EK Jung Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Hi everyone! I'm new to this community and excited to be a part of it. I'm currently looking to install a smart home system and am comparing options from different providers. I'm particularly interested in the lifespan and replacement period of the controllers. How long do C4 controllers typically last? I've heard they can last over 7 years, but I'd love to hear more experiences and insights from you all. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Controllers generally have 3 failure points. power supply the most prevalent, common of all electronics memory is rare typically age related network interface, usually from a surge I wouldn’t say they fail by percentage anymore than any other appliance/tech. Power conditioning/UPS and thermal management will certainly prolong their life. Historically they are surpassed by updated units with superior speed and abilities, that has been a roughly 7 year span, although I’d say that’s expanding to 10 or more as overall, pc tech itself has matured. Meaning newer processors performance is up to the tasks for much longer, and harder to surpass by new applications. Focus your choice on the longevity of the company and their saturation. It’s very hard for a startup to last today, Brilliant is a recent example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 7 hours ago, RAV said: Controllers generally have 3 failure points. power supply the most prevalent, common of all electronics memory is rare typically age related network interface, usually from a surge I wouldn’t say they fail by percentage anymore than any other appliance/tech. Power conditioning/UPS and thermal management will certainly prolong their life. Historically they are surpassed by updated units with superior speed and abilities, that has been a roughly 7 year span, although I’d say that’s expanding to 10 or more as overall, pc tech itself has matured. Meaning newer processors performance is up to the tasks for much longer, and harder to surpass by new applications. Focus your choice on the longevity of the company and their saturation. It’s very hard for a startup to last today, Brilliant is a recent example. This is an accurate summary. I have 18 or 20 Controllers across 2 homes. One home has had Control4 for 13 years and I have changed all of the Controllers in this home once (due to software enhancements that the old controllers could not handle). I don’t expect to change my controllers in this home for the next 4 or 5 years… so I am anticipating getting 9 or 10 years out of a controller for 2 consecutive periods. My second home is newer (6 years old) and none of my Controllers have been replaced although I added a CA10 when they came out 5 years ago and I added a Core5 more recently to give me extra audio capacity. Again, I don’t expect to replace any of my Controllers there for a good few years so I would expect to make 9 or 10 years on my first batch of controllers at this house. I have never had a controller failure at either home. Touchscreens I have changed more frequently and am on my third set of Touchscreens at my main residence (due to enhancements from V2 to T3 and then T3 to T4) in 13 years. I would hope there will be a T5 sometime in the next few years and I would probably upgrade again. At my beach house, half my Touchscreens are the original T3s and the other half are T4s where I opted to upgrade. In summary, touchscreens seem to last me around 5 or 6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 I'd concur with all the above overall. Controllers as such can easily last a decade and more - generally they live longer than they are supported in current software. Of course exact moment you buy it can influence that 'software' life cycle. But no longer being updated doesn't equal stop working - your system just can't get the latest secondary devices/software. I was just at a system that is running 1.7.4 just fine (only doing lighting and hvac) - and the system was installed at 1.6, and yes original controller, albeit power supply was changed once. 1.7.4 is 15 years ago... Lighting devices are still supported back to original release hardware, so 20 years including full software support. Amps and matrices same software wise, though some of the in between models had a much smaller 'physical' lifespan (literally today rebuilt a system on a current Core5 using the second gen amp and matrix though, that's an easy 12 years running) It's screens that have the shortest lifespan for upgrading software for sure (of Control4 'direct' devices) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4 Colorado User Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 I have had my C4 equipment since Sep 2015, so I had to replace Binary switch earlier in the year, C4 8 Zone Amplifier just stopped working today, and the C4 Audio Matrix I hade to replace the power supply a few months back. My installer now suggests a combined EPS Audio Matrix and Amp to get me another 10 years I hope. So my equipment has lasted 9 years….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBZICON Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 How long controllers "last" is a open ended question. My HC800 from 2014 still functions, however, Control4 no longer provides full functioning updates if you want the latest OS installed such as a HC-800 can support OS 3.2.1, but the onscreen Navigator no longer function. Similar to how Apple limits iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS to older devices. Agree with @South Africa C4 user and @Cyknight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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