Smart home / Home automation - Consulting

If you want, I can send you my planning documents so you can see how I planned it. I also worked with the book and the mentioned forum and will do the installation myself. If interested, just send a PM.

We did it that way too and did the rest by ourselves. In the meantime, I also treated myself to the Pro version of the ETS.

We will also initially "neglect" the heating control. If necessary, I can pull the cables for it at any time.

Wow! Thanks already to everyone for the really helpful answers!

Hello Matte, since you still have some time, I do think it will work. Extremely important in a KNX installation is the planning. Since the wiring is the basis for everything, you should definitely create a room book. Then think about the positions of switches, sockets, presence detectors, etc. Based on the room book, you can already make a rough budget estimate of what sensors/actuators you need. There is also a very good forum for this. Just google KNX and User.

That is exactly the point I am at in the book right now, with the "Smart-Home Pyramid." So still pretty much at the beginning.
I actually want to at least provide presence detectors in every room, but due to our split-level architecture and the openness on the ground floor with cooking + dining, that probably doesn’t make things easier, I think.
Also, my wife sooner or later wants to have a cat or two again.
So you really have to look very carefully at where the PDs are positioned.
Thanks for the tip about the forum, but I am already registered there anyway.

Depending on how much sensor technology you want to install, it would also make sense to consider 1-Wire. A second bus system, yes, but there are very inexpensive sensors for it. For the visualization, there are tons of possibilities, but there are also many cheap to free solutions that are super flexible and well supported. I also hesitated for a long time whether to go with Loxone or KNX, was almost about to cancel it all because of the costs, and now I’ve decided to take a KNX system after all. I also bought the book, I find it quite good. I would just not overdo it and run every socket individually to the distribution board. You have to think carefully where it makes sense to put a switchable socket, then run 5 x 1.5 there and then you have the option to make several sockets switchable without it getting out of hand. Of course, there are many nice toys with KNX and the possibilities are almost endless. It remains to be seen which of this will be implemented afterwards. In my case, only shutters, light, and RTR will be implemented in the first stage because I did not want those ugly room thermostats. I will also do a lot via presence detectors. As basic switch, I will use the MDT Glastaster SMART II. Regarding lighting, it is important whether you want to be able to dim or not; otherwise, that’s quite simple to solve with a switching actuator.

Best regards

Thomas

Regarding sensor technology, I am still thinking about it, but since I am still considering what I want to automate sooner or later, it will take a while.
I currently live in an apartment where a total of 4 sockets in the living room are switchable together. I have connected my Philips Hue Living Colors to it and am very satisfied with the functionality. However, that would also work perfectly fine without these switching functions.
With a first consideration and a room book, I arrived at 31 light points and 33 sockets.
However, these are exactly the kinds of details we still have to consider carefully where it makes sense and where not. Same with dimming.



Thanks for the numerous info!
Regarding the low-voltage lighting, I had assumed so far that the transformers must be placed within 2m distance of the light point. With a concrete ceiling, accordingly with suitable Halox boxes with transformer tunnel.
But if it can also be routed into the control cabinet, that would be easier, at least that’s how I imagine it.

If you want, I can send you my planning documents, then you can see how I planned it.

I also worked with the book and the mentioned forum and will do the installation myself.

If interested, just PM me

Thanks! You’ll get a PM right away!

We also did it like that and the rest ourselves. Meanwhile, I also treated myself to the Pro version of ETS.

We will also initially “neglect” the heating control. If necessary, I can always pull the cables for it.

I am wondering anyway what I need all those room thermostats for. With such a sluggish system as underfloor heating, that’s just a gimmick.

I myself work in a planning office for building services engineering, so I will probably do the planning including calculations myself.
Assuming a hydraulic balancing is done, underfloor heating is normally set once and that’s it.

Nevertheless, I will also pull a cable into the distribution box just to be safe, you never know.

Assuming a hydraulic balancing, the underfloor heating is usually set once and that’s it.

Nevertheless, just to be safe, I will also run a cable to the distributor, you never know

If you do not allow yourself to be exempted, according to the Energy Saving Ordinance you must provide individual room control, so you cannot avoid the cable.

He is doing KNX... so the green cable is already in place... no additional RTR cables are needed.

By cable, I meant a cable to the heating circuit distributor; everything else of course works with KNX.