I get asked about smart home tech on basically every project now. Five years ago it was a novelty. In 2026, on a $2M+ luxury custom home, it is part of the build the way HVAC and electrical are part of the build.
Here are the five smart home systems I install on every luxury custom home in Teton Valley, Eastern Idaho, and Jackson Hole — and the ones I tell clients to skip.
1. Lutron lighting — the only one I trust
If you are wiring a smart home in 2026, start with Lutron. RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks. Not Z-Wave, not WiFi switches, not the cheap stuff at the big box store. Lutron is what every other system is judged against, and it is what works five years in when the rest of the smart home is on its third firmware update.
Why it matters: a $3M house with $40 dimmers is the most common false economy I see. The dimmers fail, the WiFi-based scenes glitch, and the whole “smart house” experience falls apart on the thing the owner touches 50 times a day.
Lutron also just released their Natural Light feature in 2025 — automatic circadian dimming that follows the sun. We are installing it on every new build. Owners notice the difference within a week.
2. Josh.ai for whole-home voice and AV control
The luxury alternative to Alexa or Google Home. Josh.ai handles voice control of lighting, shades, audio, video, security, climate, and pool/spa from a single interface. It is privacy-respecting (does not stream every utterance to a cloud), faster than the consumer options, and integrates natively with Lutron, Sonos, Control4, and most major shade systems.
Honest take: Josh costs about 5x what Alexa costs. On a sub-$1M home it does not pencil. On a $2M+ home it does — because the owners are spending serious money on every other finish and the smart home experience needs to match.
3. A real energy management system, not just solar
“Smart home” used to mean lights and thermostats. In 2026 it means energy. Every Teton Valley client of mine is now asking how to handle a 3-day power outage in February. The answer is a combined system:
- Solar array sized to actual usage (not the salesperson’s upsell)
- Tesla Powerwall 3 or Franklin Home Power for battery storage
- Whole-house generator (propane, auto-transfer) as backup-to-the-backup
- An energy management dashboard the owner can actually read
The Powerwall 3 is the new standard — it has the inverter built in, so a single unit can run essential loads (well pump, fridge, internet, a few outlets) for 12+ hours without the generator kicking on.
4. Hardwired security cameras with an actual NVR
Skip the WiFi cameras. Skip the doorbell cam that emails you every time a leaf moves. On a luxury custom home you want PoE (power-over-ethernet) cameras hardwired back to a network video recorder in a closet. Hikvision Acusense, Axis, or Ubiquiti UniFi Protect.
Reasons: better resolution, no cloud subscription forever, no batteries to replace, encrypted, and the recording lives on your own NVR — not someone else’s server. For Teton Valley vacation homes that sit empty in shoulder season, this is non-negotiable.
5. Climate zoning that is actually zoned
I see five-zone HVAC labels on plans where there are really two physical zones doing the work. That is not zoning — that is theater. Real climate zoning in 2026 means:
- Separate physical zones for the great room, primary suite, secondary bedrooms, and lower level
- Variable-speed equipment (not single-stage)
- A smart thermostat per zone (Ecobee Premium or Mitsubishi’s integrated control)
- Connection to the rest of the smart home so “Movie Night” actually drops the great room temp without you noticing
What I tell clients to skip
- Smart fridges. The screens fail before the compressor does. Buy a great fridge, skip the screen.
- Anything WiFi-only that controls a critical system. WiFi goes down. The garage door, the front door, and the heat should not.
- Voice-controlled faucets and toilets. They will fail at the worst possible moment. Use a real plumbing fixture.
- Subscription “smart home” platforms. If the company goes under, your house gets dumber. Stick with brands that have been around for 20+ years.
Designing for the system, not bolting it on
The single biggest mistake I see is owners who try to add this stuff after framing. By then, all the conduit, low-voltage wiring, and equipment closet space is already designed around the “dumb” version of the house.
If smart home is on your list, get it locked into the plan during design and pre-construction, not on a change order in Stage 4. The cost difference is 3–5x.
If you want to talk through what makes sense for your specific build, I do a 30-minute planning call where we walk through your plans and pick the systems that actually pencil. Book a call here.
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