How AirMate connects to your AC
No wiring and no new AC. AirMate talks to the air conditioner you already have the same way its remote does: with infrared. It watches the room with radar, decides on the device, and shows everything in your app.
Setup
The connection, step by step
- 01
Place it
Stick or screw the compact unit to the wall below or beside the AC’s indoor unit (or use its small stand on a shelf), 1–2 m high, facing the room. One AirMate per indoor unit; manage them all in the app.
- 02
Power it
Plug into any USB-C phone charger (5 V). Nothing is wired into the AC and no mains wiring is touched.
- 03
Join your Wi-Fi
The app finds AirMate and hands it your Wi-Fi details. Home Assistant users can adopt it directly.
- 04
Pick your AC
Choose the brand. AirMate sends a test command (“cool, 24 °C”) for each likely protocol until your AC beeps. No match? Point your own remote at AirMate and press a few buttons so it learns the codes.
- 05
Stay in sync
IR is one-way, so AirMate keeps track of the AC’s settings itself, listens for your own remote to stay in step, and watches the room temperature to spot a command the AC missed (then retries and tells you).
Connections
What talks to what
| Link | How | Details |
|---|---|---|
| AirMate → AC | Infrared, 38 kHz, the AC’s own remote protocol | Four wide-angle 940 nm LEDs behind a dark window. About 5–6 m straight ahead in our conservative calculation (more with typical parts); the AC’s receiver needs line of sight or a strong bounce. |
| Your remote → AirMate | Infrared receiver | Learns codes during setup, and notices when you use your remote so the app shows the right setting. |
| Room → AirMate | 24 GHz radar + temperature/humidity sensor | Moving and still people up to about 5 m, ±60°; ±0.1 °C and ±1 %RH typical. Processed on the device; no images, no audio. |
| AirMate → you | Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, Wi-Fi 6 chip) | The AirMate app, Home Assistant (local API) and, in production firmware, Matter: Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa and SmartThings through their Matter support. |
| When the internet is down | Rules run on the device | Presence, away delay, night mode and heat safety keep working without Wi-Fi or the cloud. |
Compatibility
Will it work with my AC?
Works with
- Split and mini-split (wall-mounted ductless) units, including each head of a multi-split
- Ceiling-cassette and floor-console ductless units with an IR remote
- Window and portable ACs with an IR remote
- Air-to-air heat pumps in heating mode (same remote codes)
Doesn’t work with
- Central ducted AC or furnace with a wall thermostat (no IR receiver: a smart thermostat is the right product)
- Units with only knobs, or RF / Wi-Fi-only remotes
- An AC in another room or with its receiver hidden behind furniture
Unsure about yours? Tell us the brand and model in the feedback section; it decides which brands we test first.
Multiple ACs
Multiple ACs and central control
A small AirMate goes on every AC, because infrared needs a clear view of that AC and presence is decided room by room. You manage all of them together in the AirMate app.
AirMate app
The control centre. An “All rooms” home screen shows every AC with its room, presence and temperature; one tap for all off, an eco temperature everywhere, or the same away delay and night rules for every room.
Main way to control · in the app prototype now
Home Assistant
Every AirMate also appears as its own AC with presence and temperature, for dashboards and house-wide automations.
Works with the prototype firmware
Matter
Each AirMate shows up in Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa or SmartThings; put them in rooms and say “turn off all the ACs”.
Planned for production firmware
Business dashboard
The app’s multi-building view: policies per room type, QR-code setup, run time per room and “AC not responding” alerts.
Planned, with business pilots
What it looks like
A 3-bedroom home with four split units
Four compact AirMates, one on the wall under each indoor unit, all in one app. Each room switches off when it empties; “All off” turns everything off at once.
A 40-room hotel
Forty AirMates in one app account with a guest-room policy. Each room handles its own presence; staff see which rooms are cooling and which units are not responding.
A multi-split system (one outdoor unit, several indoor heads)
One AirMate per indoor head, because each head has its own IR receiver and usually sits in its own room.
Central control, local decisions. Even when you control everything from the app, each AirMate runs its own rules on the device, so a room still switches off when it empties if the Wi-Fi or app is unavailable.
Try the All rooms screenQuestions about multiple ACs
Can one AirMate control several ACs?
Plan one AirMate per AC. Infrared needs a clear view of each AC’s receiver, and the radar decides whether its own room is empty. AirMate is small and costs less than a typical smart AC controller, so one per AC is the design. Two ACs in the same room are a special case: if they share a brand and code set, both follow the same commands; separate control of two ACs from one AirMate is not in the current firmware.
Can I control all my AirMates from one place?
Yes, in the AirMate app: its “All rooms” screen shows every AC and lets you turn them all off, set one eco temperature or apply the same rules everywhere (you can try this in the interactive app prototype). With the prototype firmware the same works in Home Assistant today; Matter support for Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings is planned.
What happens if the Wi-Fi or internet goes down?
Each AirMate keeps running its own rules on the device: away delay, night mode, never-auto-off and heat safety. A room still switches off when it empties. Central changes and reporting resume when the network is back.
Can I set one rule for every room?
Yes. In the app you can apply the same away delay, night mode and default temperature to every room, or set rules per room type for businesses, such as guest rooms, meeting rooms or classrooms, so settings copy across many units.
Does AirMate replace a building management system or VRF central controller?
No. AirMate is designed for buildings full of ductless, window and portable units that use IR remotes. Systems with wired central controllers (VRF/VRV, a building management system) already have central control; connecting AirMate data to them through an API is a later step.
How many AirMates can one account have?
There is no fixed limit in the design: each AirMate is a separate Wi-Fi device. For large sites the practical limit is Wi-Fi coverage and access-point capacity, which we will check during business pilots.
Use cases
Where AirMate helps
The same device and rules, set up differently for a home or a whole building.
Bedroom at night
The problem: You fall asleep with the AC on and get up early.
What AirMate does: Night mode treats a sleeping person as present and uses a 60-minute delay, so it never switches off on you; it turns off after you’ve left.
Night mode · heat safety
Home office
The problem: You step out for lunch or a school run and leave the AC cooling an empty room.
What AirMate does: Off after the room has been empty for your delay (15 minutes by default); back to your setting when you sit down again.
Away delay · welcome back
Living room, forgotten AC
The problem: Everyone heads out and nobody remembers the AC.
What AirMate does: It notices the room is empty and switches the AC off; you can also switch it from your phone on the way.
Away delay · app
Kids’ room or a baby
The problem: You never want the AC to go off while a child sleeps.
What AirMate does: One press of the button sets “Never auto-off”. Temperature and humidity still show on your phone.
Never auto-off
Parents living alone in the heat
The problem: An older parent switches the AC off to save money on a very hot day.
What AirMate does: Heat safety turns cooling back on when the room passes your safe maximum while someone is there, and can alert family.
Heat safety · alerts
Pets at home
The problem: The radar may not notice a small pet; you don’t want the AC off while they’re in.
What AirMate does: Use “Never auto-off” while pets are home, or a schedule; AirMate still reports the room temperature.
Never auto-off · schedules
Hotels and guest houses
The problem: Guests leave the AC running after checkout or all day while out.
What AirMate does: Each room switches off when empty and back on when the guest returns, without key-card wiring. A default “eco” temperature per room.
Pilot: a floor of rooms
Short-let and holiday homes
The problem: Hosts pay the electricity bill; guests leave ACs on in every room.
What AirMate does: One AirMate per room, group settings for the whole home, run-time per stay for the host.
Host bundles (multi-room)
Student housing, hostels and PGs
The problem: Shared rooms, many ACs, bills split between residents.
What AirMate does: Rooms cool only when occupied; run-time per room makes fair cost-sharing easier.
Operators in India and the Gulf
Offices, cabins and meeting rooms
The problem: Meeting rooms and cabins cool all day whether booked or not.
What AirMate does: Off when a room empties, on when people arrive; a weekday schedule as a fallback.
Facility managers
Schools and coaching centres
The problem: Classrooms empty at breaks, after hours and on weekends.
What AirMate does: Off when the class leaves; schedules for term time; heat safety while students are present.
Campus pilots
Clinics and waiting rooms (non-clinical spaces)
The problem: Waiting rooms and consulting rooms sit empty between sessions.
What AirMate does: Off between sessions, comfort when patients arrive. Not for clinical or temperature-critical rooms.
Small practices
Shops, salons and showrooms
The problem: Back rooms and fitting areas cool constantly.
What AirMate does: Off in empty back rooms; schedules for opening hours.
Owner-operators
Landlords and property managers
The problem: Furnished rentals and staff accommodation with many split units.
What AirMate does: A fleet dashboard (planned): default temperatures, empty-room shut-off, run-time and “AC not responding” alerts across buildings.
Portfolio pilots
AirMate is a comfort and energy controller, not a safety or medical device. We will publish energy-saving figures only once our beta has measured them.
For businesses
How a rollout works
Start small, measure, then scale across rooms and buildings.
- 1. Pilot5–20 rooms for 30 days. We help place units and choose settings; you see run-time before and after.
- 2. PoliciesPick default temperature, away delay and night rules per room type (guest room, meeting room, classroom).
- 3. Fleet setupScan a QR code on each unit to name the room and building; settings copy across.
- 4. ReportingRun-time, auto-offs and “AC not responding” alerts by room and building (planned dashboard).
- 5. ScaleVolume pricing and integration with building systems through Matter, Home Assistant or our API (planned).
Why now
- Room ACs are everywhere: most US homes use air conditioning, and India sells over ten million room ACs a year.
- In India every star-labelled room AC has shipped with a 24 °C default since 2020; AirMate can hold an eco setting while you’re in and switch off when you’re out.
- In the Gulf, cooling is most of summer electricity demand, so empty-room cooling is expensive.
- Matter now lets one device work with Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung homes.
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