6 Alexa routines that protect your home

My neighborhood's pretty safe. Crime isn't really a thing here. But I'm still not leaving my front porch open season for package thieves, and I'm definitely not rolling the dice on a break-in. The thing is, I wasn't about to drop thousands on a fancy security system.

There is a much cheaper and more accessible security option for your home—it might already be in there, and you're not putting it to good use!

Why I turned to Alexa for home security

The setup that makes it all work

I have several Echo Dots, three Echo Shows, and four Echo Hubs scattered throughout my home. My Ring Security system includes contact sensors (every door, every window), the doorbell camera out front, and floodlight cameras on the driveway and back patio. My myQ smart garage doors tie into Alexa, too.

The real power isn't in the individual devices. It's how they work together through Alexa routines. Each routine solves a specific problem, from scaring off intruders to fixing mistakes like forgetting to close the garage.

Cascading lights that mimic human movement

Making automation look human

My best security routines involve outdoor cameras and indoor lights. When my Ring floodlight camera detects motion in my driveway, the floodlight turns on immediately. Alexa waits 20 seconds, then the garage lights flip on. Another 20 seconds pass before the porch lights come on.

This staggered timing matters. If all the lights flipped on at once, someone watching might realize it's automated. The delays look like someone noticed the outdoor motion and started walking around inside, hitting light switches as they check things out. After 15 minutes without motion, everything shuts off.

My back patio setup works the same way. When that camera catches movement, it triggers the patio lights first. Then the three-season room lamp, controlled by a smart plug, turns on with the same delay. At the front door, the routine goes garage lights, porch lights, kitchen lights.

Why 20 seconds? That's roughly how long it takes me to walk from room to room. Someone casing the place sees lights coming on in sequence and thinks twice. It's way more convincing than everything lighting up at once like some Home Alone booby trap.

I'm using a mix of smart switches and smart bulbs for these routines. The switches handle most of the heavy lifting since they work even if someone flips the physical switch.

Vocal announcements keep us aware

Every entry point gets announced

I put Ring contact sensors on every door and window. I created routines for Alexa to announce when each one opens. She'll say, "The front door is open," when someone comes in. The same thing happens for the back door, garage door, and windows.

My family always knows when someone's entering or leaving. If we're upstairs and someone opens the back door, we hear it. The announcements don't play in the kids' bedrooms, though. There's no point waking them when we let the dog out and trigger a sensor at 2 AM.

The garage door that closes itself

One less thing to worry about

I've been in bed plenty of times, wondering if I remembered to close the garage. I used to drag myself to the garage to check. Now I just have a routine that closes both myQ garage doors at 9 PM.

Garages are basically the front door for burglars. People forget to close them all the time. My routine doesn't care if the doors are already closed (it just does nothing). If I forgot while unloading groceries or got distracted by the kids, the routine takes care of it. I left the garage open all night once, and that's what pushed me to finally automate it.

A deterrent that sounds like the police

The alarm routine that announces consequences

My Ring security system makes a ton of noise when it goes off, but I wanted an extra deterrent. I made an Alexa routine that kicks in when the alarm triggers. Through all the Echo devices in my home (except the kids' bedrooms), Alexa says, "The police are on their way. Video recording of your intrusion has been shared with the authorities."

Someone breaking in hears that they're being recorded and cops are coming. Maybe the alarm alone would scare them off, maybe not. But hearing their face is on camera, and the police know about it? That'll get most people moving. Every Echo in the house announces it too, so they hear it from multiple rooms. That drives home the "you're being watched" feeling.

The routine I don't use (but you might)

Dog barking without the dog

My dog, Bella, loses her mind anytime someone approaches the house. She's better than any alarm. If I didn't have her, I'd 100% have Alexa play dog barking sounds when the cameras pick up motion. You can load custom sounds into Alexa and trigger them however you want.

Burglars hate dogs. They're loud, unpredictable, and they mean someone's probably home. If you don't have a dog, having Alexa bark through your speakers does basically the same thing.

Protection that runs itself

These Alexa routines took home security off my mental checklist. The garage closes itself, and lights turn on when cameras spot someone. Our doors announce themselves when they open. It all runs on autopilot and keeps the place looking occupied even when nobody's home. I just used what I already had and spent maybe an hour setting up routines. Anyone with Alexa devices and some smart home stuff can do this without monthly monitoring fees or complicated installations.