Amazon Alexa and Hunter Douglas play well together. As shown in the following video, all you need to do it tell Alexa what Hunter Douglas “Scene” to activate.

The Key is Scenes

Alexa can’t create scenes for you, but it can operate them by voice controls. This requires that you create scenes, or positions that you want the window coverings to be in. For example, let’s say you want the shades on the west side of the house to close when the sun moves to the west. You have to program the Hunter Douglas PowerView hub to put the shades into the position you want. Once you establish what you want the shades to do under certain circumstances, you have to name the scene.

In this case, you might call it “Western Sun”. Now, you can have this scene set on a timer to automatically go into this position at a prescribed time, or you can tap the button on your phone or tablet to enable it. But with Alexa, or Google Home, you can just tell it to engage the scene and it responds almost immediately. You can say, “Alexa, Turn On Western Sun”. The shades will go to the scene that is stored in the Hunter Douglas PowerView Hub.

The biggest complaint I hear from my clientele is that you have to use the right terms for Alexa or Google Home to respond properly. Whatever the name of the scene is is the term you have to use. So, if you are just waking up, for example, you probably aren’t going to remember to say something complicated. So, create simple names for your scenes.

About Us

Kempler Design is located in Reno NV and serves the northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe regions with a mobile design showroom. Paul Kempler, its founder is considered a window fashions expert. Kempler Design has been featured in many prestigious projects, including the HGTV dream home in Lake Tahoe. Kempler Design works with homeowners as well as interior design firms looking for a local contact in the Reno/Tahoe area or is available for travel.