A Guide to Complete Home Automation Systems

Adding intelligence to your house can be an intimidating enterprise, involving a multitude of disparate brands and devices, each addressing a different need—and each requiring a conduit to converse with one another.

Fortunately, there is a simpler way. Below we look at a few of the complete-package smart home automation systems that provide you with all the tech you need to smarten up your home.

Vivint

A starter kit for smart home automation with a simple to use interface, Vivint is a solid solution for anyone looking to add intelligent tech to their home. Vivint’s Home Automation package sets up users with a learning thermostat, two-way indoor cameras, smart locks, a doorbell camera and a garage door opener. Users can control their Vivint connected devices from anywhere in the world via Vivint’s bold, bright and user-friendly Smart Home app—or from its equally elegant and intuitive SkyControl Panel, a wall-mounted touchscreen dashboard that grants immediate access to all your home’s smart products. Other Vivint devices, like intelligent smoke alarms, or popular smart home products—like Philips Hue lightbulbs, Nest Learning Thermostats or Amazon Echos—can be easily incorporated within your Vivint system, at launch or further down the line.

Pricing for the Vivint Home Automation Package depends on the user’s home and required features.

Control4

For the completist who wants to wield absolute control over every connected device in their home, Control4 has you covered. Lights, locks, shades, home entertainment systems, room-to-room speakers—if it can be networked, Control4 will make sure you can access it from anywhere in the world. Better still, since every connected device in your home is funneled through Control4, you can easily "turn off" (lights, TV, lock doors, etc.) your home each evening with a single command, and just as easily "turn on" your home in the morning. And how you command your home is completely up to you. Control4 offers users myriad control options, each with a straightforward interface. Via the Control4 app, users can access their smart home devices from anywhere in the world, but Control4 also offers a number of intuitive in-home solutions including in-wall touch screens, tabletop touch screens, keypads, remotes or even complete voice control. Control4 isn’t just for the major smart home enthusiast either. Control4 specialists will meet with prospective buyers to determine exactly what type of products and control best suit their lifestyle and needs.

Savant

If fine design is equally important to you as exacting control, then Savant, the most luxurious of the complete package home automation solutions, is the smart smart home choice. Savant offers intuitive, easy-to-use control over all the core areas of an intelligent abode—whole home audio, home theater, lighting, climate and shades—and it looks good while doing it. Clean and crisp does not only describe the Savant smart home app—which can be accessed on multiple devices including smart watches—but also the company’s in-home control solutions, which include in-wall and tabletop touchscreens of various sizes, all-white knob and push button keypads and an all-powerful remote that will let you control every aspect of your home while looking decidedly better than your average universal remote. Of course, if the most luxurious thing you can imagine is the sound of your own voice, Savant can also be paired with Amazon’s Echo series of products to offer complete voice control.

Iris

Interested in an intelligent home, but unsure how complete you want the automation to be? Iris by Lowe’s understands. The DIY, modular smart home system lets users decide how deep they want to dive into the world of connected devices. Iris offers three starter kits that focus on different elements of a smart home—Security, Automation, Lighting—as well as a Pro Monitoring Kit which incorporates elements of the Security and Automation starter kits and 24/7 emergency dispatch. Users can start with, say, Security, and as they become comfortable with home automation, incorporate more Iris control elements and smart home devices from a variety of manufacturers. In addition to offering upgradable device control, Iris provides an optional Pro Monitoring plan ($14.95 a month) that provides 24/7 professional monitoring of your home that will automatically contact the appropriate authorities—be it you or the fire department—when any issues arise.

The Iris Lighting Pack is available for $94, the Iris Security Pack is available for $109, the Iris Automation Pack is available for $129 and the Iris Pro Monitoring Kit is available for $149. Additional Iris smart home devices (Wi-Fi switches, sensors, keypads, cameras, etc) can be purchased a la carte and range from $24 to $135.