Hi, I am a HA newbie and have only just installed my first HA instance. Up to now I have been using Smartthings with some success but certain devices either have no integration or edge drivers or they use complicated fudges to make them work. I am hoping HA will have better integration for certain hardware.
My home is an Amazon Alexa environment with Amazon devices in every room to enable voice control. I have set up certain automations in either the Alexa app or Smartthings for things like irrigation systems and lights so they come on at a set time, however the majority of usage is to turn on lights, tvās, extract fans etc by voice control. For example if iām in the bathroom I can ask Alexa to turn on the Hot Water immersion if the water is starting to run cool. Similarly I can send out my lawnmower robot by voice control.
What is the best way to use Alexa with Home Assistant preferably without a subscription, (although the alternative appears to be a very complicated configuration). I read in this 2016 forum post that Alexa Local was available from a script written by Bruce Locke but this was a long time ago and has possibly been superceded or discontinued due to changes made by HA or Amazon.
Ideally I want to use Alexa to make announcements when certain things happen. For example I have configured Alexa and Smartthings to announce a warning on all devices when a smoke alarm is activated. However to do this I have to create virtual switches to expose the Heiman smoke alarms to Alexa.
Similarly I have modified some Aqara door/window sensors with external contacts to detect if a mortice lock is unlocked and would like a routine that announces that āthe garden door is unlockedā as a nighttime routine.
Any advice greatly appreciated
I am assuming for the moment I can carry on with the Smartthings integration handling Alexa but I would eventually like to move the devices over to HA
Yes, there are no-cost ways to control Alexa from Home Assistant. After you read the installation instructions for Alexa Media Player you may rethink subscribing to Nabu Casa. In addition to giving you access to Alexa and other benefits, a subscription helps support Home Assistant development.
Easier initial setup, limited functionality, more follow-up to add entities to be controlled by Alexa
Controlling Alexa devices via Home Assistant (making announcements, playing media, activating skills, running routines you already have in the Alexa app):
Many thanks @fugley Please correct me if I am wrong but this component appears only to control playback of media on echo devices. I am looking to use Alexa voice control to trigger actions and routines
Many thanks @stevemann I am not opposed to paying a small amount to support HA (although I would prefer the Lifetime Pass such as Plex use), but with Nabu Casa cloud it sort of defeats the āKeeping it Localā ethos of HA. I know Alexa is in Amazon cloud but I was hoping things might have moved on to avoid the Amazon Developer route. I understand completely that Nabu Casa incur costs hosting the cloud to enable Amazon Smart skills integration and that for Samsung itās peanuts to include Amazon skills as part of their infrastructure to enable Alexa integration within Smartthings. If the two environments play happy together perhaps I maintain Smartthings for Alexa integration if I can move the devices over to HA.
Thanks for pointing that out @gerald-00 I clearly need to read more about this add in. In the interim does it require newer Amazon devices that are matter enabled? A lot of my devices are the earlier 2nd Generation Echo dots and Echo Flex although I have one Echo Show 5 3rd Gen
Quick Question @gerald-00. Do you only require the Matter Hub add-on or do you also have to have a running instance of the Matter Hub in Docker or similar on the same network?
Depending on the level of integration needed, thereās a hacky coupling that also works:
Set up a HA-controlled speaker where an Echo can hear it and give commands vie TTS from HA to Alexa.
Monitor the state of devices Alexa controls from HA to give commands from Alexa to HA. (Either by having devices both can controlĀ² or be connecting Alexa-controlled outputs to HA controlled inputs.)
This obviously is very limited and requires manual configuration of every single bit to be transferred between those two, but in some cases that may be enough.
Ā²) An examples would be a Tado AC controller thatās not actually connected to an AC. Those work with both HA and Alexa at the same time and by setting a specific AC mode, fan speed, swing mode, and temperature via an Alexa macro, you can tell HA plenty of stuff. Shelly devices also work with both, but they donāt have that many outputs.
The Node Red node that I indicated above already does this.
There is NO matter stuff here. The protocol is too premature for me to trust. I have a variety of Alexa devices in my house. Mostly Gen1 and some Gen2.
I only use the Matter Hub add-on. I do not see the need to have a dedicated instance in a container or somewhere else in my network. In Home Assistant, you can then create multiple instances of a Matter Bridge and assign devices to each one. I do this, for example, by using labels that I assign to the desired devices or instances. This add-on can be installed via HACS if you include the appropriate repository: GitHub - t0bst4r/home-assistant-addons