Alexa Thermostat Commands for Nest, Honeywell, Ecobee, and Emerson

December 17, 2019 Elaine

Nest exploded into the thermostat scene almost a decade ago, and since then, smart thermostats have gained immense popularity, being used to swap out regular thermostats in autonomy-loving homes worldwide.

This is with good reason, and with a smart thermostat, you can preset your ideal temperatures using voice commands.

You can let it know how toasty you like it when you’re asleep, or how cool you want it when lounging at home, and you can do it all without leaving the comfort of your couch, thanks to Alexa thermostat voice commands via the cheaply prized Amazon Echo Dot.

Connecting your smart thermostat with Amazon’s Alexa is quite straightforward (here is a guide on how to do it), after which, Alexa will work with your thermostat to help you find your perfect temperature and perhaps.

More importantly, you won’t even need to get up to change the thermostat or use the accompanying app on your phone.

As with any other Alexa commands, you need to wake-up Alexa by issuing the wake-word (it is Alexa by default) the continuing with the command.

💡 Useful Alexa Tip

When asking Alexa to change the temperature, you refer to the location in your home that you have set up the thermostat in. For example, if you want to change the temperature in the living room, and you’ve set up the thermostat accordingly, then simply say, “Alexa, change the living room temperature to 70.” Or, “Alexa, what’s the living room temperature?” Unless it’s part of the location name, there is no need to say ‘thermostat.’ In fact, this will confuse Alexa.

Alexa commands for Nest thermostat

The following Nest thermostats are thus far compatible with Amazon Alexa:

Nest Thermostat E
3^rd Gen Nest thermostat
2^nd Gen Nest thermostat
1^st Gen Nest thermostat

If you have any of the above models, then you can use the Alexa commands for Nest listed below:

Alexa, what’s the temperature in <thermostat name>?
Alexa, what temperature is my <thermostat name> set to?
Alexa, what’s the temperature in the house?
Alexa, set the <thermostat name> temperature to __ degrees.
Alexa, change the <thermostat name> to __ degrees.
Alexa, make my <thermostat name> warmer by __ degrees.
Alexa, turn my <thermostat name> temperature to __ degrees.
Alexa, decrease the <thermostat name> temperature.
Alexa, increase the <thermostat name> by __ degrees.

Note, however, that asking Alexa to change the temperature without specifying by how much make her change it by the default 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius).

Also, if you have only one Nest Thermostat in your home, it is unnecessary to use the thermostat name in the Alexa commands.

Alexa commands for Ecobee thermostats

The Ecobee thermostats with Amazon Alexa’s integration include the Ecobee4 and the Ecobee Switch+. Ecobee thermostats have two tiers of Alexa commands, the ‘Ecobee,’ and the ‘Ecobee plus’ skills.

You can then use the following commands on any Alexa-enabled device to control either of those two thermostats:

Ecobee Skill commands

Alexa, what’s the <thermostat name> temperature?
Alexa, what is the <thermostat name> set to?
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to __
Alexa, raise/lower <thermostat name> temperature by __ degrees.
Alexa, increase/decrease the <thermostat name> temperature.
Alexa, turn on/ turn off <Switch+ name> (compatible with Ecobee Switch+ only)

‘Ecobee Plus’ Skill commands

Alexa, ask Ecobee the <thermostat name> temperature.
Alexa, ask Ecobee what the <thermostat name> is set to.
Alexa, ask Ecobee what equipment is running on the <thermostat name>
Alexa, ask Ecobee to set the <thermostat name> temperature to __ degrees.
Alexa, tell Ecobee I’m hot in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, tell Ecobee I’m cold in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, tell Ecobee I’m back home in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, tell Ecobee I’m leaving in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, tell Ecobee goodnight in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, ask Ecobee to set <thermostat name> to home/away/sleep.
Alexa, ask Ecobee to turn the fan on in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, ask Ecobee to switch to Heat/Cool/Auto/OFF mode in the <thermostat name>
Alexa, tell Ecobee I’m going on vacation from <start date> to <end date> in the <thermostat name>

This is a small sample of the commands that Alexa will respond to. However, skills are being added and she is capable of so much more. Therefore, you can try your own creative Alexa for Ecobee Thermostat commands and see what happens.

Note: Using Alexa to set the temperature will create a ‘Hold’ that will override the current Ecobee thermostat’s schedule and hold that temperature.

This duration of the hold is based on the Ecobee thermostat’s Hold Action Duration which can be changed by navigating to; Main Menu > Settings > Preferences > Hold Action Duration on the thermostat itself or; Settings > Preferences on the Ecobee Web Portal.

Alexa commands for Honeywell thermostats

All of Honeywell’s smart WiFi thermostats are compatible with Amazon Alexa. Simply set up the thermostat and proceed to use any of the following Alexa commands for Honeywell thermostats:

Alexa, set <thermostat name> to __ degrees
Alexa, increase <thermostat name> by __ degrees.
Alexa, decrease <thermostat name> by __degrees.
Alexa, what is the <thermostat name> set to?
Alexa, what is the temperature of <thermostat name>?
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to __degrees until 7:15PM
Alexa, resume <thermostat name> schedule.

Note: Amazon Echo supports English (CA), English (US) and Spanish (MX) languages when paired with Honeywell thermostats.

Alexa commands for Emerson sensi thermostats

Here are Alexa commands for Emerson thermostats:

Alexa, set <thermostat name> to __ degrees.
Alexa, raise <thermostat name> by __ degrees.
Alexa, lower <thermostat name> by __ degrees.
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to heat.
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to cool
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to auto.
Alexa, set <thermostat name> to off.
Alexa, what is the temperature in <thermostat name>?
Alexa, what is the <thermostat name> temperature?
Alexa, what is <thermostat name> set to?

Note: Using Alexa with Emerson Sensi thermostat in auto mode will change your comfort range to one degree above and one degree below your requested temperature. For instance, changing your temperature to 60 degrees will give you a comfortable range of 59 to 61 degrees.

Hopefully, with the help of this Alexa commands for Nest, Honeywell, Ecobee and Emerson guide, you can leave the days of walking to your thermostat behind you. For more tips, tricks, and lifehacks involving smart home devices check out our other guides.

Alexa Thermostats