For the owners of a new 11,000-square-foot residence in DeWinton, Alberta, Canada, the house would not have felt like home without the very latest in technology seamlessly incorporated throughout. To provide it, integrator Tech-Home Solutions Ltd. spent roughly 600 man hours installing $180,000 worth of electronic equipment into the massive abode before the family moved in. Highlights of the company’s finished technological marvel included a 23-zone, whole-house audio system featuring two SONOS® wireless HiFi systems, three RTI AD-8 distributed audio systems, and a Denon amplifier; video from a Panasonic Blu-Ray™ player, two Apple® TVs, and four satellite boxes distributed to 10 displays and a JVC® projector; a Lutron RadioRA® 2 lighting system; two Key Digital 8x8 matrix switchers; a surveillance system with 13 cameras; a doorbell and intercom system; five Aprilaire 8800 thermostats; and more.

“In a system this massive and complex, ease of use was obviously paramount,” said Craig Hingley, president of Tech-Home Solutions Ltd. “Our client wanted a simple control interface that anyone could use with little to no instruction.  RTI has been our control provider of choice for years because of its ability to handle sophisticated projects such as this, so we knew the company’s solutions would be up to the task. No matter the complexity of an install, there always seems to be a way to make it happen with RTI products.” 

The home’s control system is driven by two powerful RTI XP-8s control processors, used in conjunction with three CB-8 connecting blocks, two RM-433 RF receivers, and six ZM-24 ZigBee® transceiver modules. The homeowners have several options for interacting with their electronic systems.  The house features two RTI KX7 7-inch in-wall touchscreen controllers — one located just outside the kitchen and one in the home theater — and eleven SURFiR companion remotes. In addition, the RTiPanel app is running on five iDevices, allowing users to take control with them virtually anywhere in the world where there’s an Internet connection. Five RK1 keypads are located throughout the home for quick one-button access to lighting scenes, while 15 RKM-1+ in-wall keypads provide simple control over the whole-house audio system. 

For the KX7 and RTiPanel, Tech-Home Solutions Ltd. created a completely customized interface incorporating 3D floor plans for lighting, HVAC, and A/V. The 3D modeling provides a real-time visual of what’s going on in the house, making it simple for the users to control a system of this magnitude.

Thanks to an abundance of IP and RS-232 two-way drivers utilized, the XP-8s processors integrate seamlessly with the home’s HVAC, lighting, and A/V systems. This provides the homeowners with two-way feedback on the in-wall touchscreen and iDevices, allowing them to view audio levels, temperature, and lighting across the whole house.

“One thing we’ve done to make installations even simpler is to use our own custom RTI and Lutron programming templates, which are always evolving. This makes programming exceptionally simple and eliminates any minor bugs that we may have encountered in the past,” added Hingley. “Drivers such as Coupe Automation’s Virtual Matrix Selector make it even easier, because we can simply enter the zone and source names in the driver and have the system up and running in no time.”

With RTI, Tech-Home Solutions Ltd. was able to provide the homeowners with a number of unique features, such as convenient “home” and “away” buttons at the home’s main entrances. When pushed, the buttons automatically adjust every aspect of the home — indoor and outdoor lighting, temperature, and A/V — depending on the time of day and whether the user is coming home or leaving. For security, a ring of the doorbell triggers all audio in designated zones to mute, while displays pause and switch to feeds from the front-door camera. This allows homeowners the convenience of seeing who is at the door so they can decide if they want to answer it.