The bar has been raised with AirTouch 5, a new controller with a stunning design and a range of industry first features to help homeowners monitor and save energy air conditioning their homes with ducted reverse cycle systems. Now able to fully offer integrated control of up to 16 ducted or VRF units and 16 zones, AirTouch 5 is an all-in-one climate controller that can also be a hub for other devices.
“For us it was never about just making a touch screen with WiFi capability to link to a phone app and calling it smart,” says Adam from AirTouch and Polyaire, “We decided to create a controller that adds value because it gives you the benefit of helping save energy air conditioning your home, and has the added bonus of looking fantastic on the wall, with an interface that makes sense straight away.”
AirTouch 5 offers Weather Adaption to adjust the air conditioning with the weather to help improve energy savings. It is even clever enough to realise when you don’t need to run the air conditioning based on your local weather and turns the system off for you automatically.
A clever feature for families is Energy Wastage Alerts, where AirTouch can detect if a door or window has been left open on a summer day because of a sudden rise in temperature and send an alert to your phone. And on those busy mornings when everyone needs to leave in a hurry, don’t worry about forgetting to turn the air conditioning off because with built in Geofencing, AirTouch can remind users that they are leaving home, and may want to turn off their system or turn it off automatically.
But probably the cleverest tools in AirTouch’s energy saving arsenal are the new Intelligent Temperature Sensors:
AirTouch takes zone control to the next level with the option for wireless temperature sensors that monitor the temperatures in each zone, and give AirTouch real time feedback so the system maintains the chosen set point and doesn’t waste conditioned air unnecessarily. “You wouldn’t have just one light switch for the entire house. We believe that air conditioning shouldn’t be any different,” says Adam, “Ultimately more sensors equals more savings, comfort and control of the home climate.”
AirTouch is a great option for multi-storey or VRF system installations because it is able to control up to 16 units, and the interface makes controlling them all easy from multiple consoles upstairs and downstairs, or any user’s Android or iOS phones with app control. “For an installer, it really doesn’t take any extra time to install because the AirTouch panel can be the main unit and zone controller.”
Another first is that AirTouch 5 offers a style to suit any home with a new theme selection tool. “We’ve built in the option for users to choose any interface theme they want for their controller.” Light, dark, any colour to work with your home’s décor is available, as well as the option to just have a beautiful photo or just upload a favourite family pic. “There is a style to suit anyone’s home.”
AirTouch 5 is ready for greater things, with the developers constantly adding more features available through software updates. Currently, AirTouch integrates with Zimi components, consisting of light switches, power points, ceiling fans, garage doors and more. With control on the AirTouch console and dedicated app, “Zimi lets you control your lights, power and garage doors from anywhere,” says Adam, “A lot of systems out there want to lead you down a path of gadgets that lock users into closed systems. We decided to challenge that with an open system which continuously improves, and that slots into how users want to use their chosen smart home automation products.”
The development team behind AirTouch 5 are very aware of the need for security. That is why it currently runs on Android and is a Google GMS Certified device. “We want users to be able to trust AirTouch to be the hub for home and lifestyle devices to do everything you need from one place,” Adam continues, “So quality programming, safety and security is important to us, right down to the privacy cover over the camera for use with things like video doorbells and intercoms.”
Setting a new standard, AirTouch 5 has raised the bar, and can integrate with most leading ducted reverse cycle air conditioning brands, so it can add value to almost any new or existing home.