Originally Posted by Hamlet53

So one of the main things I wanted from my purchase of a Dot was to be able control the thermostat in my home by voice from anywhere in the house. So as one example if I'm sitting on the couch reading and starting to feel chilled I could turn up the set temperature without getting up off the couch. Or I could be reading in bed and when I wished to turn the temperature down for the night I could do so without getting out of the bed.

So after a search of Alexa compatible thermostats I settled on this one considering cost, compatibility with my existing furnace, ease of installation, and wanting to be able to control the thermostat from my phone while away from home.

Sensi Smart Thermostat, Wi-Fi, UP500W, Works with Amazon Alexa



I expected to be able to complete the entire project on my own, but have encountered one problem. My current thermostat has only two control wires connected; the red wire and the white wire used to turn the furnace on and off. It turns out that the Sensi Smart thermostat requires connecting the C (common wire) from the furnace as well. My control wiring has three unused wires so if I knew what terminal at the furnace corresponds to the C-wire I could do that myself. Unfortunately I do not have a manual for my furnace and so may need to pay a plumbing and heater contractor.


Other than that I'm really finding the Dot useful. Already I can use voice control on several house lights. Listen to NPR, Pandora, and My Music. Still finding additional uses.

One complaint. I did not sleep well last night so after getting up at my usual 5:00 am and having a light breakfast I decided to try and get some additional sleep. I set Alexa to sound an alarm in an hour. That worked, but I forgot the specific command to stop the damn alarm. Design flaw in my opinion. I think just the command "stop" should tell Alexa to stop whatever it is currently doing.