URC’s Total Control home-automation system is expanding its reach inside the home to control more brands of home systems, including Philips ZigBee-based Hue light bulbs, Honeywell thermostats, Hunter Douglas motorized shades and more HVAC systems.
URC added two-way software-control modules for these products to its Total Control whole-house control systems, which control entertainment systems, lighting, surveillance systems and the like. The two-way software modules enable feedback from the products to be displayed on URC’s controlling devices, such as remotes and touchscreens. The controlling devices can display such information as a room’s temperature, audio volume, lighting level, etc.
Total Control systems connect to CAT-5 wiring to control products sitting on the IP network but also feature IR control of AV systems, wireless 2.4GHz control, and wireless Z-Wave and ZigBee for wireless control of lighting, door locks, thermostats, shades and similar products.
With the latest upgrades, URC is adding control of the following other-brand products:
–Philips Hue ZigBee-based LED lights, whose hue, brightness, separation and on/off functions can be controlled by URC systems in groups and individual;.
–Honeywell Total Connect Comfort thermostats, providing control of almost all thermostat functions, including temperature, humidity, operating mode, fan mode and hold mode;
–CoolMasterNet’s bridge, which integrates Total Control with various HVAC systems so users can change thermostat modes, set points, fan modes and louver positions;
–Tekmar’s tN4 Gateway 482 to control thermostats and setpoint control devices connected to the gateway; and
–Hunter Douglas PowerView motorized-shade systems.
Recently URC also announced two-way integration with Bose SoundTouch wireless multiroom-audio products and with Klipsch’s Reference Premier HD Wireless home-theater speaker system, which is based on the WiSA wireless standard.
Total Control systems also control Sonos products, DirecTV set-top boxes and Autonomic music servers, among other products.
