Experiences upgrading a smart home in a single-family house

Hello everyone,

I have been browsing the forum for a while now, reading along and researching on the internet. But in the end, I am still faced with an incredible range of possibilities that open up on the topic of smart home. I think I have understood the difference between smart as remote control and smart as intelligent. What I really need, I still have to decide and would like to present my ideas or starting point as follows.

[*
Purchase of an existing single-family house, built in 1994, prefabricated house in timber frame construction, 120 sqm on 2 floors, no basement, gas heating from Vaillant with a central control and thermostats on the radiators, no underfloor heating
[*]4-person family, 2 small children will be running around in the house, (so far) no pets and rather unlikely
[*]there are some more or less smart components in the house that came with the purchase:
[LIST=1]
[*]most of the roller shutters on both floors were fitted with a motor from the company Schellenberg and are controlled by radio remote control
[*]two Velux roof windows with solar drive for exterior sunshade awning and with Velux App Control KIG 300
[*]in the bedroom there are Occhio lights, which are controlled by "Occhio Air" lighting and scenes
[*]lawn mower robot AM 315X from Husqvarna, although I have not yet read up on whether it runs its rounds alone or can be controlled or monitored
[*]outside there are one or two motion detectors for lighting, but I have not yet been able to look at those in detail either


[*]what do I need in a smart home... difficult question, after much reading there are many great things (or also gimmicks) and the appetite probably comes with eating, but as of today I do not want to make it a hobby and rather keep it simple, like to set it up myself and be able to act and depending on use cases also define/program logics (I used to develop software myself), but on the level that after 3 months without constantly dealing with it I still understand what I did and can adjust something again


[*]Light control / scenes: I basically see a need only on the ground floor in the living and dining area, in other rooms I can do without it, if possible also in the bedroom with the existing Occhio lights, but that would not be a topic I would invest extra in, especially not across floors
[*]Heating control (lower temperature at night and when away, heat earlier in the bathroom than in other rooms in the morning)
[*]roller shutter control
[LIST=1]
[*]retrofit remote control for all roller shutters - continue with Schellenberg or replace everything entirely?
[*]all close at once when away or leaving the house - voice control would also be sufficient
[*]time-controlled opening and closing would be enough
[*]nice-to-have things like aligning time-wise with sunrise/sunset, running along with solar irradiation in terms of energy efficiency, automatically closing when I leave the house without having to say so
[*]I am uncertain how much a parallel manual control via wall switch makes sense when, for example, the children (when they are older) want to raise the roller shutter completely independently of any automation; does not necessarily have to be by phone and app then (and the Velux windows are also still there in parallel)


[*]addition of shading for the Velux awnings so that they can be lowered as well
[*]detect open windows and warn when leaving the house, which is already a bit more intelligent, but maybe just looking at the phone or asking one of the assistants would be enough... although while writing that, that’s not really smart either :)


[*]nice-to-have: permanent ventilation warning at cold outside temperatures, happens very often at home (to me)


[*]the old carport is to be replaced by a garage in the medium term


[*]minimum would be perhaps opening the gate in advance by voice control while getting dressed, when returning from the office a remote control from the car would also be enough
[*]nice to have something like the parcel delivery person rings and leaves the package inside and I close the gate from the office again, but that probably involves a lot more, like the door system, which I actually do not want to change


[*]open: I have not yet understood why and how a photovoltaic system and associated charging station can and must be integrated into the smart home, but if our petrol car expires soon, an e-car will certainly be a topic, and also photovoltaics in general
[*]presence simulation during vacation
[*]make rooms/floors power-free against unnecessary consumption, although I do not know if all devices can handle that well?
[*]nice to have for later: lawn irrigation based on measured dryness of the soil
[*]nice-to-have: fire detectors notify me when I am not at home at all

[*

framework conditions


[*]Most of the 1st floor has already been renovated, in some rooms we will hardly do anything, so rewiring is rather ruled out. For me, the question is whether a wired small solution only on the ground floor makes sense and can be extended to the upper floor later? The only thing we will probably retrofit in the upper floor also are downlights in the corridor. Possibly a reconstruction is also time-critical in terms of effort or generally the availability of craftsmen, so retrofit solutions like DigitalStrom wired or radio are an option.
[*]Overall, I would rather start small and grow into the topic, but from what I have read, it might be difficult later on with new use cases.
[LIST=1]
[*]Schellenberg offers a solution with the Smartfriends Box (or integrated in Magenta Home), but this seems to me rather a niche product with little active forum and maybe not the best starting point?


[*]And I do not feel completely comfortable if, besides already many devices like phones, tablets, TV, ... in the household, I install dozens of switches and sockets retrofitted by radio. At least from a building biology standpoint it is advised to only use certain protocols to keep exposure low.
[*]For really smart solutions, more rather than fewer sensors in the house are needed. Since we are minimalist furnished and value design, we cannot reconcile with sensors installed on every wall corner and ceiling. I would appreciate tips on sensors that don’t quite look like Big Brother’s eye and can be well hidden.
[*]Currently we are heavily involved with Apple devices, although I don’t want to be so strictly tied to that. We also have Sonos in the house for voice control.
[*]Enocean is excluded as a radio solution for us, as someone in the forum already said "ok for the garage", but the clicking of the switches is nothing for us (checked on YouTube).
[*]And I would rather not commit to proprietary systems.
[*]I have no insight yet into what potential for interference exists and how, in the event of a component failure, WLAN or internet, the most important functions still remain, i.e. I am not there but my wife still gets the light on or the roller shutter up. Remote control from outside the house may be a prerequisite for some of the mentioned or upcoming use cases but should not be absolutely necessary for simple functions.

[*

And with these rough ideas, I have started in the smart home jungle and catch one term after another. I would like to understand this jungle better, but the dependencies and compatibilities are hardly comprehensible down to with what do I really program logic and with what do I control what or how powerful or limited is which solution - e.g. devices from different providers with different protocols integrate with which devices/software and then how to address by phone or voice control (if not completely smart)


[*]therefore I tried to make an overview which certainly mixes a lot up, but maybe someone can lend me a hand with the various dimensions and layers and bring light into the jungle :)

I am looking forward to your suggestions and information on how I can start and what I would need to implement the described minimum and maximum or how the path from minimum to maximum could look over time.

Regards
Thomas

Linking is prohibited, but Sascha König published a self-experience report titled "Warum nicht alles steuerbar sein muss" on golem.de on 7.3.22. Maybe with a few interesting suggestions?

just as a suggestion ... I stopped reading at point 4.3 because of "now I don't understand anything anymore" too much, written too "compactly", too unstructured. presumably your expectations of the forum / collective knowledge are very (too) optimistic. with this scope, only a paid consultant will probably be able to help you. I could also be wrong ... :oops:

Linking is forbidden, but Sascha König published a self-experience report "Why not everything has to be controllable" on golem.de on 7.3.22. Maybe with a few interesting suggestions?

Thanks, I had already seen the link before your post was deleted ;-)

For me, the article remains rather superficial regarding the use cases (an aquarium is not exactly a standard case) and rather contains information about reducing devices with new possibilities and that individual providers do not cover everything, but without getting specific. And as I wrote, I would also like to start with something small and simple and not shoot with cannons at sparrows; the only question is what I might be limiting myself with?

just as a suggestion ... I stopped reading at point 4.3 because of "now I don't understand anything anymore" Too much, too "compact" written, too unstructured.

Probably your expectations of the forum / collective knowledge are very (too) optimistic.

Given the scope, probably only a paid consultant can help you. I could be wrong ... :oops:

That was not my expectation either and for now only a recording of my thoughts. I would just hope for a few hints to gain an understanding of how solutions and terms interplay and where I can start, then I want to work into it and more concrete questions will arise...

what do I need for smart home... difficult question

Many people ask themselves that (here and elsewhere). That’s why I just put it out there as a seminar paper. If a student wants to apply for it, I would be happy if he/she got supported by this forum.

rewiring tends to be ruled out here

The typical retrofit problem.

whether a wired small solution only makes sense on the ground floor

Definitely: anyone who knows radio takes cable.

"Biologically" at least it is advised to only use certain protocols to keep the exposure low.

That's the first time I read that. Can you provide a reliable source for that?

Currently we are heavily using Apple devices, although I don’t really like to commit to that.

If it should be simple, it can be right to sell your soul to one manufacturer.

And I don’t really want to get involved in proprietary systems.

You already have (Apple). Even if you use an "open" radio standard, that doesn’t mean two devices from different manufacturers can work together. There are many solutions here, but that will be work.

I have no insight yet into what interference potentials there are and how, in the event of a failure of a component, WLAN, or internet, the most important functions still remain.

Very few systems allow you the (certainly desired) combination of old (also works without smart) and new. The internet issue is independent of this; everyone must decide for themselves how important privacy protection is to them.

therefore I tried to make an overview,

Nice start. You see for yourself how quickly it gets confusing. And again: the (radio) standards you listed there are your smallest problem. There is nothing against using five of them in parallel, because that only covers a small part of the path (e.g., from the switch to the controller) and has no influence on the logic (which sits above that). If you transfer twice during a trip, it also doesn’t matter whether you take the train three times or combine bike, train, and bus. The connections must fit.

Thank you very much for all your answers :)

This is the first time I’m reading this. Can you provide a reputable source for it?

I can’t fully assess how reputable and up-to-date it is either. But since linking is not allowed, I’ll just refer to relevant search engines using the terms Smart Home, exposure, building biology...

"Building-biologically acceptable systems seem, according to the current state of knowledge, to be most feasible with providers such as Homematic, EnOcean or KNX-RF."
"ZigBee, Z-Wave, EQ3 and RWE Smarthome do not achieve quite as good values as EnOcean – already because the EnOcean radio sends the shortest radio telegrams . However, they are orders of magnitude better than the DECT, WLAN and mobile devices described here."

Even if you use an “open” radio standard, that doesn’t mean that two devices from different manufacturers can work together. There are many solutions here, but it will be work.

Not even if both use the same protocol, that would have been my expectation here, that this works? Otherwise, okay, I need a layer above it.

Nice start. You see yourself how quickly it gets confusing. And again: the (radio) standards you listed there are your smallest problem. There is absolutely nothing against using five of them in parallel, because this always only covers a small part of the route (e.g. from the switch to the controller) and has no influence on the logic (which sits above). If you change trains twice on a trip, it also doesn’t matter whether you take the train three times or combine bike, train and bus. The connections have to be right.

Okay, but what represents the logic then? What can Homekit on the iPhone do (none of that), that a Homee or an ioBroker can do (all just examples)?

And as an example: at home I use Sonos with Alexa. Speaking via Sonos with Siri or HomeKit seems not to work? (and I’m currently failing to register Sonos in HomeKit to test it the other way around and play my music on Sonos via iPhone-Siri). So standing in front of the Sonos speaker saying “Hey Siri/HomeKit/Apple, close the blinds” is already ruled out?

And I would like to understand these dependencies and limitations, so that I know in which direction I can go at all.