Staples' Easy Button Hacked for Home Automation
By Steven Castle
Family achieves one-button simplicity thanks to Staples' Easy Button.

That was easy. At least it is for the homeowners of a 10,000-square-foot Baltimore townhouse and a summer island home. They have a one-button solution to turning on home electronics in each of their houses. And ta-da: it’s a Staples’ Easy Button.

When they press an Easy Button in either residence, the lighting and audio/video systems in the family room come to life. In the townhouse, the lights dim, the motorized shades lower to cut the glare from the nearby harbor, the TV comes on to show a menu from the Kaleidescape media server, and a Frank Sinatra concert plays over the TV and speakers.



In the summer home, the lights dim and the TV comes on to a favorite cable station. When they want to turn the systems off, they just hit the Easy Button a second time.

That was easy, indeed. “The homeowner requested a simple one-button solution to manage the system, so we purchased an Easy Button at Staples and replaced its internal circuitry with a Lutron HR-VCTX [visor control module],” says Jeff Hudkins, manager of home systems contractor Gramophone in Timonium, Md.

Let's Start with the Button
A custom electronics pro made control of this Maryland home really easy. Here’s the recipe: Take one Staples Easy Button and one Lutron HR-VCTX visor control transmitter.

One Button, Many Tasks
The Easy Button in the living room of the main residence dims the lights, lowers the shades and plays a Frank Sinatra concert over the TV and speakers.

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