Which smart home system in the new building?

Hello,

we have our first appointment with our electrician soon for our developer semi-detached house.

We would like to have a smart home if it fits into the budget during the construction phase.

The following points should be covered:
Shutter control including shading
Light control
Heating control
Video doorbell
Window contacts
possibly sockets (sockets preferably retrofittable)

Unfortunately, the budget for the smart home is very limited, about €5000 extra compared to conventional electrical installation.

KNX: This will certainly be much more expensive than our budget.

Free@home: is out for us (because remote access requires a monthly subscription).

Loxone: What do you think about it? Connect the most important via Tree and retrofit the rest via Air when more money is available.

Homematic IP Wired: same as with Loxone.

Retrofit solution via radio: Is the retrofit solution via radio a feasible alternative, e.g. OPUS, that is Enocean, or in the future then Matter, which everyone is currently talking about?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the smart home solutions?

The wired solutions can only be done directly.

The wireless solutions can be retrofitted easily 1-2 years later by oneself (less to no labor costs but higher material value).

possibly sockets (sockets gladly retrofittable)

Not an insignificant component in just a "smarthome"

KNX: That will certainly be much more expensive than our budget

Not necessarily, if you only have the little bit you plan to do done.

Loxone: What do you think about it? Connect the most important via Tree and retrofit the rest via Air when money is available again

That will be more expensive than KNX and you get yourself into a vendor lock-in.

Homematic IP Wired: the same as with Loxone

Cheaper than KNX but again vendor lock-in.

What are the pros and cons of the smarthome solutions?

Very broad topic and a lot to type or discuss. In short:

Advantage: comfort and more functions in the house than just on/off
Disadvantage: price (with wireless solutions also occasionally battery changes, connection problems, etc.)

The wired solutions can only be done directly

Big misconception. You just have to think everything through and prepare as much as possible and have the cables installed. Later upgrading the system also works wonderfully with cables.

The wireless solutions can be retrofitted easily by yourself 1-2 years later (less to no labor costs but higher material value)

Then you get problems with too few wires in the walls, cross sections, missing neutral, etc., and of course the usual problems that every wireless installation brings. Oh yes, and of course with durability. Wireless systems are rather consumer grade after all.

ok thanks

so it can be concluded that for wired only KNX is worthwhile, the rest is not worth it or you are tied to one manufacturer

or the alternative is the wireless solution with major compromises

e.g. durability, battery replacement.

If we have to choose the wireless solution because the electrician does not want to do KNX or offers it at too high a price (unfortunately we are tied to the electrician, he will definitely do free@home) we could prepare the cables in the wall directly for wireless

My questions would still be:

What needs to be prepared or changed from a conventional solution to be able to set up a wireless smart home (or wireless home remote control) with small automations later on??

How can a KNX smart home be set up as cheaply as possible without own work (since it is a developer, we are only allowed to intervene after handover)?

I have heard that MDT is the price-performance killer is that correct? then we can tell the electrician to do everything with MDT devices

How can we still reduce costs with KNX?

What do you have to prepare or change from a conventional solution to be able to set up a radio smart home (or radio house remote control) with small automations later on??

You have to develop a concept beforehand and then see what each system requires.

How can you set up a KNX smart home as cheaply as possible without own work (since it is a developer, we are only allowed to work on it after handover)?

By having the minimal equipment installed with the cheapest devices (yes, MDT is the keyword here), avoiding many buttons as much as possible—in other words, still setting up an automatic house. The more you want to operate manually with KNX, the more expensive it gets. Secondary rooms can also be built without any buttons (toilet, technical room, hallway, storage, etc.).

How can we reduce costs with KNX even further?

By foregoing unnecessary ERR and thus having a heating system that works and not one that requires emergency brakes in every room. Window contacts only where they are really needed. Video doorbell separately. Light initially only switchable. But still laying bus cables and possibly power to every possible and impossible corner for later.

A major cost factor with KNX is the parameterization. Depending on your skills, you can do it yourself. However, it does take quite some time and, depending on the size of the project, also money or more money for the software. If you tell the electrician to "install KNX actuators" who doesn’t feel like working with KNX, and you are only allowed to do something yourself after handover, you have to be aware that you won’t be able to do anything in the house for the first days or weeks (no lights, no blinds, etc.) because nothing is parameterized.

At the end of the day, the electrician will still get his money. Either through his free@home stuff or through expensive installation of the cheaply sourced actuators.

Only for large and complex installations. KNX is not rocket science, and the basic functions in a private home described in the initial post should be completed within one working day. Otherwise, one has probably chosen the wrong profession. For fine-tuning afterward, you can still allocate 1-2 hours, then work from the home office.

Well, the rest should then be changed and adjusted by the homeowner as they wish. There are plenty of ways and tools available nowadays.