Moving a home from Savant to Crestron means replacing the Savant host, remotes, and any Savant-specific AV matrix hardware, while structured wiring, speakers, displays, and most cameras carry forward unchanged. Lutron lighting and shades do not convert automatically either — they get re-paired into the new Crestron Home system through a fresh pairing process, because Lutron processor pairings are tied to the specific control processor they were set up on. Programming itself is rebuilt from scratch on the Crestron side rather than translated, since the two platforms don't share a program file format. Expect a staged cutover with real but manageable downtime per room, not a single all-at-once blackout.
This is useful to know before a homeowner calls an integrator, because it changes what gets asked for in a quote and what to protect before demo day.
What actually carries over from the old system?
The low-voltage backbone is usually the biggest asset in the house, and it's the part that survives a platform change intact. Cresnet wiring, in-wall keypad wiring, speaker wiring, and the Cat6/fiber runs that feed displays and access points generally reuse as-is under Crestron, the same way they reuse in a straight 3-Series to 4-Series migration. Displays, in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, and most IP cameras are vendor-neutral endpoints — they don't care which brain is driving them, so there's rarely a reason to replace them just because the control platform changed. Confirm the specifics for your exact camera and display models with your integrator before assuming full compatibility.
Lutron lighting and shading hardware also carries forward physically. Lutron HomeWorks QS, HomeWorks QSX, RadioRA 2, RadioRA 3, and RA2 Select systems can all be integrated into a Crestron Home system to control lights, shades, and fans, so if the house already runs one of these, the keypads, dimmers, and shade motors stay exactly where they are. What changes is the handshake: Crestron's own documentation describes a discovery-and-pairing process where the Crestron Home processor and the Lutron processor exchange a unique certificate during setup, and notes specifically that "RadioRA3, HomeWorks QSX, and RA2 Select processors and their configurations cannot migrate to a different Crestron Home processor" — if the system is migrated, "the Lutron system must be paired and reconfigured," per Pair and Configure a Lutron System with a Crestron Home System. In practice this means the Lutron side of the house is a re-pairing job, not a rip-and-replace job, which is one of the more forgiving parts of a Savant-to-Crestron conversion.
What gets replaced, and why can't it just convert?
Anything that is Savant-proprietary — the Savant host processor, Savant remotes, and any Savant-branded audio/video switching hardware — has no Crestron equivalent and gets swapped out as part of the conversion. On the Crestron side, that distribution role is typically assumed by a 4-Series control processor (CP4-R, MC4-R, or DIN-AP4-R depending on scale) paired with DM NVX for video and DM NAX for audio, replacing a legacy matrix switcher with encoders and decoders that run over the home's existing 1Gb network rather than proprietary cabling.
DM NVX is Crestron's AV-over-IP platform: encoders and decoders transport 4K60 4:4:4 video with HDR10 support over standard Gigabit Ethernet rather than a dedicated matrix switcher — see the DM-NVX-351 product documentation for the full feature set (that particular model is a discontinued earlier-generation unit, so a new conversion should be speced against Crestron's current NVX lineup rather than copied from an old parts list — ask your integrator which current-generation encoders and decoders they recommend). DM NAX handles the audio equivalent: Crestron describes it as an audio-over-IP platform built on AES67 standards that "takes audio distribution to a whole new level by putting it onto the network," pulling local sources and streaming services onto the same managed Ethernet infrastructure rather than a dedicated audio matrix. Network design for DM NAX has its own rules worth asking your integrator about directly — Crestron's Audio-over-IP Network Design guidance calls for non-blocking Layer 3 switches with IGMP snooping and an IGMP querier enabled, since DM NAX traffic is multicast by design and unmanaged multicast can flood every port on a switch.
There is no supported path to take a Savant program and convert it into a Crestron SIMPL or Crestron Home configuration — the platforms don't share an underlying program format, so Crestron programmers rebuild scene logic, keypad behavior, and room-by-room automation from the ground up based on how the house is actually used today. That's also the point at which it's worth deciding whether to run Crestron Home OS or a fully custom SIMPL build, a decision our Crestron upgrade page covers in more detail for 3-Series migrations and that applies the same way here.
What should a homeowner gather before demo day?
Ask your current Savant dealer (or the installer who inherited the system) for a full device inventory before any hardware comes out: every Savant host, remote, matrix input/output, and Lutron processor model and firmware version. If the home runs Lutron, confirm which processor family is installed — HomeWorks QSX, HomeWorks QS, RadioRA 3, or RA2 Select — since the pairing and import process has different steps for each. Document existing network topology too, since DM NAX and DM NVX traffic both need to sit on a managed switch with IGMP snooping enabled rather than a flat consumer network.
How long does a conversion realistically take, and what's the downtime?
A Savant-to-Crestron conversion is not a single-evening swap. A staged approach — processors and matrix gear swapped in the rack, Lutron re-paired, and each room brought back online and tested before moving to the next — keeps most of the house usable while the rest finishes. Ask your integrator for a room-by-room schedule rather than a single completion date.
Cave Group designs and executes these conversions as part of its Crestron Elite Gold practice, working from the existing wiring and Lutron hardware already in the house rather than assuming a gut renovation.
Frequently asked questions
Does my Lutron lighting system need to be replaced when I switch from Savant to Crestron?
No. Lutron HomeWorks QSX, HomeWorks QS, RadioRA 3, and RA2 Select hardware stays in place; it gets re-paired to the new Crestron Home processor through Crestron's discovery-and-pairing process rather than replaced.
Can my Savant programming be converted into Crestron programming automatically?
No. The two platforms do not share a program file format, so Crestron programmers rebuild scenes, keypad logic, and room automation from scratch based on how the house is used, rather than converting an existing Savant configuration.
What replaces a Savant audio/video matrix switcher in a Crestron conversion?
A 4-Series control processor paired with DM NVX for video and DM NAX for audio typically takes over that role, distributing video and audio over the home's existing Gigabit Ethernet network instead of a dedicated matrix switcher and proprietary cabling.
Will my existing speakers, displays, and cameras keep working after the conversion?
In most cases yes. Speakers, displays, and IP cameras are generally vendor-neutral endpoints that don't depend on which control platform drives them, so they typically carry over; confirm compatibility specifics with your integrator for your exact hardware.
How much downtime should I expect during the cutover?
Expect a staged, room-by-room cutover rather than a single blackout. Processors and matrix hardware are swapped in the rack, each room is re-commissioned individually, and the home remains partially usable through most of the process — ask your integrator for a specific room-by-room schedule.