When I bought the KinCony relay it was much cheaper (less then 80€ for the 16 ports version) that made buying it more interesting.
There were some issues to get it working but now it runs reliable.
Do you think that the smartDEN relay you link to is interesting since it only has 8 relays to control things?
I understand that when you start from scratch with a new house, it makes sense to switch from the fuse box, but the options are limited or you have to go with the big companies which translates into $$$.
If you compare that with switching ‘on the spot’ it makes a lot of difference, price-wise.
On top of that, if you want to dim lights, it cannot be done with these relays.
I’m exactly the same stage as you.
I bought a SmartDEN from Denkovi for testing.
It will be delivered next week.
Denkovi has digital inputs for sensors and analog output for dimmer. The price is good when compare to others big players.
It runs standalone (inputs x relays) and my concern now is about reliability.
For the new house, I will install the electrical installation myself, so I will bear the material costs myself.
Considering that it will be a new house, I want to do as many things as possible with a wired connection.
SmartDen is interesting to me because you can buy modules that are only inputs and modules that are outputs. I also think it’s wise not to have all outputs/inputs on one module in case a module breaks.
I bought the IoT model (MQTT).
8 inputs, 8 outputs and some others resources.
Yes, I’m going to integrate on HA, which will be the brain of my new house.
I put another topic here some weeks ago and I will update in there with the tests and results of my research.
Some years ago I tried Denkovi products (wifi relay board: Wi-Fi Relay Module - 12 Relays, IO, WEB, HTTP API, SMTP, Telnet for another application and worked well.
But the relays from the wifi board doesn’t work in multiple mode (using digital inputs and logical command). Only one config can be set. Also the relay status feedback for HA is by pooling, which is a bad way to do.
In my lighting control I want to use push switches and the relay status feedback can be done by MQTT, that’s why I will try the smartDEN board.
Good news! The SmartDEN arrived.
I’ll post a detailed review in a few days, but so far first impressions are good.
I did a quick workbench setup for relays with pushbuttons on digital inputs (setup directly on module - it doenst depends on HA to work “offline”. It works great.
Also, I did the MQTT integration on HA and the module worked like a charm… the feedback time to/from HA <-> SmartDEN is very good.
First of all, sorry for the late reply! I am in the process of starting construction of the new house. So there are many things that take up time during the work.
In the meantime, I bought Kincony A32 board and testing togheter.
The relay boards I’m testing are very good. Good integration with HA, good operation and reliable, so far.
I’m going to use these boards in my new house. I gonna control ~150 light circuits (most are LED), 10 window blinds (external), some controlled outlets, solenoids, and others.
I’m intended to use Kincony boards, because of number of circuits, I would need buy a lot of 8 channel boards. Using de A32, the number decreases substantially.
I installed the KCS firmware and using MQTT protocol to talk to HA. It works like a charm.
My concern is about the lifespan of relay modules. However, this is a issue I would face on others market boards and suppliers. To prevent short life of the relays, I gonna protect some of them (those who gonna control critical loads like garden/wet lights/circuits, solenoids, using contactors and couple relays between load and boards.
@EarthK the relays are activated by the boards (the HA can be offline and everything still working) using the related Digital Input of the board. The cable from pulse switch will be awg 26 because they will be working on 12v.
