Home automation systems have become mandatory for houses; they are no longer the luxury items they were a few years ago.
Smart homes make lights, air conditioning, A/V, shades, and curtains simpler control while also saving energy and offering many other options.
In recent years, a smart home business has increased and become more popular after new big players, such as Google and Amazon, entered the market.
For commercial automation projects, such as hotels, shopping malls, and hospitals, smart systems have been a basic requirement for many years.
However, the questions remain: which system or brand should I use in my project, and what products should I select?
This question scan is answered by considering the following: project type, project condition, controlled systems, client needs, and budget.
Project Type: Is your project a big house, small apartment, hotel, office, mall, restaurant, or something else? For big houses and other commercial projects, a wired system is recommended, while for small projects, you can go for a wireless system.
Project Condition: Is the project under construction or already built? Can wiring be done in some areas, or would additional wiring be impossible? Knowing these conditions will help you select between a wired or wireless system or a mix of both.
Controlled systems: What is the most important system you want to control? Lights, climate, audio/video, curtains, security, energy savings, or others?
Client needs: Some clients care about audio, while others are more focused on saving energy. You need to know your client's priorities in order to select the right system.
Budget: It is important to know what the project budget for automation is in order to select brands, as some products are more expensive than other products that are very similar.
By following the above, you can determine the best system for your purposes. Per our research of more than 50 of smart home brands, we found few brands that offer a full range of products, including wired and wireless options that can cover the needs of almost any project. Our review only includes these brands that provide broad coverage. We do not include those that only offer small projects or one-room solutions systems, such as Google Nest or other wireless products, nor do we include manufacturers that only specialize in one solution, such as lights control by Clipsal or Lutron or A/V control by Elan.
Among other large, quality brands such as Legrand, Philips Dynalite, and other KNX manufacturers, we found that Crestron, Control4, and TIS Control are leading in different aspects of automation, so we have done a comparison of them in order to give installers an idea of how to select the best system for their customers and to which other brands that we did not cover in this list can be compared.
We cover each system separately so that you can see the strength of each brand per system compared to others.
Lights Control: By comparing all controller's range of Relay and dimmers type, 0-10V, DALI , DMX, KNX, wired and Wireless panels and controllers, it shows, TIS is leading followed by Crestron then Control4.
Climate, Air Conditioning Control: By comparing all wired and wireless thermostats, HVAC, Mimi split, VRF, TRV, and 0-10V condoling system,. Its hows, TIS is leading for climate/AC followed by Crestron, and then Control4.
Binds, Shades, and Motorization: By comparing all motors and integration ability it shows, Creston is leading in motorization, followed by Control4 and TIS.
Sensors and Inputs: By comparing all types of wired and wireless sensors as PIR, Lux, ultrasonic, Noise, air quality, and others, it shows, Crestron and TIS are leading in sensors technology, followed by Control4.
Audio/Video:By comparing Audio players, integration to 3rd party, streaming ability, IR and rs232 , rs485 , Infrared, remotes and Matrix technology it shows, Control4 and Crestronare leading in A/V control, followed by TIS.
Security Locks and Door Phone Systems: By Comparing intercom, access control, security system, and integration it shows, Crestron is leading in security and door phone systems, followed by Control4, and then TIS.
Commercial Projects, BMS, and Others: By comparing Hotel GRMS system, BMS Protocol such as Modbus, BACnet, LonWorks, KNX, Energy metering, and integration it shows, TIS is leading in Commercial BMS integration projects, followed by Crestron, and then Control4.
Cost: Depending on which features you choose, pricing can be anywhere from 800 USD to more than 40,000 USD. Control 4 prices vary based on the customer. TIS have almost half the price of Control4, Crestron is a relatively expensive system. Price starts from around 1700 USD and can be more than 150,000USD.
Summary
From these comparison charts, we hope you can see that each brand has strengths in different fields; accordingly, you can select the one that is best suited to your priorities. However, remember that integration between these 3 brands can also provide an additional value. For example, if you need complete home automation and select the best of each, you can use TIS for lights, air conditioning, sensors, and energy savings and Control4 or Crestron for A/V, and then you can integrate both systems, giving you the best option for complete control and savings.
