First foray - starting points

[sbparsons]

Hi,

I have a set of home automation devices recognised by Alexa and I can control them easily enough with the standard utterances.

However, I would like to create a few new phrases to be recognised by Alexa and have them trigger a set of existing devices (switches, in this case). As an example, if I were to say 'Alexa, boost the heating for 45 minutes' I would then see a switch for the heating turn on and a switch for the hot water circuit turn on. After 45 minutes, they would both then switch off.

I understand a bit about skills, etc. and can follow the basics (and have done) - but my main question is on how to make use of existing devices already registered with Alexa, such as the switches mentioned above. Are they accessible from within a lambda and if so, how?

Any pointers would be great - even better if there are some resources with examples using existing devices within Alexa.

Thanks.