How to upgrade a smart home as much as possible?

Hello everyone,

I am currently dealing with the topic of Smart Home and wanted to gather a few tips/suggestions.

Unfortunately, I had no influence on the electrical installation when the house was built.

I would like to hang a display (TFT; tablet; etc.) in the entrance area. I want to visualize my smoke detectors (the ones that can be integrated into Wi-Fi), maybe a few door and window contacts as well as some lighting elements.

Which systems have proven themselves? Raspberry with tablet? Do you have recommendations for me? How or what can I build myself?

I use Homematic. It can be retrofitted relatively well (although not cheaply) since it is radio-based. The system is very extensive and can be expanded/combined extensively. For visualizations, there are various options (FHEM, homematic directly, different apps, IP-Symcon, Mediola, etc.). It’s all a matter of scope and budget. The cheapest is probably with FS20 components, but they have no return channel, which I personally would not want to do without for most components.

What’s the point of visualizing the smoke detectors? The system can only show you on/off, which you should hopefully also notice acoustically. For other things like window contacts, weather info, thermostats, shutters, lights, etc., such a tablet is of course nice.

I have taken a look at Z-Wave. It looks very interesting. Which base or control unit would be advisable for beginners? Zipato? Fibaro Home Center Lite?

Hm, have you looked at my suggestion the control unit Homee? There is also a Z-Z-Wave module.

Watch videos on the internet about how to set up one central unit or another, you can choose whatever you like best.

I had also spent a long time dealing with the topic and comparing different systems. Starting with homematic and ending with Z-Z-Wave/Fibaro. The only argument against homematic is ultimately that it is a proprietary solution on which I do not want to rely. Z-Z-Wave makes a good impression on me as a standard and there are great products from various providers. Ultimately, all these solutions have one problem -> they are centrally controlled. That means: if the central intelligence fails, nothing works anymore. Therefore, I have finally ended up back with KNX and am currently in the implementation phase...