Best comprehensive SmartHome program

We have radio communication and are satisfied

We cannot do a central installation; the electrician only does decentralized installation or preparation for decentralized installation.

We have imagined the following as "smart":

Shutters:
- Move up and down based on astro function.
- Lower shutters when heavy rain and windows are open.
- Raise shutters during strong wind.
- Terrace door locking protection.
- Automatic shading in summer.

Light:
- Turn lights on and off according to set scenes.
- Control hallway and stairwell lighting with motion detectors.
- Depending on the time of day, turn on lights in the stairwell and bathroom at a certain brightness (at night only dimly so you are not blinded while half asleep and don't wake up immediately).

- At some point, replace the thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) of the underfloor heating with smart digital ones instead of the ugly standard TRVs (mainly for aesthetic reasons); exemption from TRVs is not possible.

I also want to be able to control all this by voice (e.g., Alexa) and control or check the status remotely.

Nothing else comes to mind right now that we want :D

Now the question again: to be able to implement this, do we absolutely need Free@Home, or is a wireless system like Matter sufficient?

Yes, the MDT glass switches would have appealed to me, but that requires a central installation with central actuators.
Unfortunately, our electrician does not want that.

Free@Home is also not designed for that.
Yes, the Tenton switches are coming to Free@Home now, but as far as I know, they are also without actuators and therefore only for central installation or only for places where no actuators are needed.

But the WAF factor is higher with conventional switches than with the 6-button switches :D

Now once again the question: to be able to implement this, do we absolutely need Free@Home or is a wireless system like Matter sufficient?

How do you see it yourself? Where do you see problems? If you want to install and program components yourself later, your wishes and questions should gradually become a bit more precise than: - I want to control my roller shutters - and maybe also the lighting Is that possible? You can control roller shutters with various systems. Lighting too. I increasingly doubt, however, that you are able to configure these according to your wishes. Or how do you see it?

For KNX I would have to get deeply involved with the ETS software.

But with Free@Home software I actually have little to no concerns that I can configure it.

That's basically just drag and drop.

Matter would probably be configured through Alexa and I wouldn’t see any problems with software configuration there.

I appreciate your patience and your help.

I find it hard to estimate what we need because we haven’t had either system yet.

I think if there are no wireless problems, then wireless would be enough for us.

Some things we definitely have to solve wirelessly.

Window handles for example, because reed contacts are not possible. We definitely want window handle sensors that monitor the handle position, for example the window sensors from Free@Home or the window handles with EnOcean.

One consideration is that the more we do wirelessly, the more stable the wireless network could become because there would be many more mesh participants. (For wireless we would rely on the new Thread.)

I also want to avoid devices with batteries as much as possible.

With the window sensors I could still live with it but everything else should be powered by electricity.

All switches and all motion detectors should be powered by electricity.

so, as I understood you, would you say that a wireless smart home like Matter would be sufficient for us? Or would you say that we should rely on Free@Home and expand it with wireless? Unfortunately, there is very little information about Free@Home, which doesn’t make the decision any easier.

Pure question of interest: By when do you finally have to have decided this? Just so one can roughly estimate how often the same questions come up here multiple times under different accounts and even within threads, whose lengthy answers don’t lead to any result anyway?

I would just tick it off, install standard with as few switches as possible or none at all, use deep boxes, ensure good WLAN coverage and install a bunch of Shellys. That is more than sufficient and you don’t have to wait for Matter and similar gimmicks, whose release date and functionality are still uncertain and far in the fog.

Everything that has been discussed here and elsewhere so far is a collection of compromises. There is no “best” overarching smart home system.