My Favorite Alexa Routine

Hey neighbors! I wanted to share one of my favorite Alexa routines with you because it has been a “game changer” for my home. If you have an infant or toddler around the house, you’re probably familiar with waking up in the middle of the night, feeling your way through the dark to your kids bedroom to give them a binky or change a diaper…bonus points if you can do this without stepping on a LEGO.

The routine I created starts right when I go into the hallway. The Ring Alarm Contact Sensor tells my Amazon Smart Plug to turn on a small strip of LED lights I have placed in the hallway, similar to the lights you see in a movie theater! This allows me to navigate to their room without lighting up the whole house. When I’m done and go back into my room, the Contact Sensor closes, and it turns off the lights. With my door closed and hallway lights off, I can close my eyes and peacefully go back to sleep…until the next diaper change. The screenshots below are how I’ve configured this in my Alexa app. Follow these links to learn how to create your own routines with the links below.

Let me know your favorite or unique Alexa routine below, as I’d love to expand mine even more and learn what our neighbors do with their’s!

Please note: The Moderators Corner is a place for moderators to post tips for using Ring devices. Views expressed are the moderators’ own and not those of Ring.

2 Likes

Cool, I just have Alexa Echo I made a routine saying “Alexa Front Door” she shows my front door on Fire TV and on Fire stick, though that was cool

1 Like

BTW Ring alarm contact sensor, is that a device? I have the Ring Cam stickup battery, or is contact sensor a feature on mine?

1 Like

Contact sensors are part of the Ring alarm system and placed on doors/windows. But since they show up in the Alexa app, you can create routines based on them being opened or closed. For example, I have a routine that when I open the door into the garage, the overhead garage door lights automatically turn on.

1 Like

Hey @MsQ. Very cool integration! @windracer is correct, the Contact Sensor is part of the Ring Alarm system, which I’ve linked in the post. I’m going to have to use this in my garage as well! What a great idea! Let me know if you have anymore questions.

1 Like

Question, since the contact sensor is part of your alarm system how do you prevent the alarm from going off if in home mode when the door is open?

1 Like

Hi @ROAR. You can configured the Contact Sensors to be ignored in specific Modes. Just select the Contact Sensor in the Ring app, then tap Mode Settings to select which Mode your Contact Sensor is active in.

2 Likes