For a retrofit job in Celebration, Florida, the homeowner was seeking to turn a home theater into a state-of-the-art experience while bringing full automation to almost every facet of the 7,500-square-foot home. Centered on RTI’s comprehensive automation and control portfolio, local integrator Out of Sight Technologies, Inc., turned to the company’s powerful XP processors, flexible audio distribution systems, and award-winning user interfaces to allow simple interaction with climate controls, home security, garage door openers, a fully loaded home theater, and much more.

“Homeowners are increasingly looking for smart, powerful solutions that can provide the ease of use required to accommodate any member of the family,” said Greg Polasky, owner and system designer at Out of Sight Technologies Inc. “For our client, it was extremely important that their control system also feature fail-proof reliability, offsite accessibility, and the ability to make movie night a truly memorable experience. With a range of home systems already implemented such as Lutron® lighting, Elk® security and Nest® thermostats, we turned to RTI for its power and ability to integrate with almost any third-party technology.”

The large Florida residence required centralized control across 12 zones of HVAC, 180 lights, 16 fans, and distributed A/V throughout the home. In addition, the home theater incorporates high-end components including a JVC® projector, Screen Innovations® screen, Fusion Research® movie server, Crowson Technologies® tactile motion actuators in every seat and a Monitor Audio® Platinum 7.2 surround sound system. To manage the expansive list of electronic systems, the integrator utilized four equipment racks outfitted with powerful XP-8s and XP-6 RTI processors, supplemented with Ethernet-based expansion modules to create a seamless control system across the entire home.

For intuitive touchscreen control, the home features RTI’s award-winning RTiPanel app running on 10 Apple iPads® installed throughout the house. Easily customizable using RTI’s Integration Designer® programming software, integrators are able to create tailor-made interfaces, making the system incredibly simple to use. The ability to control and view the status of devices such as the Nest Thermostat and Wirepath IP cameras is made possible through RTI’s library of pre-written two-way drivers that allow the integrator to easily incorporate third-party devices into the system. As a result, users can easily control any component at the touch of a button — whether at home or abroad.

In commonly used areas of the home, there are five RTI T1-B+ wireless remotes, which provide tactile, one-handed control via 40 programmable keypad buttons. To fill the home with music, two RTI AD-8X distributed audio systems are used to provide great sound and matrix switcher capabilities. This gives the ability to listen to eight different audio sources — including an Autonomic Mirage Audio System — in any zone.

“This was our first experience with RTI products, and we’re blown away by the sleekness and simplicity of the entire system” said the homeowner. “Our whole family was able to control everything from garage doors, to lights, to the home theater system in a matter of minutes. The system has also been extremely reliable, and we can regularly check on the house when we’re in Europe to bring us peace of mind that everything is in order. I would recommend the RTI system to  anybody looking to automate their home.”