So I know this topic gets talked about often, but I haven’t found one that suits my needs. I’m doing a full home refurb and rewire everything, and need some advise on how to go about this to integrate everything into HA.
Need traditional switches on the wall
Hardwire as much as possible and avoid wireless where needed
Take into consideration a lot of LED’s will be installed so a central wiring hub may not be ideal for them (voltage drop on long runs)
I like the idea of KNX, however the cost of it doesn’t make sense compared to other products on the market. Also the fact that have to rely on their system only if wired now and can’t switch to something new if they come on the market in the future.
I’ve looked into the Shelly Pro series and I really do like it, can others who have done similar things or experienced in this area share your thoughts and ideas on this.
These and other devices based on ESP’s (like from boneio, kincony, or others) are probably the safest and most sustainable invest you will find. These types of devices allow you to take full ownership (have full responsibility) and full local control without limitations - for example with the help of esphome. No need to fear any future enshittification or crapificatiom in case the vendor of your ZigBee/Z-Wave/Matter/YouNameIt device decides to request ransom or puts formerly free features behind a paywall like it was the case with futurehome.
I had exactly the same question 2 years back… I ended up using 3 controllinos across the house. I had to Programm everything myself, but works really stable since then. Today I would use the boneio boards as programming is much easier in esphome. Taking this approach with a star wired approach, controlling/boneio board plus homeassistant is the best combination for a small price. Main advantage is that you can use electric standard components which makes a huge difference at every switch/socket you use
By the way … this approach is nicely scaleable. I founded a small company in Germany to provide this as service (www.immo-vernetzer.de sorry, German only). I can also provide remote consulting to the UK if needed (doing this already with clients)
