Crestron Home Automation Systems: A review by Finite Solutions

If you’re working on a luxury smart home project, a Crestron Home Automation system is most likely to tick all of the boxes. It is worth reviewing the system if you’re ambitious about creating the best smart home experience for yourself or a client.

Crestron is a high-end luxury brand that brings a quality over quantity approach to smart homes. They have been in the industry for almost 50 years and with that comes years of refinement, aptitude and innovation. Crestron was working on audiovisual before home automation became so mainstream. Over the years they’ve evolved their offering into a full range of smart home possibilities.

The Crestron home automation system itself is highly complex and therefore requires an expert installer like Finite Solutions to properly install the home automation system. As a result of this complexity, more bespoke solutions are available when compared to Control4 or Savant for example. Crestron is designed to cater to any smart home requirements and is the best smart home system for custom setups no matter how specific or creative they may be.

Crestron is notably more expensive than other brands too but this is because of the better quality hardware on offer, making it an extremely powerful option for smart home projects. Due to its complexity and custom programming capabilities, it does mean that a Crestron home automation system can take longer to install than other systems.

Crestron Capabilities

Crestron is capable of managing a range of different home elements with ease, including but not limited to the following:

• Lighting control – Crestron has its own lighting system but is also compatible with a wide range of other lighting brands, such as Lutron. It is able to deliver simple or complex lighting sequences that tie in with other automation actions in the home.
• Shades – quick and easy control of shades in all homes and rooms.
• Heating – With the ability to see the temperature of a room at a glance, you can quickly heat up and cool down a room or switch off altogether to save energy.
• Audio – Multi-room audio that links to your chosen sound system and allows you to switch between different audio apps and players .
• Visual – access a wide range of TV, film and streaming services all from one system and see what is playing in every room.
• Security – the Crestron home automation system can be linked to security systems throughout the house including locks, doorbells and security cameras.
• Voice control – Crestron is able to be linked up to smart assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. You can use basic voice commands to initiate some sequences, but at this stage, the touch screen panels give you much more control over what happens in your home.
• Custom bespoke requirements – due to the complexity of the Crestron system, installers such as Finite Solutions are able to work with designers, project managers or homeowners to cater to very specific requirements.

Usability

Crestron home automation smart home systems allow homeowners to interact and control the home through touch screen wall panels, remote controls and iPads that are custom created.

Crestron has recently updated its operating system to Creston Home OS3. It works quickly and the interface is designed to be simple, to improve quality of life. Within the application, you can access quick actions or sequences, such as “Good Morning”, that will run preset combinations of different commands. The more advanced Crestron system is typically able to handle more commands than others.

Within the app, you’ll be able to access each room individually and get an overview of what is going on within that room, including current temperature, lighting and any audio that is playing. The rooms are conveniently organised by floors and the favourites tab, which makes for a simple and sensible navigation experience.

Scalability & Infrastructure

A single Crestron network is able to support up to 252 network devices. This combination of devices could include touch screen panels, lighting modules, network control modules etc.  This means that Crestron is ideal for small single rooms all the way up to multiple building campuses, making it great for any situation.

The system infrastructure is built to last, using military-grade connection equipment to ensure the system can stand the test of time and still deliver a smooth smart home experience. However, with almost 50 years in the home automation industry, Crestron understands that upgrades will be needed at some point during the life of the smart home. Luckily the system is built with allowance for upgrades whenever a user needs it. This also means that the system is expandable after installation.

Crestron Compatibility

Due to the nature of Crestron’s complex and highly customisable system, most 3rd party devices are able to be integrated into the smart home automation system, with a bit of work. Crestron also offers their own products such as shades, smart lighting, sensors, climate controls and more to facilitate system control. A lot of these products also come with lifetime warranties from the manufacturer.

As with the scalability, the compatibility is excellent. Crestron is open for integration with other systems, it just requires expert know-how to do so!

Pros and Cons

Like every smart home control system, there are advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Pros of Crestron Home Automation System

• Crestron Home interface is intuitive and easy to use
• Highly customisable system
• Integrates with a wide range of 3rd party products
• Crestron also provides its own product range
• Highly scalable
• Built to last with room for upgrades
• Designed for luxury

Cons of Crestron Home Automation System

• More expensive than other smart home systems
• Takes longer to install than other systems

Installation is key

Despite the excellent capabilities, the quality of a Crestron system will depend on the installation and whether it is configured correctly for the purpose for which it is intended. This, of course, relies on the capabilities of the installer. As certified Crestron programmers with over 15 years in the industry, Finite Solutions has the experience and expertise to successfully install a Crestron home automation system, integrate it with any additional devices and tailor it to your needs. The only limit now is your imagination!

Contact us for more information on how we can help you make your smart home project a reality.