Sky Electric LLC

Many people are interested in having Alexa (or another voice enabled system) control their lights.  Alexa does work pretty good, but, what is the best way to do it?

I recommend the Lutron Caseta line of products.

With these switches, you never have to worry about someone accidently turning off the Alexa light.  Also, if the internet goes out, these great dimmers and switches just work.  They have dimmers, regular on/off switches and lamp dimmers.

If you want to control the lights with your device, or with Alexa, the Kit is required, which comes with the hub.  Plug the hub into your router, install the Caseta app on your device and follow the simple instructions.  Ta’da’

You can thank me later.

For sensitive electronics, plug strip surge protection are a no brainer.  When purchasing them, make sure they say “UL 1449 Listed” to be sure they provide minimum protection.  It must say listed, not just “Meets or exceeds”.  You can supplement this protection, and add more by installing Whole House sure protection.

Why would you want whole house protections?  Not only does a whole house surge protector supplement the individual surge strip protection, but it protects the ‘2 pole” items in your house as well.

See the image below:

We recommend the following items for protection the whole house: Square D HEPD80

Make sure you add the flush mount kit, to make sure the installation does not look awkard 😉

Also, if you have a mounted LED TV, make sure the plug behind the TV is surge protected as well.

This is the Leviton Decora Plus surge protector, however Cooper also makes a “Surge protector receptacle”. Its like a “GFCI” only for surge protection.