Hayward Bets Big on Decentralized Automation With OmniX

For decades, pool automation has largely meant one thing: a centralized control panel mounted at the equipment pad, wired to pumps, heaters, lights and everything else it is expected to manage. These systems can provide extensive control, particularly on complex projects, but they also require homeowners to commit to the panel, electrical work and installation costs upfront.

Hayward is betting the next generation will look different. With OmniX, intelligence is built directly into individual pieces of equipment, allowing a pool to become connected without requiring a traditional automation panel from the outset.

Ryan Morson, Vice President of Sales and Technical Excellence at Hayward Holdings, described the platform as a way to lower the barrier to automation for builders, service companies and homeowners.

“I kind of think of it as three different buckets,” Morson explained. “I think about builders, servicers and homeowners, and the value proposition is a little bit different for each.”

For builders, that starts with an easier upsell. Smartphone control can be offered without requiring the customer to purchase a centralized panel, hire an electrician to install it and surrender additional wall space at the equipment pad. OmniX keeps the existing equipment footprint while adding automation at the product level.

Wireless pairing, app-based configuration and a simpler commissioning process also make the handoff less cumbersome. Instead of explaining a separate control system after construction, the builder can train the homeowner through the same interface used to operate the connected equipment.

The lower upfront cost naturally raises another question: How does OmniX change the total cost of ownership for someone adopting smart pool automation for the first time?

“It doesn’t—we’re not increasing price to include OmniX,” Morson said. “We’re including it, and you can opt to use it or not. But ultimately, who wouldn’t use it?”

As OmniX expands across Hayward’s equipment catalog, homeowners can gain automation without paying for a separate centralized controller and its installation. That does not make OmniX a direct replacement for every existing automation platform. At least not yet. But it does move connected control into a much broader section of the market.

Automation, One Replacement at a Time

The service side may be where decentralized automation becomes most consequential. With the optional OmniX gateway connecting equipment to the internet, pool professionals can remotely view and adjust a customer’s system and potentially solve programming problems without sending a technician to the property.

Compatible legacy Hayward equipment can also be brought into the OmniX ecosystem without replacing the entire unit. Morson gave an example of what that retrofit process looks like in the field.

“To update an XE pump, for example, or one of our legacy full-featured variable-speed pumps, we’re talking five minutes or less,” Morson said. “You remove a little back plate on the back of the pump, connect the OmniX retrofit module, and you’re up and running within minutes. It’s equally easy to upgrade our full-featured gas heaters as well.”

The larger opportunity is not simply retrofitting existing equipment. It is changing the replacement cycle itself.

“My personal favorite thing about OmniX is it really enables a servicer to fully automate a pad one piece of equipment at a time,” Morson said. “I think of it as a natural stair step.”

When a pump reaches the end of its service life, it can be replaced with an OmniX-enabled Hayward pump. If the heater fails 18 months later, an OmniX-enabled heater can take its place. Lighting, salt systems and other components can follow as they are replaced. The homeowner does not have to tear out functioning equipment or swallow the cost of converting the entire pad in one shot.

Over time, the pad becomes automated through the normal rhythm of repair and replacement. For service companies, that turns what was once a large, occasional automation sale into an equipment-by-equipment conversation that can continue across the life of the pool.

For homeowners, the result is an app-based interface through which they can schedule pump speeds, monitor water temperature, and adjust operating times. More importantly, it gives customers who previously considered automation too expensive a practical way into the category.

Summarizing, Morson explained the main takeaway for builders and service companies looking to communicate the value of OmniX to their customers.

“OmniX really makes the pool easier to operate, more convenient to manage and more energy efficient without requiring homeowners to update, upgrade and replace all their equipment at once,” he said.

Where OmniX Fits Today

OmniX is currently best suited to straightforward, lower-complexity pools built around a variable-speed pump, heater and light. For existing pools, Morson said virtually any pool without centralized automation is a potential candidate, particularly when compatible Hayward pumps or heaters are already installed.

Every Hayward variable-speed pump now has OmniX built into its user interface, according to Morson, and the company’s gas heaters also include the platform. Lighting and salt are next on the near-term roadmap, with additional equipment categories expected to follow.

“Now that we have the app infrastructure and ecosystem built out, it’s going to be very easy,” Morson said. “You’ll start seeing more and more OmniX-enabled equipment rapidly being launched as time goes on.”

That expanding ecosystem changes the sales conversation in both new construction and the aftermarket. A builder can offer app control at a lower entry price. A service company can sell connected replacement equipment and provide remote support. The homeowner can enter the ecosystem with one product rather than buying a full automation package on day one.

There are still clear limits. Pools with multiple bodies of water, extensive lighting, numerous relays, fire features, water features and broader backyard integrations remain better candidates for Hayward’s OmniLogic or OmniPL platforms. OmniX is not being positioned as a full-blown answer for every high-complexity project today.

That raises the uncomfortable question that follows any lower-cost technology with room to grow: If OmniX continues adding capability, does it eventually cannibalize Hayward’s centralized automation business?

“It most likely will over time as we have more and more equipment that’s OmniX-capable and OmniX-compatible,” Morson said. “Our goal and mission is to increase the addressable market, lower the barrier for our homeowners and our customers and our trade partners to automation.”

It was a notably direct answer. Hayward is not pretending decentralized control will remain neatly confined to entry-level pools while centralized platforms continue untouched. The company expects the line to move as more equipment joins the ecosystem and product-level intelligence becomes capable of handling more of the pad.

Early feedback has reinforced the economic case. Morson said the most common—and to him, most unexpected—response from adopters and distributors concerned the savings achieved by eliminating the installation and wiring of a centralized panel. Depending on the project, those savings can be substantial. The smaller physical footprint is another benefit on equipment pads where wall space is already scarce.

But the larger bet is not merely that OmniX costs less. It is that decentralized automation is where this sector of the industry is headed.

“I personally believe over time the future of pool equipment is going to become more and more decentralized,” Morson said. “We know lowering that barrier to entry and making automated systems more affordable and addressable to our customers, our homeowners and our trade partners is going to do good things for the industry overall.”

That is the real premise behind OmniX. The centralized panel is no longer the only doorway into automation. Intelligence can arrive with the pump, expand with the heater, and continue across the pad as equipment is upgraded. The transition will not happen overnight, and complex projects will continue to need more robust centralized control. Still, Hayward has made its direction fairly plain: the future of pool automation will be built into the equipment, connected piece by piece.

Ready to take a deeper dive?

Listen to our full conversation with Ryan Morson on the Pool Magazine Podcast for more insight into OmniX, Hayward’s move toward decentralized automation and what the expanding platform could mean for builders, service professionals and pool owners.