Our integration with Alexa was released in June 2017, and since then, we’ve also released integrations with Philips Hue, and smart plugs from Wemo and TP-Link. We hope you’ll check them out!
We’re excited to announce our new integration for Sense and your connected home: the Sense Skill for Alexa. Now, energy insights are available with the sound of your voice, and Sense’s high-resolution energy metering and analysis has just made your smart home even smarter!
How to activate the Sense Alexa skill
- Connect your Sense account to your Alexa account* through the Amazon Skills page on Amazon.com, or through the Alexa app by enabling the skill and then clicking “Link Account”.
- Download the latest version of the Sense app to your iOS or Android device.
How to ask Alexa a question
For every Sense command, just start with “Alexa, Ask Sense…” and follow it up with a question about power use, solar production, if a certain device is on right now, or when a certain device was last turned on. Here are some examples:
You can ask Alexa about current power usage for your entire home:
- “Alexa, ask Sense how much electricity I’m using.”
If you have Sense Solar, you can ask about your solar production:
- “Alexa, ask Sense how much solar I’m generating.”
Maybe that rain cloud means you should put off that load of laundry until the sun comes out!
You can also inquire about the status specific devices in your home that have been recognized by Sense:
- “Alexa, ask Sense if my dryer is done.”
- “Alexa, ask Sense if my Tesla is still charging.”
- “Alexa, ask Sense if I left my oven on.”
Or find out when certain devices turned on or off.
- “Alexa, ask Sense when my garage door closed.”
- “Alexa, ask Sense when my furnace turned on.”
In the future, we’re hoping to add support for historical data like “Alexa, ask Sense how much electricity did we consume today”, app notifications like “Alexa, ask Sense to send me a notification when the Xbox turns on.”, and maybe even daily briefings like “Alexa, ask Sense how today’s solar production compares to yesterday’s”
What Alexa functions and other integrations would you like to see? Please let us know by joining the conversation on our forum or sending us a note at Send us feedback!
Power skills for power users
This work has come about at the request of numerous Sense power users. With their help, we’ve been testing Alpha and Beta versions of the Skill carefully to make sure the Alexa integration is working effectively and incorporates phrases that will be useful everyday. We’re so grateful to these people and all the early adopters in the Sense community who have been flooding us with great ideas, and patiently helping us make Sense better everyday.
If you know someone who will be excited about our Alexa Skill, please share this article with them, and tell them about your experience with Sense. As our community grows, so do our device libraries, and Sense just keeps getting better and better!
*The Sense skill for Alexa is currently only available in the United States. We do hope to make it available in Canada soon!