There is no doubt that automated blinds are cool to have around the house. Not only are they a neat gadget, they also offer quality of life benefits that makes living just that little bit more comfortable. While automated blinds are smart, what if you could make them smarter? You can and here is my quick guide on how to set up automated blinds fast with Amazon Alexa.
Alexa is the smart assistant within the very popular Amazon Echo. Apparently over 3 million of them have been sold so there are lots of homes out there with the device. That makes it a prime candidate for tinkering with.
There are three main manufacturers of automated blinds, Lutron, Pella and Somfy. Each comes with a blind and a bridge to control them. Once they are installed, setting up that bridge with Amazon Echo takes only a few minutes.
Set up automated blinds with Amazon Echo
Using Lutron’s very popular Serena Shades as an example, here’s how to set them up with Amazon Echo. I’ll assume your blinds are already installed and are working with the Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge.
1. Make sure the Caseta Smart Bridge is powered on and connected to your Wi-fi network.
2. Open the Alexa app and tap the menu in the top left of the screen.
3. Tap Smart Home and then Your Devices.
4. Tap Discover Devices and wait for the app to find the Lutron Smart Bridge.
5. Confirm the pairing once found.
Once paired, the new closer integration between Lutron and Amazon Echo means you can create some scenes to automate your blinds. Otherwise, Lutron have created a couple IFTTT recipes which you can use with Alexa to do the same. You may need to be patient though as Lutron blinds are known to be a little finnicky in their setup.
Looking for other helpful Alexa tutorials? Check out my guide to saving money with Amazon Alexa and my Top 10 Most Useful IFTT Recipes.
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