Smarthome - I don’t need one ... or do I?

It’s just like with many other things. I don’t have a big garden and don’t miss it either. Or exposed concrete, or a cantilevered staircase or a guest room, balcony and visible roof beams... I don’t miss any of that at all.

But simply living in the house without having to press switches is already practical, I think. Or remembering things you like to forget (alarm system, saving electricity and other resources). The house does that on its own.

And since IT people don’t like to document, especially not the 3-20 changes, it’s always a surprise for the family now and then.

That’s why a couple of systems (more or less) have become established that are intuitive to operate or require little to no actions from the residents.

PS: a way to drive the mother-in-law away

But only if the house is set up for that. Otherwise it behaves with the mother-in-law like with other guests and has the opposite effect. They then actually don’t want to leave.

That is because Openhab is only a small part of the whole. A smart home is not just the top layer software. It also includes everything else that belongs to it. Namely the field level and everything in between.

That is why I was also talking about doing the appropriate wiring right away (star / bus). Those who do the infrastructure (at least wiring including switches and sensors) themselves save a lot of money and know what they have done. This way, additional sensors, actuators, and other de/central logic in whatever form can be retrofitted or exchanged. Whoever wants to can then start programming, configuring, etc. Nevertheless, it is quite clear: I am at most the one-eyed among the blind. I have not yet (read) a clear definition of what a smart home actually is, at least not one where fewer than 38 contradictory ones exist ;). For my part, I have come up with a definition that fits me and partly implemented it. But I also agree there. Just because Alexa is in the house doesn't mean the house is smart; on the contrary, Alexa is not smart at all because I first have to tell her what to do. A smart Alexa would read from my eyes what I want :p

That's why I was also talking about doing the appropriate wiring right away (star / bus). Whoever has the infrastructure (at least wiring including switches and sensors)

That is the biggest hurdle for most people. Because that goes against the usual way of thinking (not only of the builder but also of the electrician). Power -> switch -> light on On top of that comes: Why should I lay more cables, it somehow works like this anyway.

"Normal electrical work" and smart home are two completely different things.

That is probably true, BUT if I do the "normal" electrical work myself and in the process can lay the control cables, for example, then I save the money I would have to pay the smart home installer.

BUT if I do the "normal" electrical work myself,

What do you imagine under this term in a smart home?

What do you imagine under this term in a smart home?

Well, install the control cabinet, pull 3x1.5 (or similar) copper cables, install sub-distributions, chisel slots, install boxes, install switches and sockets, wire it up. Something like that.