‘‘This isn’t working,” I think to myself as my finger taps the tiny, 4-inch touchscreen. Technically, the screen works, but I’m not getting a good idea of what it can actually do for me. A night-light a few inches from the panel fades up to full brightness. A couple of lights on nearby switch panels blink. Surely a home automation system that costs thousands of dollars can do something more exciting than this?

The problem is that the new HAI OmniPro II home automation system I’m using is not incorporated into a high-tech equipment cabinet in some spacious luxury home. No, it’s built into a suitcase. It’s actually a demonstration kit the company provides for its sales reps. All the little lights seem to go on and off at the right time, and the system is able to interface with my Russound multiroom audio gear, but still, I’m getting all facts and no feel. So I ask the company’s PR reps if we have any better options.

---

The OmniTouch touchscreen changes its display depending on what part of the system you want to control. Here, it shows the control panel for a Russound CAV-6.6 multiroom audio system. (Click here to enlarge)

---

Days later, I’m standing at the gate of a home in Las Vegas, owned by Ed Hogan. Ed works for Efficient Electric, a Vegas installation company that prewires thousands of homes each year in large real-estate developments. I’ve been triple-teamed by Ed, HAI’s Ken Piazzi, and J.J. Henderson from HAI’s local distributor, Worthington Distribution, to make sure I get the complete picture of what the OmniPro II can do.

Ed starts in the den, where a single OmniTouch touchscreen awaits. The main screen has eight buttons, including lighting, security, temperature, and audio. Ed starts tapping buttons with the dexterity of Star Trek’s Commander Data. Instantly, some lights rise while others dim, and sound fills the den and kitchen. We start to discuss the ins and outs of how the touchscreen communicates with all the other systems in the house, and Ken interrupts.

“No, don’t think of it that way,” he insists. “Think of it the way I have it in my house—I have buttons for Enter, Exit, Good Morning, and Good Night. Does that give you a better idea of what it does?”Seeing my furrowed brow, Ed jumps back in: “When you enter the house, you hit one button and the security system disarms. If it’s between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., background music comes on all over the house. If it’s after sunset, the lights will come on. It’s all adjustable, too—you can set whatever times or light levels or volume levels that you want.

“When you exit,” he continues, “the music goes off, the security system arms, the thermostat setting rises by 3 degrees, and the lights go off—but only after the security system stops beeping. It can even remind you if it’s trash day or warn you to bring a jacket because it’s cold out.”

“Let me drive,” I assert. I tap the lighting button and a list of lights in the house appears. I can turn on, dim, or extinguish any of them right from this little panel. I touch the audio button and am delighted to see a precise graphical representation of the UNO-S2 keypad from the Russound audio system—except for one difference. The touchscreen adds a zone button; I touch it and it lets me choose any room with an installed sound system. Thus, I have 100-percent control of sound everywhere in the house, all through the touchscreen.

---

HAI offers a variety of controls for rooms without a touchscreen. Lights can be adjusted through standard dimmer controls, selected through numbered buttons, or triggered as part of lighting scenes A through D. (Click here to enlarge)

---

Of course, you cannot simply mount a touchscreen in your wall and start controlling your entire home—you need to make your home controllable. Ed’s home uses two HAI thermostats (the system can handle as many as 64 separate heating/air conditioning zones), an HAI security system, and an HAI dimmer for every light (it controls up to 392 lights). Although it might seem as if installing a system like this is a huge hassle, I realize there’s almost nothing to it, especially if your home is already wired for security and sound. (In fact, Ed retrofitted his system; only the security was in place when he moved in.) Even the lighting is a piece of cake—just replace the existing switch or dimmer with an HAI dimmer, punch a few buttons to tell the system there’s a new dimmer in the line, and it’s done. Each dimmer can be operated directly or through the OmniPro II system.“That’s another great thing about it,” Ed adds. “It’s so simple to install and program that the homeowner can make changes themselves.” To demonstrate, he sets up a new lighting scheme by adjusting the dimmers in his foyer and living room, then punches a lighting scene button five times, and from that point on touching that button will resurrect the lighting scene he just created. “With a lot of home automation systems, you practically have to have the installer living in the guesthouse out by the pool,” Ken points out. “Not this one. It’s easy for the homeowner to set it up however they like.”

We spend the next couple of hours exploring the possibilities and benefits of the system. For example, it lets you control your home through your cell phone or the Internet from anywhere in the world, or use your phone to send a page through the house. It can even help cut your cooling and heating costs. There’s so much more than I can cover here, but my day in Las Vegas has certainly proved to me that building a home without an automation system like this simply doesn’t make sense anymore.

DESCRIPTION
Home automation system with optional touchscreen control. Controls lighting, security, heating/air conditioning, and Russound or NuVo multiroom audio systems.

CONNECTIONS
RJ-11 jack for phone connection, RJ-45 jack for Ethernet/Internet connection, three RJ-45 jacks for serial RS-232 interface with serial-controlled devices or other touchscreen systems, block connectors for interfacing with security sensors, thermostats, temperature sensors, etc.

DIMENSIONS/RESOLUTION
OmniTouch: 4.6 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches (hwd)
OmniPro II Controller: 13 x 13 x 4.5 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: OmniPro II $1,165; mounting cabinet $135; OmniTouch touchscreen $799 each; light dimmer $120 each; thermostat $149 each (prices do not include installation)
CONTACT: 800.229.7256, www.homeauto.com