Crestron Review

Wednesday, April 14th

2021 Home Automation Company Reviews

Crestron

• Cost: Starts at $10,000 and up

Crestron is not only a big name in the high-end home automation business, they're the biggest home automation company in the world. The company is based in New Jersey and was started over 40 years ago. Crestron provides home automation products and installation services in many countries across the globe.

Crestron's home automation system allows customers to have "scenes" programmed throughout their house. With the touch of a button on a touch screen keypad, iPod, iPad or web based Smartphone, a customer can change the environment, lighting or sound in a room by choosing a preprogrammed "scene". For example, when going to bed, a "Goodnight" button would potentially turn off the lights throughout a house, change the thermostats, shut the blinds, and more. An unlimited amount of "scenes" can be established on the Crestron system, and they can be customized to individual needs.

Crestron sells their home automation products through authorized dealers in local areas. We found a handful of dealers in the zip codes we sampled and weren't surprised with their presence given the number of years this company has been around. As with many home automation companies, pricing was not available on their website. This is because each Creston home automation system is custom-tailored to the homeowner's needs.

We searched for customer feedback on Crestron and found a common theme - that Crestron is hard to program. While the homeowner doesn't program the system (only authorized Crestron dealers program it), this can result in higher customization costs. However, the advantage with a wide-open system like Crestron is that it can be customized in almost any way you'd like. Some other systems have a boxed-in interface that can't be changed, or only expose certain automation options for the home. With Crestron, the sky's the limit as far as automation goes.

With the great flexibility that Crestron offers, comes a great responsibility on the part of the Crestron dealer. More than any other home automation system, you need to be sure the dealer you hire to automate your home is reputable and knows what they're doing. Of the complaints we found, almost all of them could be traced to the way the system was implemented, rather than with the Crestron system itself. When done correctly, Crestron is easily the most powerful and impressive home automation system available.

If you have a larger home, or desire a high level of automation, Crestron should be the first company you look at. With their high level of customization, industry knowledge, and global reach, they earn some of our highest marks.