Smart Home

An ecobee3 smart thermostat can help you save 23% on your energy bills annually. Plus, it allows you to control your temperature with voice commands or via the companion app. But, before you can start using your new ecobee3, you have to install it, which can be a complicated process. Here’s how to install an ecobee3 smart thermostat yourself, with …

By default, all Amazon Echo speakers will constantly listen for their wake word, “Alexa.” When your device hears this word, it will wake up and listen for questions and commands. However, if you have someone named “Alexa” or “Alex” in your home, or you just don’t want to say “Alexa” anymore, you can always change it. Here’s everything you need …

There are lots of video doorbells that need to be hardwired, which means you will need to replace an existing doorbell to power them. However, Ring has a battery-powered doorbell that can be installed anywhere. Here’s how to install a Ring doorbell without an existing doorbell, and how to charge your doorbell.  Without wiring, your Ring doorbell will not have …

Smart plugs can make your regular “dumb” home appliances smarter. And if you want to add voice control to manage your appliances via a smart plug, they can be synced to the Amazon Echo, too. Find out how to connect your smart plug to an Alexa device with this step-by-step guide. What is a Smart Plug?  A smart plug is …

With a Ring Video Doorbell, you can answer your front door from anywhere in the world. But a video doorbell might not seem like much of an upgrade if you don’t enjoy the way it sounds. Here’s how to change the sound your Ring doorbell makes, inside and out, as well as the notifications on your smartphone and Alexa speakers. …

Have you ever asked Alexa a question, and she gave you a completely unrelated answer? Or have you noticed that it’s a little tricky to make her understand what you’re saying? If you know how to make Alexa learn your voice, it will be easier for her to interact with you and give you personalized answers. You can even train …

If you have an Xbox One, you can now control it with any Alexa device. That means you can turn your Xbox on and off with the Alexa app or by using simple voice commands. You can also turn up the volume, pause a movie, launch an app or game, and much more. Here’s how to connect your Xbox One …

If you bought a set of Philips Hue smart light bulbs, you won’t necessarily need to buy an expensive Hue Bridge to control them. Depending on what kind of bulbs you have, you can also use the Philips Hue app on your smartphone to turn your lights off, dim them, change the color of the light, and more. Or you …

Setting up your Ring doorbell is an easy process. If you recently got this smart video doorbell, follow the steps below to make the device work properly. All you need is the unit itself, a smartphone, and a WiFi connection. Here’s how to set up your Ring video doorbell: Note: These steps are only for the Ring Video Doorbell, not …

Amazon’s Echo smart speakers are only smart if you set them up properly. Whether you just bought an Echo speaker or received one as a gift, you’ll need to set up Alexa on your device before you can start asking questions, listening to music, and more. Here’s how to set up Alexa on your Echo speaker, so you can take …