The wife bought an Echo a few months back. It's time to buy some lighting controls and thermostat to use with it. For the lighting, I'm considering the Phillips Hue. I have no idea on a thermostat.

Anybody have any experiences they can share?

I connected a couple of TP-Link wi-fi smart plugs to Echo (printer and light) because I didn't want to mess with a hub. They work fine. I'm trying to justify smart thermostats now, but I have a couple of programmable ones that are pretty efficient.

I second the TP-Link switches. I also got the Philips Hue which works well.

I did speak with a TP-Link representative and they said they would be coming out with their new home automation product line in Q3 so it may be worth sitting tight until they do.

We use Lutron box + Lutron switches for lights. Works very well with the ECHO and has a great mobile app. Once you get the control box you can deploy switches in a bunch of places. We have them to control our outside front and back lights as well as our home theater.

ecobee3 is great for a thermostat.

I have a mix of Cree LEDs and Lifx white bulbs. Lowes has the Lifx bulbs on sale for $15 each if you buy 3 and use an online coupon. They're Echo compatible and similar to the Hue whites.

While you're at it, buy a harmony hub so you can automate your entertainment center.

What code would that be? Been looking to add some bulbs to my Alexa arsenal. I do see that they are on sale.

I do have a wemo switch but I haven't had much luck with it, it works but has been very unreliable and drops off wifi pretty constantly.

I feel like BLE is going to be the home automation wireless standard that wins out, so personally, I'm waiting to invest. I have an Echo and would love to start hooking up devices, but with Z-Wave, Zigbee, BLE, and WiFi all competing to be the future standard, I'd rather not invest in what will ultimately become the Betmax or HD-DVD, given how expensive all of this stuff currently is.

Thus, my Echo currently is used mostly as a voice-activated Bluetooth speaker and fulfills a handful of random other queries/functions I use it for.

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ecobee3 is great for a thermostat.

I have a mix of Cree LEDs and Lifx white bulbs. Lowes has the Lifx bulbs on sale for $15 each if you buy 3 and use an online coupon. They're Echo compatible and similar to the Hue whites.

While you're at it, buy a harmony hub so you can automate your entertainment center.

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I read the reviews on Amazon, and the Ecobee does look promising. Thanks!