A common, less-talked-about issue in luxury, custom and high mid-range American homes is where the power resides, how it’s managed and what happens if there is an outage. Into this vacuum steps the smart home systems integration professional to reset expectations and restore the balance so that work gets done, entertainment is enjoyed, access is enabled and a return to normalcy is provided.
Today, systems integration professionals work with licensed electrical and HVAC professionals to ensure home systems are supplied clean, consistent, protected power; back-up devices are in place for resilience; shading, lighting and access control devices are programmed to optimize energy usage; EVs are connected to home WIFI for efficient, cost-effective charging; solar is deployed in an integrated, cohesive manner and power over ethernet (POE) devices are strategically employed for better performing systems.
“The assumption of power is taken for granted,” said Jason McGraw, group vice president and show director, CEDIA Expo/CIX. “Systems integration professionals take nothing for granted but instead look at home systems comprehensively and holistically to ensure the best outcomes in terms of system performance, experiences delivered and efficiencies gained.”
CEDIA Expo/Commercial Integrator Expo is the annual gathering of American smart home systems integration professionals for residential and light commercial applications. The show typically draws more than 15,000 integration professionals including business owners (small to mid-sized, closely-held integration businesses serving regional communities), integration professionals (highly trained designers and technicians with the capacity to integrate disparate technologies into cohesive systems), global brands (Crestron, LG, Ring, Sonos and Sony) and emerging technologists (Josh.AI, Shelly), as well as architectural, design professionals and specialists from other residential disciplines. CEDIA Expo/CIX takes place in Denver this September.
McGraw and his team are responsible for ensuring the show remains the most important planning event in the calendar of American smart home systems integration pros. That means organizing and facilitating an extensive exhibit floor, an array of product demonstration rooms, keynotes and panel discussions, product trainings and a series of social events that bring the integration community together for networking, peer-to-peer information exchange and project collaboration.
At the upcoming CEDIA Expo/CIX, the following power categories will be addressed:
- Power Hygiene for Systems — Torus Power: toroidal isolation transformers delivering clean, noise-free power to AV and control systems; SurgeX: Advanced Series Mode surge elimination and EMI/RFI filtration protecting sensitive equipment from voltage fluctuations, transients and interference
- Backup Power for System — Monolithic Power Systems: integrated power management solutions for home systems; Tycon Systems (new exhibitor): POE infrastructure ensuring network-connected devices maintain power continuity
- Energy Banks for Homes — Shelly: smart energy meters, relays and sensors enabling real-time home energy monitoring and intelligent load management; integrates with Control4, Crestron, ELAN, Josh.AI and all major platforms
- Outdoor Power — Infratech: outdoor infrared heating systems, 50+ year pioneer in infrared technology for residential comfort heat, patio heating and outdoor living spaces
Power-related panels and training sessions at CEDIA Expo/CIX include the following:
- “Energy Management: Why Energy is the Real Issue Behind Smart Home System Issues” — Smart Stage, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.. This session reframes smart home system failures as power problems, covering power conditioning, battery storage for grid resilience and intelligent load management. This session is exclusively sponsored by Savant.
- “Lighting Workshop” — CEDIA Education Conference, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Covers the relationship between power and voltage in LED systems, new powering options for modern lighting installations and Luminaire Level Lighting Controls (LLLC), the emerging technology reshaping how integrators power and manage light at the fixture level.
- “Charged Up: EV Integration as the Next Smart Home Standard” — CEDIA Education Conference, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Presented by CEDIA Lifetime Achievement recipients Michael Heiss and Ken Erdman, this session covers EV charging integration and Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), the technology that turns a client’s parked EV into a whole-home backup power source during an outage.
“Context is critical to cohesive systems,” said McGraw. “Every element of the system — especially power — needs to work holistically together to deliver the experience. Homeowner experiences are contingent on whether power to the WIFI router is dropping out, whether power to the amp is clean, whether networked exercise equipment is continually rebooting, whether garage doors and electric locks operate, and whether webcams are on or off. These experiences are facilitated and curated by smart home systems integration professionals.”
CEDIA Expo/CIX returns to Denver from Tuesday, Sept. 1, to Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.
