5 Ways To Make Alexa Turn Off Lights After a Certain Time

Humans are terrible at energy conservation, and in 2017 alone, the U.S. wasted 60 billion kWh.

A lot of that wastage came from lights, but thankfully, you can help mitigate this issue by turning your lights off using your convenient home assistant, Alexa. 

Here are 5 ways to make Alexa turn off lights after a certain time: 

1. Use smart bulbs and smart switches.
2. Use a sleep timer to control your lights.
3. Create a routine that turns the lights off.
4. Create a smart device group/room.
5. Make a schedule to control your lights.

This article will go into great detail to explain how you can use your Echo to control your lights.

Also, you’ll learn how to group all your living room lights into one convenient command. 

1. Use Smart Bulbs and Smart Switches

You’ll need smart bulbs or switches if you want to be able to control them via Alexa, like this pack of Smart Light Bulbs, Nitebird Dimmable LED Bulbs from Amazon.com.

They work via WiFi through Alexa, and there’s no central hub required. The best part is, you install them just like a regular light bulb.

If you want to have colorful lights, a smart bulb is perfect, and they’re fun for kids.

However, I personally prefer smart switches because they have much of the same functionality. They’re also a permanent upgrade to your home. 

The best smart switch is the Kasa Smart Dimmer Switch from Amazon.com.

It works via WiFi, and it’s compatible with Alexa. The Kasa app lets you control the lights too. 

Once installed, you’ll need to sync them within your Alexa app before you can start using them. Here’s how:

1. Head to the Alexa App on your smartphone.
2. Navigate to the ‘Devices’ tab.
3. Select ‘Choose All Devices” to have your Echo search for any new bulbs or switches.
4. Alexa will give you a list of the devices, and you need to select each bulb and give it a new name, such as “kitchen sink.”
5. When you select a bulb, Alexa will connect, and it will turn on, so you know which bulb you are working with.
6. Go through each device and name them.

Now, you can integrate the smart switch or smart bulb into your routines. Or you can use a sleep timer. We’ll cover both of these below. 

2. Use a Sleep Timer To Control Your Lights

Using a sleep timer is the easiest way to turn off lights after a predefined amount of time. 

If it’s a one-off situation, sleep timer commands are very useful.

For example, if your lights are dimmable, you can tell Alexa to gradually dim them until they’re completely off, which can help during kids’ bedtime routines.  

But you don’t have to use it at night time only. Instead, you can use it whenever and wherever you want, provided Alexa can hear you. 

But how do you actually use sleep timers? Easy! You just say a command like “Alexa, set a sleep timer for 15 minutes on living room lights.” 

So, that was pretty easy. But what about dimmable lights? 

Interestingly, dimmable lights will dim automatically when you use the sleep timer command mentioned above.

This isn’t always ideal. For example, maybe you wanted to wash the dishes before the lights went out.

But you can’t see anything when the bulbs reach 20-30% brightness. 

Admittedly, saying 10+ words for a command as simple as this isn’t ideal. That’s where Alexa Routines come in. 

You might also want to check out: How To Create a Scene Using Smart Life? 5 Quick Steps

3. Create a Routine That Turns the Lights Off

Routines are my favorite method to turn lights off after a fixed time. 

I don’t go to bed at the same time every day, so schedules aren’t ideal. And I don’t want to have to say 50 words to turn the lights off each time. 

That’s why routines exist. 

You can create a “Good night” routine and trigger it by saying, “Alexa, good night.” Your Echo will take care of the rest. 

It’ll dim the lights in your designated rooms. It can also turn the lights off in your hallway and bathroom after the time you set. 

Here is how you create the routine: 

1. Open your Alexa app on your phone or tablet. 
2. Go to ‘More’ and tap on ‘Routines.’ 
3. Press the ‘+‘ symbol. 
4. Press ‘When this happens,’ then ‘Voice.’ 
5. Add your voice command (e.g., “Good night”). 
6. Go to ‘Add action‘ and select all lights you want to control.
7. Tap ‘Brightness.’ 
8. Slide the brightness level to 0%. 
9. For dimmable lights, use the ‘Ramp to Brightness‘ option. 
10. Add the desired timer. 

You can now turn off all the lights you want with a simple one or two-word command. 

Routines are great for daytime use too.

For example, you can have Alexa turn off all the lights five minutes after your smart door lock or garage door recognizes you’re no longer home.

Alternatively, try adding a command such as, “Alexa, see you later.”

Say this before leaving the house for the day and set it with a routine to turn off all the lights after five minutes.

That should give you enough time to come back in if you forgot something.  

4. Create a Smart Device Group/Room

Depending on your home’s layout, you may want to control individual rooms or a couple of rooms at once.

For example, you might want to combine your hallway lights with the kitchen light fixture in an open plan layout, so you have lights on when you get home. 

Or perhaps you have a couple of lamps and three different light fixtures in your living room that you want to control simultaneously. 

But even if you install smart bulbs in every lamp and overhead slot, you can’t control them all at once without grouping them together. 

To do this, you need to head to the Alexa app to create a smart device group or room.

Once you set the room up, use a sleep timer or a routine to turn all the lights off after a fixed time. 

First, you need to ensure you’ve set up each smart bulb or switch, so Alexa knows which devices you want to group. 

Once you’ve done that, here is how to create a smart device group or room:

1. Open your Alexa app on your phone or tablet. 
2. Tap the ‘+‘ icon. 
3. Open ‘Create a room or device group.’ 
4. After pressing ‘Next,’ you can choose to use a provided room name or create a custom one. 
5. Add all the lights you want to control together. 
6. Add your Echo and save the device group. 

You can now use sleep timers or create routines for your device group. 

Learn more: Why is my Alexa responding so slowly?

5. Make a Schedule To Control Your Lights

Another option for having Alexa turn off the lights is to create a schedule.

This is super helpful for people with more strict schedules and bedtime routines.

It’s also convenient if you have smart outdoor lights that you want to turn off after, let’s say 11 p.m. 

The setup process is very similar to adding routines. Here is what you do: 

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone or tablet. 
2. Go to ‘More’ and tap on ‘Routines.’ 
3. Press the ‘+’ symbol. 
4. Tap on ‘When this happens,’ then ‘Schedule.’ 
5. Select what time you want to turn the lights off. 
6. Select ‘Repeat’ if you wish this schedule to be a daily one. 
7. Go to ‘Add action‘ and select all lights you want to control. 
8. Tap ‘Brightness’ and slide the brightness level to 0%. 
9. For dimmable lights, use the ‘Ramp to Brightness‘ option. 
10. Add the desired timer. 

Even if you don’t have set schedules in your daily life, you can use this feature to turn the lights off after 2 a.m.

At that point, everyone will be sleeping, so there’s no point in keeping your hallway lights on.

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