Having colorful rainbow lights in your home can be a fun way to liven up the atmosphere. With Alexa and compatible smart bulbs or light strips, you can easily make Alexa cycle through rainbow colors with just a simple voice command. In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to set up rainbow lights with Alexa and show you different ways to activate the rainbow effect.
Requirements for Alexa Rainbow Lights
To make Alexa control rainbow lights, you’ll need the following:
- An Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled device
- Compatible color-changing smart bulbs or light strips. Some popular options:
- Philips Hue bulbs
- LIFX bulbs
- GE C by GE bulbs
- TP-Link Kasa smart bulbs
- Govee light strips
- The bulb/light strip’s companion app installed on your phone or tablet
- The skill for your particular brand of lights enabled in the Alexa app
Step 1: Install Smart Bulbs and Connect to Wi-Fi
The first step is to install your color-changing smart bulbs or connect your light strips. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for setup. Generally, you’ll need to screw the bulbs into light fixtures or mount the light strips, and then connect them to your Wi-Fi network through the companion app.
Here are some guidelines for Wi-Fi setup of a few popular brands:
| Brand | Wi-Fi Connection Process |
|---|---|
| Philips Hue |
|
| LIFX |
|
| TP-Link Kasa |
|
Follow similar steps for other brands – the key things are making sure the bulbs/lights are on and in pairing mode, and entering your Wi-Fi details when prompted in the app.
Step 2: Enable Smart Home Skills in Alexa App
Next, you’ll need to enable the appropriate skill in the Alexa app to connect your light brand. This allows Alexa to control the lights through voice commands.
Here are the skills you’ll need to enable for some popular brands:
| Brand | Alexa Skill Name |
|---|---|
| Philips Hue | Philips Hue |
| LIFX | LIFX |
| TP-Link Kasa | Kasa |
| GE C by GE | C by GE |
To enable the skill in the Alexa app:
- Open the Alexa app and go to the “Skills & Games” section
- Search for your light brand’s skill name and select it
- Tap “Enable To Use” to activate the skill
- Sign into your smart light’s app account when prompted
Alexa will now be connected to control your lights.
Step 3: Discover Devices and Set Up Rooms
With the skill enabled, you need to have Alexa discover your connected smart lights. There are a couple ways to do this:
- Say “Alexa, discover devices” and your lights will automatically be found if they’re on the same network as your Alexa device.
- Or, go to the “Devices” section in the Alexa app and choose “Add Device”. It will search for new devices to add.
As your lights are discovered, you can assign them to rooms in the Alexa app to better control them. For example, “kitchen lights” or “bedroom lights”. Use descriptive names so you can refer to the rooms when using Alexa voice commands.
Activate Rainbow Mode with Alexa Voice Commands
Now for the fun part – making Alexa cycle your smart lights through rainbow colors! Here are some voice commands you can try:
| Command | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Alexa, make the [room name] lights rainbow | Activates rainbow mode for those lights |
| Alexa, make the lights rainbow | Rainbow mode for all rooms/groups |
| Alexa, start rainbow mode | Starts rainbow across all devices |
| Alexa, turn on rainbow lights | Rainbow mode on everything |
You can specify “rainbow” for a particular room, group, or all lights. The lights will smoothly transition between different colors of the rainbow on loop.
Customize Rainbow Speed, Brightness and Saturation
You have options to customize the look of the rainbow effect by adjusting speed, brightness and saturation.
To change rainbow speed, say commands like:
- “Alexa, increase rainbow speed”
- “Alexa, set rainbow speed to 5”
- “Alexa, decrease the rainbow speed by 2”
Brightness can be adjusted with commands like:
- “Alexa, set rainbow brightness to 30%”
- “Alexa, increase rainbow brightness”
- “Alexa, decrease the kitchen rainbow brightness to 20%”
For saturation, use commands such as:
- “Alexa, max out rainbow saturation”
- “Alexa, decrease saturation to 40%”
Play around with different settings to find your favorite look for the rainbow effect!
Add Rainbow Routines
You can automate rainbow lights by setting up Routines in the Alexa app. Routines allow you to trigger lighting effects based on schedules, voice commands, activities and more.
Here are some ideas for rainbow Routines you could create:
- “Rainbow Dance Party” – rainbow lights activate every Friday at 8PM.
- “Rainbow Chill” – rainbow lights turn on at 20% brightness when you say “Alexa, chill time.”
- “Bedtime Rainbow” – rainbow lights trigger at child’s bedtime to signal sleep.
To set up Routines:
- Open the Alexa app and go to “Routines”
- Tap the “+” to create a new Routine
- Add a name and choose when to activate it
- Under “Actions” tap “Add Action” then select your smart lights
- Choose the rainbow effect and any settings you want
- Tap “Save” and your Routine will be ready
Now the rainbow lights will automatically sync up with your schedule and activities!
Activate Rainbow Scene in Smart Light App
Another way to trigger rainbow mode is directly through your smart light’s companion app rather than using Alexa voice commands.
Most apps have preset lighting “scenes” you can activate, including rainbow effects. For example, in the Philips Hue app you can turn on the “Rainbow” scene which makes the lights cycle through the colors.
Check the app for your specific light brand and look for rainbow-related scenes. Tap to turn it on. The rainbow will continue cycling until you turn the scene off.
Song-Syncing Rainbow Lights
Some smart light brands offer rainbow effects that sync and dance along with music playing in the room. This creates an immersive, party-like atmosphere. Brands with this feature include:
- LIFX – “Music Visualizer” mode
- Nanoleaf – “Rhythm” scene
- Philips Hue – “Entertain” mode in Sync app
You’ll need to connect the lights with the music source, which is often a phone, tablet or computer playing songs out loud. The lights use a microphone to detect the music and change colors/patterns to match.
Refer to your light brand’s app instructions for how to specifically enable this musical rainbow effect.
DIY Rainbow Decorations
You don’t necessarily need smart bulbs to decorate with rainbow colors. You can easily make DIY rainbow decorations and accent lights using materials like:
- String lights or lanterns with multi-color LED lights
- Acrylic paints or rainbow window clings
- Tissue paper, streamers or pompoms in rainbow hues
- Reflective prisms or rainbow makers that cast light spectrums
Get creative stringing up streamers, painting rainbows on windows, or creating lampshades or wall art with an array of colors. Place prisms around the room to reflect rainbow light effects.
Use these fun DIY ideas to add a customized rainbow touch to your lighting.
Conclusion
With Alexa and programmable smart bulbs, creating fun rainbow lighting effects is easy and hands-free. All you need are some voice commands to get the rainbow party started!
Be sure to enable the necessary skills, discover your smart devices, and assign them to rooms. Then use Alexa voice controls or light app scenes to activate the rainbow mode. You can even take it further and sync the lighting colors with music for an immersive experience.
So explore all the options with your Alexa assistant and smart lights to make your home shine with rainbow colors!