Hey there,
I will renovate a house soon and I really want to make it smart. Currently I have Homematic in my flat but I am not sure if I’ll stick to it or use other things. I am thinking of either KNX or Loxone but especially with Loxone I guess I’d feel somehow locked into their ecosystem.
So now I am thinking of not going with like ONE system of home-automation but mixing a lot of components and using home-assistant to interact with all of it.
So now I’d like to know which hardware-components you guys use? Hues for lights? but then the sockets are at least always filled with current?
When it somes to switches I like to keep the looks of a “normal” home. What do you guys use there? I was thinking of using regular buttons with some wifi/rf to communicate with f.e. home-assistant. At least homematic does have those (but with battery which i don’t like…)
Shading?!? I stumpled upon Somfy… does anybody use those?
Music… what’s a good solution here? How are your experiences with Sonos?
The goal I am trying to achieve is to have a home that doesn’t look as if it was smart. I want it to look like a regular home (especially wall-switches) but be smart
But most important to me is that ALL components work without internet and very reliable. I don’t want to sitting in the dark because my home was too smart
I have started put shelly 1 and 2 in the switches. Then the switches work normal, good for wife and when HA is down. They are wifi and mqtt enabled. www.shelly.cloud
Starting from scratch would be just great, the rest of us are hacking on to our exisiting wiring etc.
I think something like KNX would be great if starting from scratch. It is compatible with HA and then HA will let you use other components for things like your music and video.
Thanks for the tip! How about the reliability of the shelly? I am concerned that they don’t work as reliable as I want if they use wifi? I from time to time have wifi-problems in my flat… and the house I am going to renovate is quite a lot bigger with more concrete walls in-between…
Yes… KNX would be super cool… but I am not sure if I really want to open up all the walls for the wiring… but yes… I guess that would be great. Do you have experience with KNX and HA? Is HA able to replace something like a Gira-Homeserver?
Neutral to all switches would be needed for f.e Homematic, right? I have that In my current flat. But especially with dimming I am not happy at all and would prefer something like hues or so (I have one in my living-room currently and it’s just great)
But yes… I was thinking of KNX for all the switches (which are just buttons and not actuators any more then)
I have a Netgear Orbi mesh wifi and have full speed and no drops thru all the concrete walls in this house. The shellies have never failed. Mesh wifi is the solution for many problems
And do you know if there is something like a shelly, but just as a button (not an actuator)? So that I could use a regular wall-switch and control my Hue with it? So just a sender connected to power (not battery).
Ahh yes taking the wall linings off just for the electrics is not economical - depends how deep your renovation goes!
I have not had any involvement with KNX myself, but it seems a sound technology, well established and open enough that there is a HA component - although a hardware component is required.
It is hard to pick the right balance of electronics for automation. At one level you can have every bulb as being smart, and switches not physically connected. But that is often not what the other half wants.
From the outset, it is good to know that whichever system you choose, there won’t be more than 5% in it price wise. These guys watch each other very closely
As an electrician/domotics installer, for one of my clients, I had similar requirements to yours:
Robust
Use whichever switch you want
Open architecture
…I chose www.velbus.eu.
They have ‘backpack’ modules for standard switchgear, wired high quality modules using CAN bus. And a good integration with Home Assistant
I assume you are German/Austrian because you know/have Homematic. Anyway, I would recommend to check out the latest offering by the same guys from Leer, Germany. They have seriously expanded their range of Homematic IP wireless (443 mHz) products, and also added a Homematic IP wired solution (Modbus based).
I only have experience with Velbus and with Homematic IP wireless.
If you want more detail and approximate prices, I’d be happy to supply them via PM.
Hey @BTC. Thanks for your Input.
Good guess I am from Austria, yes.
After a lot of research I guess I’ll stick with Homematic. It worked flawless in the past 3 years for me. Not a single problem I can remember. And it’s just easier NOT to rip apart all my walls
And yes, with the whole Homematic IP thing they seem to get more momentum. I just wish they’d not print their logo on all their products that obvious. I’d like it to be cleaner… but hey…
I’ll have a look at velbus… always good to know other brands as well
Again… thanks!
Cheers,
Georg
I am from Austria, yes.