Buying a home will always be an exciting milestone, even if it means inheriting something from the previous owner that may be outdated, malfunctioning, or both. For new homeowners in McLean, Virginia, their new-to-them home theater was nearly two decades old and needed to be refreshed, modernized, and made easy to control. Tasked with replacing everything except the copper wiring, lighting system, and in-wall speakers, residential installer Emergent Home Solutions went straight to work. One priority was finding a home control solution that could integrate old and new home theater equipment. Emergent Solutions selected RTI to do just that, enabling a seamless home theater control experience.

There were multiple challenges that the control system needed to address: the home theater curtains were permanently closed, and the existing third-party control system no longer worked, effectively taking the magic out of what should be an enchanting experience. Emergent Solutions used an RTI T2x WiFi Remote, paired with an RTI control processor, to bring the magic back. The result was a resounding success — and they did it all within a week.

“We were looking for something that would adapt to the system but also be sleek enough for the new homeowners,” said Brian MacInnes, president of Emergent Home Solutions. “RTI really fit the bill for us and gave the owners the simple elegance they were looking for to modernize their home theater.”

One challenge Emergent Home Solutions faced on the project was the Lutron GRAFIK Eye lighting system, which was first introduced to the market in 1993. Emergent struggled to find compatible drivers, but through the RTI training program, the team learned how to import the infrared hex codes to control the system with RTI — a task that was much easier than they expected. And, after reaching out to congratulate the team on having completed their initial RTI training, the RTI sales representative was able to solve another technical concern they had encountered on the project in the very same call.

“The best part is that RTI is proactive with their customer engagement. I didn’t have to call them when I needed technical support because they were already calling me,” MacInnes said. “Their dealer engagement was a breath of fresh air, and the training tools and the support through the RTI dealer portal is fantastic. They always have an answer to our questions.”

RTI enabled Emergent Home Solutions with greater functionality over how the curtains, lighting, and projector would operate synchronously. When it’s time for a movie, the homeowner simply presses a button on the remote that warms up the JVC laser projector, and once the projector is ready the curtains — integrated via RTI’s relay control option — open just in time for the JVC logo to show, and the lights slowly dim, bringing a truly cinematic experience to this once-old home theater.
“We’re used to retrofit situations where we’re installing new, up-to-date products that all work together, but this was the largest job for our company up to this point,” said MacInnes. “RTI was significant for us in learning how to make all these legacy products work together seamlessly. We have tried products from the other companies with varying success, but after our most recent experience with RTI, we look forward to offering their products exclusively.”