The Best Smart Home Upgrades for 2026
Haven’t Updated in a While? See What’s New
Has it been five or more years since you last updated your Kansas City smart home? If so, brands like Savant and Lutron have continued to evolve and improve.
Let’s take a look at the latest smart home upgrades, now available through your local integrator.
SEE ALSO: Your Home Deserves More Than Gadgets
“Daylight Mode” for Lighting & Shading
Scheduling smart lights and motorized shades is nothing new. But what is new is the ability to automatically change brightness and color temperature based on your home’s geo-coordinates.
Savant’s new “Daylight Mode” mirrors natural sunlight as it really appears outside, rather than running fixed scenes. As the sun sets earlier in winter and later in summer, your smart home responds accordingly.
Similarly, Lutron’s new Natural Light Optimization (NLO) technology adapts shade and blind positions based on the sun’s orientation. As the sun moves from east to west, your blinds and shades can tilt or lower to prevent glare, UV fading, and heat gain.
Room-to-Room Intercom Communication
What if you could tell the kids it’s time for dinner without having to shout upstairs?
Savant’s new Intercom feature offers whole-home paging throughout the house. With a tap of a button, you can communicate via in-wall touch panels or smartphone. And when you’re away, you can connect directly to Savant Intercom. So if someone isn’t answering their phone? You can dial right to the kitchen and speak with them.
Tunable Tape Lighting
Years ago, color-tunable smart lighting was mostly limited to bulbs and recessed lighting fixtures. Now, Lutron’s expanded Lumaris line includes RGB and tunable white tape lighting. You can fine-tune the hue and brightness of linear tape lights with all the sophistication of Lutron’s other smart fixtures.
A New, Polished Look
Savant’s current platform is SavantOS 11, which was released late 2024. Lutron’s HomeWorks QS control system was replaced by the more modern Lutron HomeWorks QSX, while its wireless RadioRA 3 system was updated in 2021. When you upgrade to the latest version, you’ll gain richer scene logic, energy insights, and sleeker dashboards that make it easier to navigate rooms and properties.
Upgrade Your Kansas City Home with Encore
We’re Kansas City, MO’s certified smart home integrator and an official dealer for Savant and Lutron. Contact us here to start your smart home upgrade today!
