Users can now tell Alexa to control their air conditioners rather than using Tado’s app.
Tado debuted a small improvement to its smart A/C control device, offering customers the option to use Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant to control Tado-connected air conditioners. To use it, all you’ll need do is add the Alexa Tado skill in your Amazon account.
The Tado device renders otherwise dumb air-conditioning units programmable, and multiple units can work together to control air conditioners in different rooms of your home. So a simple phrase like “Alexa, set living room to 68 degrees,” or “Alexa, increment (or decrement to decrease) living room by two degrees” will change the target temperatures for the A/C units in those rooms accordingly.
Tado is using Amazon’s smart-home API to make its voice commands sound a little more natural. Many skills require you to first tell Alexa excactly which device you want to control (“Alexa, tell `Life-Ex` to make my lights blue,” for example). In Tado’s case, Alexa automatically associates rooms and temperature targets with Tado’s A/C controller—although using words like “increment” and “decrement” might seem a bit odd.
The impact on your home: Tado is available now for $180, but you’ll need one for the air conditioner in each room if you don’t have central air. It seems like Tado has done an excellent job tapping Alexa’s abilities.
