Lights

How lighting behaves, what’s automatic, and how to control it

Home

What to expect

Lighting in the house is a mix of voice control and automations. It’s designed so that common areas “just work” in the evenings and late at night without you needing to think about switches.

Normal behaviour: Some lights come on at dusk and go off after midnight. Late at night, the system may choose a softer light (e.g. a table lamp) instead of bright ceiling lights.

House rules (the simple version)

Dusk lighting Automatic

At dusk, some lights in shared areas may turn on automatically to make the house feel “already lit”.

After midnight Automatic

After midnight, many automatic lights stop or switch to a calmer mode (to avoid bright lights at night).

Late-night motion lighting Automatic

If you walk into the hall late (around 22:00 onwards), the hall table light may come on instead of a bright overhead light.

If a light turns itself off: it’s usually on a timer, motion timeout, or an “after midnight” rule. If you want it to stay on, you can ask Alexa to turn it on again.

Room-by-room

Kitchen

  • Kitchen lights can be controlled by Alexa.
  • “Alexa, goodnight” will switch the kitchen lights off.
  • Some kitchen lighting may be influenced by dusk/late-night rules depending on how it’s grouped.

Lounge

  • Lounge lights can be controlled by Alexa.
  • Some lounge lighting may be part of dusk lighting (so it feels welcoming in the evening).

Hall & landing

  • Hall/landing lighting is designed to be helpful late at night.
  • After about 22:00, motion/entry may trigger a table lamp rather than bright overhead lights.
  • Automatic behaviour reduces after midnight.

Good to know: The hall “late night” behaviour is intentional — it’s meant to help you navigate without blasting the house with bright light.

Useful Alexa phrases (lights)

  • “Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights”
  • “Alexa, turn off the kitchen lights”
  • “Alexa, turn on the lounge lights”
  • “Alexa, turn off the lounge lights”
  • “Alexa, turn on the hall light” (or: “hall table light” if that’s the device name)

If the wrong light turns on/off: it’s usually because Alexa is using a similar device name or a group name. Try using a more specific phrase (e.g. “hall table light” instead of “hall light”).