Web Exclusive  

Smart Home

  • Ami Wright, director of residential programs for Crestron.

  • You can control virtually anything in your home that runs on electricity from one Crestron touchscreen.

  • The company takes into consideration how the design of the system fits into your home as well as how well it works.

The Pyng® app from Crestron allows you to easily control whole-home automation systems.

The flood of home technology products on the market might give you a sink-or-swim feeling about your ability to keep up. If it seems like everything that’s supposed to make your life easier is actually making it harder, you are the consumer that Crestron hopes to reach with its Pyng® app, which quickly and easily configures and controls whole-home automation systems.

“There’s so much out there right now,” says Ami Wright, director of residential programs for Crestron. “We take all of these technologies and put them on the same platform so it’s simpler to use and more reliable.”

The app allows you to control virtually anything that runs on electricity in your home from an easy-to-use touchscreen.

The system’s flexibility allows for customization. “We can tailor it to your needs,” Wright says. “You can even group things, say, to open the shades, turn on the coffeemaker and adjust the temperature with one touch. Or you can set it happen automatically at a certain time.

A Crestron dealer will come to your home to set up the system, which is designed to last a decade or more. It’s easy to upgrade the interfaces (rather than the equipment itself) or to make changes once you adjust to having it in your home or when your lifestyle changes, Wright adds.

The main systems include lighting control, climate control, motorized shades, audio, video and security. You also can control your coffeemaker, a fireplace, whirlpool, radiant heat, pool lights, pretty much anything that has power, Wright says. The system includes an “Away” mode and a “Vacation” setting that records how you’ve used your lights while you’re at home and makes the same thing happen when you’re away so it appears to a would-be thief that your home is occupied. “The settings can also be based on intelligence; for example, a dim light will come on in the middle of the night if a pressure pad indicates you’re getting out of bed,” Wright says. Another example: shades will adjust automatically based on how much sunlight is coming through a window.

Other features: the system is scalable so you can smart small and add features later, it can be installed in new homes or retrofitted into existing ones and you can add a layer of security with a passcode.