Understand Smart Home Energy Add-ons

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You can use the Alexa APIs to report energy usage and manage automation of devices that consume energy. The smart home energy interfaces are intended to help users manage their energy usage with the Alexa energy dashboard. You create smart home energy add-ons the same way you create any other smart home add-on. For details, see Connect Your Device Cloud with Smart Home Add-ons and Steps to Build Smart Home Add-ons.

Utterances

The smart home energy interfaces are different than other Alexa interfaces. Your add-on doesn't support voice user interactions with Alexa. Instead, your add-on communicates with Alexa about energy usage and device automation. These interfaces don't define user utterances.

Alexa interfaces for smart home energy add-ons

Implement the following Smart Home APIs in your Alexa add-on to enable users to control your smart home energy devices.

• Alexa.AutomationManagement — For devices that support automation, such as thermostats.
• Alexa.DeviceUsage.Estimation — For devices that don't measure energy use directly, such as thermostats.
• Alexa.DeviceUsage.Meter — For devices that measure energy use directly, such as electric and natural gas meters.
• Alexa.ThermostatController.HVAC.Components — For a thermostat device or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

Related topics

• Enable Your Customers to Track and Manage their Devices' Energy Usage with the Alexa Energy Dashboard
• Smart Home Device Templates
• Smart Home Add-on Concepts
• Smart Home APIs
• Smart Home Security Add-ons
• Alexa.EndpointHealth

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Last updated: Nov 22, 2023