AquaLit
Pool Care & Automation
One brain for the pool. We automate your pool, not your equipment brand — the controller is chosen around what you own and what you want next.
A pool automation controller is a central system that coordinates several pieces of equipment together — pump, heater or chiller, valves, pool and spa modes, lights, water features, sanitizer and chemistry — through one interface. It is not required for every smart pool. Plenty of pools are well served by individual smart equipment, each doing its own job.
A controller earns its cost when coordination is the actual problem: a pool and spa with automated valves, a heater, water features, several lighting zones and equipment from more than one manufacturer.
Our leading candidate for high-end installations with equipment from multiple manufacturers, because Poolside publishes integrations across a wide range of brands rather than a single ecosystem.
Best fit when your pad is genuinely mixed-brand, or when you want the freedom to choose future equipment on merit rather than on badge.
A centralized, expandable platform controlling multiple devices including pumps, lights and water features. The right answer when a customer already owns Pentair equipment or specifically wants a Pentair-centric pad.
Best fit when a property is already Jandy-heavy or the customer specifically wants Jandy. Where replacing the automation architecture creates no meaningful benefit, we work within what is there.
There is no single best controller. There is a best controller for your equipment, your goals and what you are likely to add next.
| Your situation | Usual recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed-brand equipment pad | Poolside Tech Attendant | Broadest published integration list; avoids ecosystem lock-in |
| Already Pentair-heavy | Pentair IntelliCenter | Native control of equipment you already own |
| Already Jandy-heavy | Jandy AquaLink | No benefit in replacing a working architecture |
| Two or three smart devices, no spa | Often no central controller | Individual equipment apps may cover it |
| Pool + spa, valves, features, chemistry | Central controller of some kind | Coordination is the actual requirement |
| Planning to replace equipment soon | Decide the controller first | It determines which equipment to buy |
This is where a bad sequence gets expensive. Choosing equipment before deciding the control architecture is the most common way owners end up buying twice.
Yes, and most real equipment pads are mixed already. What matters is whether your chosen controller can communicate with each piece. Open platforms publish integration lists; manufacturer ecosystems are strongest with their own equipment and vary in how well they handle everything else.
This is exactly why we ask about your long-term intent before installing anything major.
RS-485 is a wired communication standard used widely in pool equipment for devices to exchange data with a controller. It carries protocols such as Modbus. Practically, an RS-485 connection means a controller can do more than switch a device on and off — it can read status and send detailed commands.
A dry contact is a simple switch closure with no voltage of its own, used to trigger equipment that has no data connection. It is the fallback when a device cannot be integrated properly — you get on/off control, but not status or fine control.
If a company tells you a device is 'integrated' when it is really just on a dry contact, that is worth knowing before you pay for it.
Not automatically. If your current system does what you need and the equipment you plan to add can join it, replacing it is money spent for no gain. We replace an automation architecture when it genuinely blocks what you want to do — not because it is not the newest thing available.
With a central controller and equipment it can talk to, largely yes — that is the main reason people install one. Without it, you end up with a separate app per device, which works but rarely feels like automation.
Decide the control architecture before you replace major equipment. That single sequencing decision prevents the most expensive mistake we see — buying a heater or salt system this year that next year's controller cannot properly talk to.
For a genuinely mixed pad, an open platform is our leading recommendation. For a pad already dominated by Pentair or Jandy that works, staying put is usually the better financial answer, and we will tell you so.
Call or text for a free pool assessment. We look at the pool, the equipment already on your pad and how you actually use the backyard — then tell you what is worth doing and what is not.
Tell us what you have and how you use the pool. We'll walk the equipment pad, ask what you ultimately want controlled, and give you an honest recommendation — including the upgrades we'd skip.