New Kenmore smart fridges work with Amazon Alexa

Kenmore, the appliance brand owned by Sears, has strengthened its ties to Amazon. Its new line of internet-connected refrigerators will work with the Alexa voice-activated digital assistant, the company announced this week at the Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle.

The Wi-Fi-enabled refrigerators will send alerts to your phone if you leave a door open, when you need to replace a filter and if there are power outages. You’ll also be able to adjust your freezer and refrigerator temperatures when you’re away.

You can buy one of the fridges, the Kenmore Elite 24-cubic-foot Counter-Depth French Door Bottom-Mount Smart Refrigerator, now for $2,499. The rest of the line will be available in December.

The refrigerators, along with Kenmore’s other smart appliances, work with Alexa thanks to a Skill called Kenmore Smart. If you have one of the appliances and an Alexa-enabled smart speaker, you enable the Kenmore Smart Skill within the Alexa app and link your accounts. From there, you can give voice commands to Alexa regarding your Kenmore product, such as, “Alexa, ask Kenmore Smart, ‘What is my freezer temperature?'”

Kenmore first signaled its growing relationship with Amazon in June, when it announced that its appliances would be available to order through the online retailer. 

As Sears continues to close many of its stores, the company’s efforts to work with Amazon show that it plans to extend the life of the Kenmore name by embracing the online marketplace and internet-connected appliances.

First published Oct. 11, 12:09 p.m. PT.

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Update, 7:15 p.m.: Adds new price, reduced after the initial Kenmore announcement.