Hi,
I am currently refurbishing my home, and I have the opportunity to wire everything I want 
I was suggested to install a PLC to control lights, blinds etc, but I do not have an idea from where to start!
Any suggestions of what PLCs work with HA?
If you can wire everything and have the budget I would go with KNX.
And if you are on a budget, I would have a look at ESP capable relays.
KNX surely is not bad at all but in my opinion to pricey and even the fact that you have to pay for the software is a bridge to far for me.
Siemens has some lower cost options that would work well here. If you are on a budget automation direct has some options that could work, they even support mqtt, which is nice. I’d consult with your electrician to see what they support, you would want to integrate likely with modbus or mqtt, most plc brands will support modbus, so having something your installer supports is more important. If you are doing your own programming, I’d stick with Siemens or Automation Direct for the lower software cost.
If it was me, I’d want to set it up so you didn’t need HA, let the plc switch based on momentary push buttons and HA can also switch or monitor the state.
yes ESP-32 devices are the best. You can easily program them to do what you want and they integrate easily into homeassistant.
Check out this little screen. It has user defined button, 3 relays to control lights and costs less then $30.
I don’t know what Siemens offers currently but I have seen Logo at a friends place and in my opinion, this seems - just as Automation Direct - to be specialized for industrial automations.
You can get a ESP 16CH relay (each replaceable, 16A) DIN module with inputs as well, for under 200$
I also have a smal KNX setup which costs a lot more and now, I would not buy that anymore.
You have a point that it might be interesting to be able to run the chosen system without HA but then it becomes a dumb home and HA can be very stable/reliable so why would you pay a lot more for a system that is less flexible.
I also wonder if these companies will be able to exist with these prices and lack of flexibility, but that’s just my opinion…
Multiple ways to do this of course. The advantage of a PLC is that you have a certified industrial solution that the average electrician will likely understand. Nothing against ESPs or similar, have all sort of them scattered around the house, but if I was building a new house, a PLC would be high in the running. Just having the ability to sell the house in the future and not worry about liability would be worth it. The logo is nice, their is another member here that was installing one for his house.
@FPro - are you aware of any tutorials related to KNX to see if this is something I can handle?
@Nick4 ESP32, I use them to monitor stuff (temp, motion, plants etc) and never had an issue. But I never used them as a relay. I am not sure how I should wire them to the blinds motor (4 wire). Shop is willing to lend me one to test it out before ordering, but first I would need a wiring diagram.
@PrairieSnpr - I was looking into the Logo! Series, but it seems to be too complicated to configure using its tool. Maybe if I try it out it would not be difficult to do. This is not cheap also. I need it to be automated based on temperatures and direct sunlight, so it is important to be integrated with HA.
@PrairieSnpr - a PLC on paper seems the way to go, but it could be an overkill, and this is something I need to understand and install. Most probably I will prepare the wiring just in case, and then decide later
@andrew_NH - are you aware of a tutorial?
Regarding KNX: you can sign up for instructions at KNX For your Home – KNX Association [Official website]
As I mentioned, apart from the devices you also need to purchase the software to program your system (was free if under a small number of components, don’t know how it’s now)
I find it a complicated system to set up.
As for the cost:
Regarding tutorials/info: take the time and do your homework properly.
There is a lot to find online and you can get advice here but each one will be different then the one before since your question is quite general.
Hi,
Given you write ‘programmable logic’ into your home assistant, I was wondering why I buy an industrial PLC to use with a Home Assistant (especially on an RPi). I read the industrial use of RPi is blooming, and I can see (having been a corporate engineer on industrial sites) lots of situations where a simple RPi with a few inputs is simpler and easier to set up than a formal and professional PLC with dozens of inputs, in a controlled environment building with redundancy and power failover.
Then I was thinking I want to wire a load of stuff to my io on RPi or whatever I am using. But these all have a small number of io, and wiring io seems not core to HA anymore. HA forums point to espHome which can have more IO and then talk over wifi/bluetooth to HA. Still not a lot of io on an esp though, they are tiny. A PLC can have loads of io, so is getting a PLC about wiring in IO, and then talking to HA?
Does the PLC do any ‘programmable logic’? or is it mainly for signal processing before it is handed to HA?
If I have to pay its out of the equation … not because of the current price structure, but noting will stop them increase the fee in the future.
Do you have a wire diagram how to connect ESP capable relays to motors?
and will the Shelly 2PM do the trick for a 4 wire motor?
It’s a one-time payment though, not a subscription.