The newest toy in the sanders house hold is the Amazon Echo. The product is still in its infant stages however it is on a path to replace several household gadgets or at least certain features of them. 

In this series, “Alexa, can you please”, I will chronicle my exploration of all the ways Alexa is helping out around the house or providing a little entertainment. 

Skill: WeMo Ignite Switch
Helping Out around the house: Yes
Entertaining: Yes 

Since purchasing our condo, I have had a goal of being able to control everything in it from my phone. 

I started this quest with the Nest Thermostat. I couldn't wait, I purchased the device before we even closed on the house and had it installed (with help from my father) on day 2 of being in the place. 

The Chicago winters are long and COLD. Getting up from your warm spot on the couch to go to a bed with cold sheets is hard to do. So I next purchased a few WeMo Insight Switches to be able to turn on our heated blankets from the couch. 

In the spirit of Christmas, I pulled one of the switches from its duty of “pre-heating" our bed and used it to enable voice control of our Christmas decorations. 

Check out the video below of me asking Alexa to turn on the Christmas tree: