Today I’ll show you how to have your Echo voice assistant announce the detection of smoke when your First Alert Z-Wave Smoke and Carbon Monoxide device is triggered.
This automation monitors my First Alert Z-Wave Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector for a potential activation event. Because our smoke alarm is located in my basement, near my wood burning stove, the distance of the alarm makes is difficult to hear in our upstairs master bedroom. Therefore, if the smoke alarm is activated, by either smoke or CO levels, the device’s activation will be used by the STHM to trigger my Dome Alarm, which is located in my first floor living room. I’ll also use settings in the STHM to turn on my bedroom lamp. Because I am not using any ST compatible speakers, I have no ability to use the STHM to make a custom statement on a speaker. Thus, as an workaround, I’ll use a virtual switch in a ST Automation. The virtual switch will be shared with my Echo voice assistant so that a routine can be used to trigger a statement on my Master Bedroom’s Echo Dot. These additional alerts will ensure that we are quickly notified of CO or fire event and help us avoid injury or death.
Required Devices
This automation requires that you have a home internet provider and a SmartThings hub connected to your home’s router via Ethernet cable or WiFi. The devices used in this automation are paired with my SmartThings hub. The devices include a First Alert Z-Wave Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector, and a Dome Security alarm. I also am using a Sylvania Smart Switch which I use to control my bedroom lamp in my second floor Master Bedroom. Finally, I have a Gen 3 Echo Dot on which I will make the verbal announcement.
You can access these and other ST compatible devices via my Amazon store link. just click on the “Smart Home Products”. You’ll find and extensive list of SmartThings compatible devices. Now let’s get into the setup…
The Setup
Prior to starting this automation, I highly recommend that you first watch my video titled, “Use SmartThings to Make Echo Announcements”. This video will provide you with step by step instructions for creating a Simulated “Miss A” Switch as a new device handler. This is very easy to set up by following the video guide. Once you have created the new “Simulated “Miss A” Switch” device handler, come back to this point in the video to see the steps for using the device handler to create a new device in the SmartThings IDE under the “Devices” tab.
We will name our new device as a “Smoke Alarm Switch”. Once the “Smoke Alarm Switch” is created it will display in the SmartThings App device list. We may then use the switch in a SmartThings automation. The automation will cause the “Smoke Alarm Switch” to turn on, or “Close” when my First Alert Z- Smoke Detector is activated by a smoke or CO event. The switches status change will then be used as a trigger in a routine which we will create in the “Miss A” App. The routine will instruct the echo device to make a custom statement. After the statement is made, the “Miss A” routine will then reset the “Smoke Alarm Switch” by turning the switch off, or (Open). Now let me take you through the steps to: Create the Smoke Alarm Switch in the SmartThings IDE; Use the “Smoke Alarm Switch” in a ST Automation; and then Use the status of the “Smoke Alarm Switch” in a “Miss A” Routine
Links to information referenced in this article
🔵 Brian Pierron's "Virtual Alexa Switch" Article: https://tinyurl.com/2w6th7eg
🔵 Raw Code for Virtual Alexa Switch: https://tinyurl.com/2gxza92p
🔵 Link to the SmartThings IDE: https://graph.api.smartthings.com/
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