do not, however, need line of sight to control wireless devices.

Note that it's not just TVs and related equipment that use infra-red. To start with we used this IR-controlled light switch which we controlled with a blaster and a spare button on our One-for-all remote controls.

We chose this one because:

• It is the only one that can activate Echo routines - important as we use it to control kitchen lights using an inline switch from a different supplier.
• We already had a SwitchBot hub - otherwise this would be a very expensive sensor
• It includes the light sensor so, in theory, we can turn lights on only if the room is dim.

Unfortunately there's no way to use the light sensor in Echo routines. I contacted support and it says that feature is under development. In the meantime, I use the If This Then That web site (IFTTT.com) to prevent the lights coming on unless the kitchen is dim.

We use the sensor to switch on the work lights in our kitchen. After two minutes of no movement it turns all the kitchen lights off. After five minutes of no movement it stops the kitchen Echo from playing (so we can go to the toilet without having to restart it).

It works with most types of computer including Windows, IOS, Linux and devices including: PCs, laptops, Playstation, Xbox and Raspberry Pi.

We use one to operate a fanless PC so we can use it as a media centre for playing movies, TV programmes, videos, photos, etc. We use the free Kodi home theatre software.

Because the Flirc is programmable it can emulate keyboards and media buttons as well as running sequences from a single remote button. It can also wake up the computer and send it to sleep.

Fitting is really easy. The hub has a standard backplate so we simply removed our existing thermostat and replaced it with the hub. If you already have Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs - they've been compulsory for some time in new builds), it's easy to unscrew one and screw in the replacement. It configures itself automatically.

You just need to use a phone or tablet to connect the hub to your WiFi network and turn your old thermostat up to maximum (so it doesn't interfere) - that's it.

No plumbing or electrical expertise needed.

You can then use a phone or tablet to program the TRVs individually so they come on at the specified days and times and at given temperatures. That's a lot more flexible that a system that uses a single thermostat in one location.

The system comes with an Echo skill so you can ask Alexa to, for example, turn the hot water on for an extra two hours or turn a radiator off if you're not using a room.

Some people have had issues connecting the devices. You should be OK as long as the hub can connect to WiFi as the TRVs communicate between themselves so the most distant one can use other TRVs to relay commands.

If the hub loses its Wifi connection it continues to work and run your programmes. There's also a mechanism to reprogram devices using a directly connected phone or tablet (instead of connecting via the Internet) - but after a few years we've never had to use that.

• Whether open or closed, they look much tidier than they do when moved manually.
• We can open and close curtains remotely and to a schedule. When used together with an Echo routine to switch lights off and on we have a useful burglar deterrent when we're away.

We use curtains with grommets that fit onto rods. Amazon points out that's not a supported application. SwitchBot provides a kit to overcome issues with that type of equipment - but it's ugly. I treated this as a DIY project and was able to implement a reliable solution using low cost alternatives. That's the topic of my next home automation article.

When he's talking about something I know about, I mostly agree with his conclusions so I guess that's some kind of recommendation.

His channel is here. You can also see his "Starting a smart home in 2021" broadcast here.