We get this call most weeks: someone’s bought a lovely older home in Camberwell or Brighton, there’s a glossy little touchscreen on the kitchen wall running the lights, and one day it stops responding. “Is this thing dead? What is it, even?” Nine times out of ten that screen is a C-Touch or Colour C-Touch — and understanding what it actually does (and doesn’t do) makes the difference between a stressful situation and a clear path forward.
So let’s clear up the whole family of C-Bus screens and controllers, because the names get muddled all the time. We’ll cover the old C-Touch units, where the Wiser controllers fit in, and how today’s eDLT touchscreen switch is a different animal entirely.
What the C-Touch and Colour C-Touch actually are
The C-Touch and later Colour C-Touch were wall-mounted touchscreens that Clipsal sold for years as the centrepiece of a C-Bus home. They did two jobs at once, and that’s the bit people forget.
- They were the user interface. Tap a button on the glass, the lights come on, the blinds go up, a scene fires. Nice and simple.
- They often ran the brains of the house. Many C-Touch screens held the home’s logic and scheduling — the “if this, then that” rules and the timers that turned the garden lights on at dusk. Before Wiser controllers existed, the C-Touch was frequently doing that job itself.
That second point matters enormously. On a lot of older Melbourne installs, the C-Touch isn’t just a pretty screen — it’s the device deciding what happens and when. Pull it off the wall and the buttons still work (the C-Bus switches on the network are independent), but any clever automation that lived inside the screen goes quiet.
Where Wiser comes in
The original Wiser 1 (the Wiser Home Controller) was the first device to bring proper app and web control to C-Bus. Suddenly you could drive your lights and scenes from a phone or a web browser rather than only from a wall screen. It became the home’s controller and scheduler, and the wall touchscreens became one more way to reach the same system.
The current generation is Wiser 2 — now branded as the SpaceLogic Home Controller under Schneider Electric. It does the same fundamental job as Wiser 1, but with a modern app, better scheduling, and far nicer integration with everything else in the home. This is the device we fit when a customer wants the slick “control my whole house from my phone” experience on a C-Bus system today.
The key mental model: the Wiser controller is the brains and the app. The wall devices are the touchpoints. If you want to understand the controller side in more detail, our Wiser help section walks through how it sits on the C-Bus network.
So what’s an eDLT then?
This is where the confusion peaks, because the eDLT also has a screen and it also lives on the wall. But it is not a home controller.
The eDLT is the current C-Bus touchscreen wall switch — the modern descendant of the old DLT (Dynamic Labelling Technology) switches. It’s an in-wall control and display device: a beautiful glass plate with a small screen showing labelled buttons, fitting into a standard wall plate position where an ordinary switch would go. You tap it to control lighting, scenes, fans and the like.
What the eDLT does not do is run your whole house. It doesn’t hold the master logic or do the heavy scheduling the way an old C-Touch might have. In a modern setup, the eDLT is the elegant input device and the Wiser controller is the brains behind it. So the old single “screen does everything” arrangement gets split into two clean roles: Wiser for the logic and app, eDLT for the touchpoint on the wall.
How the old screens are programmed (and why it matters)
Here’s a practical wrinkle for owners of older systems. The C-Touch and Colour C-Touch screens were programmed with their own dedicated legacy software, separate from the tools we use today. Modern C-Bus work runs through C-Bus Toolkit for the network and PICED for Wiser projects. The old C-Touch authoring software is a different workflow altogether.
What that means in real life:
- An integrator who’s only worked on recent Wiser systems may not have the legacy C-Touch software or experience to edit the old screen.
- The original project file for your C-Touch may have been left with the builder or the company that installed it years ago — and if that’s lost, reprogramming the existing screen gets difficult.
- The underlying C-Bus network (the pink cable, the relays, the dimmers, the Group Addresses) is the same standard regardless. It’s only the screen’s authoring that’s legacy.
For more on the modern side of things, our C-Bus programming overview explains the Toolkit and PICED workflow that drives today’s installs.
Can a C-Touch keep working alongside Wiser?
Yes — and on plenty of homes we look after, it does. The C-Touch can happily sit on the C-Bus network as just another control point, sending Lighting application commands like any switch. If you add a Wiser controller for app control, the two coexist on the same network.
The honest caveat: the modern, polished app experience comes from the Wiser controller, not the old screen. The C-Touch will keep doing what it always did, but it won’t get prettier or smarter just because there’s a Wiser in the rack. Many of our customers run it this way for years quite happily — old screen on the wall for muscle-memory button presses, Wiser app for everything else.
One thing worth checking with us: if the C-Touch is the device currently running your scheduling and logic, and you add a Wiser, you generally want that logic moved onto the Wiser so there aren’t two devices arguing about who’s in charge. That’s a tidy-up job, not a rip-out.
What if the C-Touch has died?
These are good old units but they’re not immortal — screens fade, touch layers stop registering, power supplies give up. When a legacy C-Touch fails, our customers realistically have a few options:
- Repair or like-for-like replacement. Sometimes a screen can be repaired or a compatible unit sourced. The trouble is availability — these are old products, and stock is genuinely scarce now.
- Move the logic onto a Wiser controller and add eDLT switches. This is the path we recommend most often. We take whatever logic and scheduling lived on the old screen, rebuild it on a modern Wiser 2 controller, and put eDLT touchscreen switches where you want wall control. You end up with app control, a clean modern interface, and no reliance on a discontinued screen.
- Replace the wall point with standard C-Bus switches. If you didn’t use the screen for much beyond a few buttons, sometimes a Saturn Zen, Neo or eDLT switch in that spot is all you need.
The short version
- C-Touch / Colour C-Touch: older wall touchscreens, often also ran the home’s logic and schedules. Legacy software to program.
- Wiser 1: first controller to bring app and web control to C-Bus.
- Wiser 2 / SpaceLogic Home Controller: the current brains-and-app device.
- eDLT: the current touchscreen wall switch — a control and display device, not the home controller.
You can read Clipsal’s own product information over at clipsal.com if you want to see the current range alongside this.
If you’ve got an ageing C-Touch on the wall and you’re wondering whether to repair it or step up to a Wiser controller with eDLT switches, that’s exactly the kind of thing we love sorting out for Melbourne homes — no pressure, just a straight answer about what your system is doing now and what your options are. Give the DUKE team a yell via our contact page and we’ll take a look.
— Adam and the DUKE Electrical Group team
Frequently asked questions
Will my lights still work if my old C-Touch screen dies?
Yes — the C-Bus switches and wall plates on your network work independently of the screen, so manual control usually continues. What can stop is any automation or scheduling that lived inside the C-Touch, because many older screens held the home’s logic. If your timed events stop firing, the logic was probably running on the screen and we’d move it onto a Wiser controller.
Is the eDLT a home controller like Wiser?
No. The eDLT is a touchscreen wall switch — an in-wall control and display device. It sends commands and shows labelled buttons, but it doesn’t run your whole home’s logic or app the way a Wiser 2 / SpaceLogic Home Controller does. In a modern setup the Wiser is the brains and the eDLT is the touchpoint on the wall.
Can I keep my C-Touch and add Wiser for app control?
Yes. The C-Touch can sit on the same C-Bus network as a Wiser controller and keep working as a control point. The modern app experience comes from the Wiser, not the old screen. If the C-Touch currently runs your scheduling, we’d move that logic onto the Wiser so the two aren’t both trying to control things.
Why can't my new installer just edit my old C-Touch?
C-Touch and Colour C-Touch screens use their own legacy authoring software, separate from today’s C-Bus Toolkit and PICED workflow. An installer focused on modern Wiser systems may not have that software or the original project file. The underlying C-Bus network is standard, though, so we can usually rebuild the functionality on a Wiser controller.
Should I repair my C-Touch or upgrade to Wiser and eDLT?
It depends on how much it does. If it was only running a few buttons, a like-for-like swap or a standard C-Bus switch may suffice. If it held real logic and scheduling, we usually recommend moving that onto a Wiser 2 controller and fitting eDLT switches — you get app control and a modern interface without relying on a discontinued screen.