Checking and setting the room temperature with Alexa

With the Intelligent Room Controller in your Miniserver (the Loxone block “Intelligente Raumregelung”), you can check and set a room's temperature by voice. For example, you say “Alexa, wie ist die Temperatur im Schlafzimmer?” (What is the temperature in the bedroom?) or “Alexa, stelle das Bad auf 22 Grad.” (Set the bathroom to 22 degrees.) MFM Voice only accepts target values between 10 and 30 degrees.

The MFM Voice skill currently only works with an amazon.de account and Alexa set to German, so voice commands are shown in German with an English gloss in brackets.

What you need to share

Alexa only sees what you share in MFM Voice. For temperature, two Loxone blocks are relevant:

• Intelligent Room Controller: check the temperature, set a target value, make it warmer or colder.
• Temperature sensor (“Temperaturfühler”): check the temperature.

Tick the block in MFM Voice and give it a name that is easy to say. The room name usually works: “Bad” (bathroom), “Wohnzimmer” (living room), “Schlafzimmer” (bedroom). Then say: “Alexa, suche nach neuen Geräten.” (Search for new devices.)

Checking the temperature

Ask about the room:

• “Alexa, wie ist die Temperatur im Schlafzimmer?” (What is the temperature in the bedroom?)

This works with the room controller and with a shared temperature sensor.

Setting the temperature

With the room controller you have three options:

• Name a specific value: “Alexa, stelle das Bad auf 22 Grad.” (Set the bathroom to 22 degrees.)
• Make it warmer: “Alexa, mach es im Bad wärmer.” (Make it warmer in the bathroom.)
• Make it colder by a set amount: “Alexa, mach es im Wohnzimmer zwei Grad kälter.” (Make it two degrees colder in the living room.)

What the value means

The value you set by voice is the comfort temperature for heating in your Loxone room controller. If you say “22 Grad” (22 degrees), that value is stored there as the comfort temperature. So you are changing a setting your room controller already has.

Why only 10 to 30 degrees

MFM Voice only accepts target values between 10 and 30 degrees. If a value is outside this range, it is rejected and not applied. This guards against Alexa mishearing you. If Alexa gets a number wrong, your heating should not be set to a value nobody wanted.

In practice, this means: if Alexa does not respond to a temperature as expected, check the number first. Repeat the command with a value within the range.

If it does not work

• Alexa cannot find the room. Check in MFM Voice whether the room controller is shared and what it is called. Then say: “Alexa, suche nach neuen Geräten.” (Search for new devices.)
• The device shows “reagiert nicht” (not responding). Check whether your Miniserver is online and reachable and whether your subscription is active.
• The internet is down. Without internet, voice control does not work. Wall switches, the Loxone app and automation keep working.

What about security?

A simple rule of thumb applies to sharing: only share for voice control what a guest in your house would be allowed to switch. A voice assistant does not check who is speaking. Use this rule to decide room by room whether to share the room controller.

All commands for lights, blinds, temperature and energy values are on the voice commands page.