About Us
The team at Chaparral Controls has been designing, installing and servicing electronic control and entertainment systems in homes since 1985. Early on it was pretty much just security and intercom systems that were available in the marketplace. In 1985 the advent of Home Automation began with systems that combined Zoned Temperature Control with Lighting Control & Security. In this category the Unity Systems Home Manager was far and away the most attractive product with its 15” Touchscreen. The idea of dividing a large home into multiple temperature zones for improved comfort and efficiency was revolutionary and we fully embraced the product. Our team installed many hundreds of these systems throughout the Bay area from 1985 through 1999. Since then we have continued to support them as best as possible in the Bay Area as well as throughout the country. (Unity Systems was sold in 1999 and the buyer seized sales and support of the product)
Today, control and entertainment systems are crucial in creating comfort, convenience and entertainment in homes and we continue to navigate the many manufacturers and products so as to be able to provide our clients the best in class solutions that best meet their needs.
PRODUCTS
Lighting Control
Most of us grew up in homes where each light switch controlled a specific light or group of lights. Those light switches never moved nor did their functionality every change. A lighting control system expands that capability so that any switch location can provide any control desired. A switch location can consist of a single function or several functions. For example a single switch location could consists of 4 actual buttons. Each of the four buttons could do anything you want. The top button could turn on an entire room and the bottom button could turn off the entire room off. Or it could turn off all the lights in the home. Other buttons could turn on fewer lights for a specific mood. This capability is common in new homes and can be implemented in existing homes. Scheduling capability exists and an optional App can be used as well
Temperature Control
It used to be that you had to go to each thermostat to tell it what to do. This is fairly straight forward in a smaller home with a single thermostat. But when you have a two story home or greater or have multiple temperature zones in a home this can become painful and inefficient. Getting operational control of all your thermostats onto your phone is attractive to most. A zoned temperature control system is one where multiple rooms served by a single heater/AC system are separately controlled with dampers. These systems allow for improved temperature control throughout the home as well as allowing for just heating and cooling those rooms you wish to. Regardless of the size of home or the number of temperature zones, an effective temperature control system can make it easier to operate.
Motorized Shades
Imagine being able to open or close your shades with a button push or from an App. How much more would you use your shades if they weren’t such a pain to open and close? The benefits are overwhelming. Motorized shades come in hundreds of available fabrics and are sized to fit your particular windows. They can be mounted inside the window or outside. The motors are super quiet and some manufacturers offer lifetime warranty. If a button push is too much, they can also be scheduled to open and close at particular times.
Multi Room Audio
If you are a music fan you can have music in all the rooms you desire. Select from all the popular streaming sources (Spotify, Pandora, etc) and turn it on to all the rooms you desire. Your App allows for easy source and volume control of each room. If those dinner parties on your afternoon deck are a little too quiet consider adding music to the area
Network
The behind the scenes, all important Network is the backbone of all the electronic systems in your home. Your ISP provider (comcast, AT&T, Starlink, etc) is focused on getting the internet to the side of your home but that’s pretty much where they leave it. Distributing the internet signal throughout your home necessitates a robust Network consisting of some combination of wired and wireless capabilities.
VINTAGE SYSTEM SUPPORT
Our team has grown up and evolved with the custom installation business. There are few things electronic installed in homes that we haven’t seen or understand. Some of the popular vintage systems that we installed and can help with include
Unity Systems Home Manager
- This popular home automation system was properly the first successful control system available. It provides zoned temperature control, lighting control (using an old X-10 technology) and Security/Fire Alam all in a single system operated from its 15” Touchscreen. Somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 systems were sold between 1985 and 1999 throughout the country through about 120 dedicated dealers. Support for these systems has virtually vanished but they can be occasionally serviced. And there are wonderful upgrade paths available.
This scaled down system was used strictly for temperature control in both large homes and small businesses. It was controlled through small black and white Touchpanels. Support for these systems has virtually vanished but they can be occasionally serviced. And there are wonderful upgrade paths available.
Talk to us
Have any questions? We are happy to discuss your particular situation and how we can help. Call us at 510 220-2370. We are based in the Bay Area of California and serve the entire country