I'm looking for a remote temperature sensor that's compatible with the Echo. I'd like to monitor my outdoor wood burner (temp range: 150° - 200°) I'd like to be able to ask "Alexa, What's the boiler temperature" & also be able to set Hi & Lo limits that Alexa would notify via an alarm if reached. Any thoughts? Or, am I asking a bit much?
What you want is doable, but it gets a little complicated. Right now Alexa only understands on/off/set-to-
n% semantics, which means that when it comes to smart device control you're limited to things like lights (including dimmable ones), thermostats, ceiling fans, Harmony Hub activities and other things that can be mapped into "Turn on", "Turn off" and/or "Set to
n%" commands. That said, using something like SmartThings and a community-written smart app and Alexa skill ("Ask Alexa") you can put together your own integration that you can use to query the state of many smart devices, including sensors of the type you mention.
But this requires a fair amount of effort and learning on your part, and help from people like those at the SmartThings Community forum (
http://community.smartthings.com/). So the short answer is, "Yes, but only with some difficulty."