★Journal
Twenty years of integration, written down.
Daniel Alon, founder of IntegrateIT, writing on residential AV integration. Control4, Crestron, Lutron HomeWorks. Long-term thinking, honest comparisons, and the patterns that show up after a few hundred installs. New piece every month or so.
- 9 min readStrategy
The 25-Year Home Tech Plan
A kitchen renovation in 2002 is still a kitchen today. A home automation system from 2002 is in a landfill. That asymmetry isn't inevitable — it's a design choice. Here's how I think about building integration that outlives the renovation cycle.
Read the piece - 12 min readComparison
Lutron HomeWorks vs Control4 Lighting — which is best for your home?
I install both. I sell both. I'll tell you which one to pick — and the answer depends on your house, not your budget. Here's the framework I use to recommend Lutron HomeWorks vs Control4 lighting for every project that walks in the door.
Read the piece - 8 min readMaintenance
Why most Control4 installs fail at year seven
There's a pattern. About year seven, the calls start. "My Control4 system is acting weird." 80% of the time it's one of two things — and both were preventable at install. Here's what they are and how we design around them now.
Read the piece - 15 min readComparison
Lutron vs Control4 vs Crestron — head-to-head from a dealer of all three
Three platforms, three philosophies, three different price points. I sell + program all three. The decision is almost never "which is best" — it's "which one fits this house, this budget, and this owner." Here's the framework.
Read the piece