All three kits include the Iris Hub, which taps your broadband connection via your router (and which must be hardwired to it). The Hub runs on AC power, but it has a battery backup, too. The Safe & Secure Kit ($179) adds two door/window sensors, a motion sensor, and a wireless keypad. The Comfort & Control Kit (also $179) supplies a plug-in lighting-control module and a programmable thermostat, but none of the security features. The $299 Smart Kit--reviewed here--contains all of the components from the other two kits, along with a range extender.

All three systems are controllable from a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet; and free apps for Android and iOS operating systems are available. No matter which kit you start with, you can expand the system by adding sensors, plug-in and in-wall lighting controls, appliance modules, IP cameras, and more. Unfortunately, the current lack of support for leaves a big hole in the Iris system. (A Lowes spokesperson told me that the company plans to add support for entry locks "within the coming weeks." I'll update this story when they do.) Iris doesn't support smoke or CO2 detectors, either, though those devices are on the product roadmap.

Iris comes with a free service plan that's pretty much useless. I wouldn't recommend buying the system unless you intend to add the optional $10-per-month Premium service plan. Lowes provides a 60-day trial subscription to the Premium service with every kit, giving you plenty of time to discover how essential it is. Still, even with the paid plan, Iris doesn't provide central office monitoring of the Iris system's security components. You can program Iris to send alerts to a contact list in the event of a break-in, but that's all. Services that provide central-office monitoring can dispatch emergency responders--police, fire, or ambulance, as appropriate.

To be fair, home-control service providers that offer central-office monitoring--, , and Vivint, for instance--charge much more per month ($50 or more) than Lowes does. And as Lowes points out in its advertising, some emergency responders assess fines for responding to false alarms (check with your local police and fire departments to determine their policy on this matter). On the other hand, the three companies I mentioned will call people on your contact list and ask them for instructions on how to proceed before calling a dispatcher (but they will call a dispatcher if they can't reach anyone on your contact list).