Pool Heater Automation: What 'Smart Control' Actually Means by Brand (2026)

Quick answer

Only Raypak’s AVIA line has Wi-Fi built into the heater itself, controlled through the free Raymote app with no other hardware needed. Every other brand’s “smart” heater feature is actually a function of a separate whole-pool automation panel — Pentair IntelliCenter, Jandy’s AquaLink TCX (iAquaLink app, with Alexa/Google Assistant support), or Hayward’s OmniX gateway (about $250 on its own) — which controls the heater as one circuit alongside your pump, lights, and chlorinator, not a heater feature on its own. If you don’t already own one of those panels, a Hayward, Pentair, or Jandy heater by itself has no app control at all, no matter how new it is.

The mix-up buyers make: “smart heater” vs. “pool automation”

Shopping for a heater with app control feels like shopping for a smart thermostat — pick the model with Wi-Fi built in, done. That assumption only holds for one brand. Raypak’s AVIA is, per Raypak’s own site, “the first and only pool/spa heater with a built-in advanced Wi-Fi enabled control system,” meaning the heater itself talks to the Raymote app with no separate hub. Hayward, Pentair, and Jandy heaters don’t work that way: their app control lives in a whole-system automation panel — IntelliCenter, AquaLink TCX, or OmniX — that also runs the pump, lights, and chlorinator, and the heater only gets a screen icon because it’s wired into that panel as one of several circuits. Buy a brand-new Hayward or Pentair gas heater with no automation panel already on the pad, and you get exactly zero app control until you add one separately.

Automation systems by brand

Pentair’s older EasyTouch and IntelliTouch panels are both officially discontinued — IntelliTouch on July 31, 2023, EasyTouch on September 29, 2023 — and neither had integrated Wi-Fi; both needed a bolt-on ScreenLogic module just to get app access. IntelliCenter is Pentair’s current replacement and the only one with Wi-Fi and app control built into the panel itself, so if you’re evaluating a used pool’s existing automation or a contractor’s quote that mentions “EasyTouch,” confirm you’re not paying for app control that isn’t actually there without an extra part.

What you actually get for the money

Every one of these systems does the same core job: remote temperature set point, a heating schedule, and on/off control, plus real-time status alerts if something needs attention. Jandy’s iAquaLink adds Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands as a named feature (“Alexa, set the spa to 102 degrees”) — Pentair’s and Hayward’s current apps don’t advertise voice control the same way, so if that specifically matters, check the current app store listing rather than assuming feature parity across brands. None of the three panel-based systems let you control the heater without also buying into their pump/lights ecosystem — you can’t add just the heater-control piece of IntelliCenter or AquaLink the way you can with a standalone Raypak AVIA.

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What it costs to add automation later

A Hayward OmniX Gateway alone — the piece that connects existing OmniX-ready equipment to the app over Wi-Fi — runs about $250 at multiple retailers, the cheapest entry point on this list, but it only works if your pump, heater, or lights are already OmniX-compatible hardware. A full Pentair IntelliCenter load center or Jandy AquaLink TCX bundle, sized for a typical pool with pump, heater, and lights, is a bigger commitment: older forum-sourced installed quotes for IntelliCenter have run into the mid-thousands of dollars, and neither Pentair nor Jandy publishes list pricing for the bundled panel online, so get a firm quote from a local installer rather than budgeting off a single old number. If you’re weighing whether automation is worth it against a heater’s purchase price alone, our installation cost guide covers the rest of the equipment-pad line items a panel install typically adds.

The bottom line

If heater app control matters to you and you’re not buying into a full pool-automation system, Raypak’s AVIA is the only heater on the market that delivers it on its own — everyone else’s “smart” heater feature is borrowed from a separate panel that also runs your pump and lights. If you already have (or are planning to install) a Pentair, Jandy, or Hayward automation system, any compatible heater from that brand gets folded into it, so the heater-level Wi-Fi question stops mattering — pick the heater on BTU, efficiency, and price instead, using our pool heater pillar guide, and let the panel handle the app. Either way, confirm which specific panel generation you have (or are being quoted) before assuming app control is included, since Pentair’s older EasyTouch/IntelliTouch hardware needs an extra part to get it at all.

Sources: Raypak — AVIA pool heater with built-in Wi-Fi, Pentair — IntelliCenter pool automation hub, TroubleFreePool — Pentair automation systems reference, Jandy — AquaLink TCX smart pool controller, Hayward — OmniX smart pool automation, Hayward OmniX Gateway pricing