Are they relevant to home automation, or is it mainly for very long-range, outdoor, line-of-sight applications over ranges spanning multiple miles? I found only one other post on the forum which talks about the LoRa radios, but it didn't really clarify anything.
The RFM69 will be plenty of power and range for the home and around it. LoRa is a more expensive radio that is probably better purposed for denser environments like urban/farm/forest settings where you need higher penetration/sensitivity or just longer range.
Some of the high altitude balloon folks are getting crazy ranges out of LoRa but as Felix said it is probably overkill for anything less than a few acres:
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?26941-HABAXE2-PICAXE-and-LoRA-High-Altitude-Balloon-Tracker
LoRa might even be overkill for that:
http://www.pocketqubeshop.com/meet-the-pocketqube-team-50sat/
Ha, I think I talked to the qube sat guys once, they are using RFM22B which is 20dBm (100mW) output FSK. I can't remember the details but they deployed the sats in orbit with a group of others then listen when they pass overhead :)