Lutron iPad app controls shades, lights, temperature and more

Home automation makes yet another footprint on the iPad with Lutron’s upcoming iPad app, which controls lights, shades, temperature and appliances.

You already read the morning paper on your iPad, write e-mails to friends, and watch movies on Netflix. Now, you can dim the lights, draw the shades and turn on the TV, too. Joining the likes of other home automation companies like Control4 and Crestron, Lutron has announced it will release an iPad app that gives homeowners full control of their homes from a tablet interface.

Obviously, you’ll need to have already dropped a few grand into custom-installed Lutron fixtures to partake, but for those with the requisite goods, the iPad app will eliminate the need for custom keypads and PCs for programming. According to Lutron, the app will allow full control of lights, shades, temperature and appliances. It will also function away from home, control multiple systems from one iPad, adjust energy-saving preferences, modify time clock events, and edit scenes.

For the moment, it will only work with homes using RadioRA 2, a control system Lutron introduced last year. The app will appear in the App Store this December.