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Friday, July 11th
Crestron presents home automation systems that transform your living space into a "simply smart" sanctuary. Offering a comprehensive solution, the intelligent platform enables centralized control of every aspect of your home, for better security, comfort, and convenience. It even claims to be a benefit to your overall health and wellness. Established in 1972, Crestron has earned acclaim for its award-winning designs, whole-house control, and cutting-edge technology in home automation systems.
Budgeting tool to get started
Tailored for the luxury residential market, Crestron's home automation systems offer a sleek interface, simplifying access to all aspects of home automation. Addressing previous complexities in programming, the interface makes installation and setup a much simpler process. Adding or modifying functionality in the future becomes a straightforward endeavor. To get started building your dream home automation system, you can view the home system products to get a better idea of what you're buying. Crestron also offers a budgeting tool to help you get a ballpark idea of costs for your specific home.
Complete package with upgrades over time
Dubbed an "OS for your home," Crestron Home delivers a state-of-the-art operating system. Beyond integrating proprietary components, it seamlessly incorporates your preferred devices and other specialized systems already in place. Covering lighting, shades, climate, home access, audio, and video, Crestron's home automation offers limitless possibilities. The control is consolidated into a single app on your phone or tablet, with the option to incorporate tabletop or wall-mounted screens in each room for effortless access. Exceptionally scalable and expandable, a Crestron network can support over 250 network devices. This scalability accommodates various features such as lighting modules, touchscreen panels, gateways, bridges, sensors, and more. The company promises seamless upgrades, staying abreast of technological advancements, and timely system updates.
Tailored system for each home
Instead of offering a "type” of system, every Crestron Home system undergoes customization to meet the unique needs of each homeowner. During a consultation, you discuss your automation preferences, resulting in a bespoke system. But, you can easily get a basic quote ahead of time through the online budgeting tool. During this process, we looked at the numbers for a house with average square footage (around 1900 sq ft). First, we priced out a home with the baseline features, and then went back through and checked the pricing on all the highest-end features. The price at Crestron for an average 1`900 sq ft home ranged from $33,000 to $1,00,000+. This includes things like automated window shades, hidden or automated electronics (like mirrored TVs or TVs that "open” from the wall), a house intercom system, and more.
Automate your health
An interesting feature of Crestron is the way the company highlights wellness regarding home automation technology. Tunable LED lights and automated shades can be configured to align with your body's natural daily rhythm, promoting your well-being and enhancing rejuvenating sleep. Crestron sound systems allow you to fill your living space with a variety of natural audio environments from preferred streaming services or audio sources. Speakers strategically positioned in "vertical gardens," (gardens on your walls) can bring the outdoor ambiance indoors, while Crestron shading solutions ensure the right amount of light enters for plant care. Well-positioned, dependable heating and cooling systems, in conjunction with Crestron Horizon smart thermostats, maintain the ideal thermal conditions. Crestron Home seamlessly integrates with the Delos Wellness platform, offering visibility into advanced smart water filtration and air purification solutions designed to clean household water better and allow you to monitor and filter the air within your home.
Could use more details for refunds or guarantees
Finding details about a satisfaction guarantee or a refund policy was extremely difficult. Most of the terms and conditions page is for vendors looking to resell Crestron materials to customers. After digging through the site, we tried customer service chat to get the answers. Unfortunately, we were told that information could only be shared via email. The company promised it would take under 24 hours to get us the details from a different department, but we never heard back. It seemed odd that it was so hard to find details about returns or how Crestron supports customers with this extremely expensive process, and it was disappointing that we couldn't find any more details.
Not a lot of buzz for Crestron
In terms of Crestron's reputation, the pre-purchase customer service experience with Crestron had some shortcomings. Blog reviews noted that while representatives may excel in knowledge and friendliness, reaching them can be challenging. Proactivity may be necessary to secure a quote, as delays were encountered in responses through channels like live chat. However, Crestron is owned by the parent company Geeks of Technology LLC., and this company had a top-notch "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau, supporting Crestron as a standup retailer. On the other hand, outside of some techie blogs, there aren't any third-party reviews for Crestron. Given how expensive the process is, it would be helpful to see more testimonials and third-party reviews.
Most robust technology integration
Despite these shortcomings, Crestron stands out as one of the most robust and comprehensive home automation solutions. Tailored for larger residences, it offers unparalleled control over lights, shades, music, video, thermostats, security, pool, scheduling, timers, and remote access. Customer feedback consistently highlights seamless integration, user-friendly interfaces, and ease of maintenance, making Crestron one of the top choices out there. For this reason, it gets 5 stars in our review and our top spot overall among today's options for home automation.
Just a few years ago, the idea of home automation was a futuristic dream, a vision of Jetsons-style technology that promised to simplify every aspect of home life. Fast forward to today, and we're living in a future that even George Jetson would marvel at, thanks to the advancements in home automation technologies.
With smartphones, smart appliances, and smart lights, you can basically automate your entire living space. Whether you're looking for a small efficiency upgrade or to restructure your whole home into an automated utopia, there's an option out there for you. Modern home automation systems go beyond merely securing your home; they now encompass a wide array of functions, from ensuring your home's safety to providing entertainment - and much more in between.
A basic home automation setup typically includes features like a doorbell intercom and camera, smart lights, smart thermostats, motion detectors, sensors for doors and windows, as well as monitoring for smoke and carbon monoxide. For those with a more flexible budget, seeking a provider that integrates entertainment and environmental controls for television, music, lighting, and temperature is a wise move.
While a handful of providers offer do-it-yourself options, (and some of them even require coding knowledge for the very industrious DIYers) most home automation services are delivered through professional dealers. These experts conduct thorough assessments of your home's requirements, then proceed to design, build, and install a customized system.
A reputable professional home automation vendor usually responds within a week of your inquiry, providing a comprehensive price estimate. Many providers go the extra mile by visiting your home for a visual inspection and measurements for precision system installation.
The time required for installation and configuration can vary significantly. For straightforward systems, installation might take just a few days. On the other hand, more complex setups could extend to a month or more. It's essential to be aware that advanced systems might necessitate modifications to walls, floors, and ceilings to accommodate the mounting of equipment and wiring.
If you're feeling overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start, don't worry. When looking for home automation solutions, here are some factors to consider:
To help you make your house your dream home, Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best Home Automation solutions available today. We hope to help you find the right home automation system so you can start enjoying your new futuristic home life that's even better than a sci-fi dream!
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