Hi,
We are in the process of planning our house and had an appointment with a construction company. The salesperson offered us a smart home system from the company GIRA. He was quite enthusiastic about the technology, especially about the fact that the price has dropped so significantly over the years. It is supposed to cost around 3,000 Euros (about $3,300). When I asked what this system can really do that is impressive, I didn’t get a convincing answer. Remote control? But for what purpose? Some functions can already be programmed by timer without such a system.
What do you think about smart home systems like this? Are they actually interesting? Have I overlooked something or not considered something useful? I really don’t know anyone who has such a system or anyone who misses having one... Is that justified or not? What are your thoughts?
Thanks for your input.
We are in the process of planning our house and had an appointment with a construction company. The salesperson offered us a smart home system from the company GIRA. He was quite enthusiastic about the technology, especially about the fact that the price has dropped so significantly over the years. It is supposed to cost around 3,000 Euros (about $3,300). When I asked what this system can really do that is impressive, I didn’t get a convincing answer. Remote control? But for what purpose? Some functions can already be programmed by timer without such a system.
What do you think about smart home systems like this? Are they actually interesting? Have I overlooked something or not considered something useful? I really don’t know anyone who has such a system or anyone who misses having one... Is that justified or not? What are your thoughts?
Thanks for your input.
It is possible, but I think only as a DIY project. The cables themselves are completely negligible. However, an electrician will of course charge extra for the additional work involved in installation, the distribution panel, and programming.
A visualization doesn’t have to be expensive either if you have some technical understanding and enjoy experimenting. Mount a tablet on the wall running Smarthome.py and SmartVisu. Then the costs are limited to just the tablet and a Raspberry Pi.
We are also installing a KNX system in our new home with an electrician in the family. I handle planning, programming, and pulling the cables, while he does the connections. We get credited about 10,000 euros for the electrical work from the general contractor. For not much more, I can now implement the bus system.
A visualization doesn’t have to be expensive either if you have some technical understanding and enjoy experimenting. Mount a tablet on the wall running Smarthome.py and SmartVisu. Then the costs are limited to just the tablet and a Raspberry Pi.
We are also installing a KNX system in our new home with an electrician in the family. I handle planning, programming, and pulling the cables, while he does the connections. We get credited about 10,000 euros for the electrical work from the general contractor. For not much more, I can now implement the bus system.
Che.guevara schrieb:
There is no established standard; no matter what you do, it will turn out to be a mistake.
Having enough empty conduit pipes is enough to be prepared for the future!Oh dear...
WARNING: Very dangerous half-knowledge!
The original poster mentions GIRA, which means they were 99.99% likely presented KNX as the smart home solution by the seller. This is indeed (as already mentioned above) a globally used open standard for building automation systems. In industrial and commercial sectors, practically nothing works without KNX nowadays, and the system is slowly becoming popular in private homes because it has become much more affordable due to increasing competition from many proprietary systems.
Marko958 schrieb:
I can’t imagine the additional costs being only 2,000 euros. Wouldn’t separate cables have to be installed everywhere?
If you only want to map conventional electrical installations to KNX, an additional 2,000–3,000 euros could be sufficient, but only in a small house with few devices to control.
A visualization system is not mandatory for a "smart home." Everything works perfectly fine without it.
ONeill schrieb:
We get about 10,000 euros credited for the electrical work from the general contractor.Wow! You must have had a lot of electrical work specified in the contract from the start. Usually, the credit is much lower; for a standard house, it’s more common to get a credit of around 3,000–4,000 euros.
With 10,000 euros, you can do quite a lot with KNX.
Anyone interested should check specialized forums or the relevant sections here. I have already written extensively on this topic since I live in such a house, installed the technology myself, configured and programmed the system, and continually expand it.
Mycraft schrieb:
Wow! You had a lot of electrical work included in the contract from the start. Usually, the credit tends to be on the lower side, so for a standard house, you’d typically get a credit of about 3,000–4,000 (3-4K).
With 10,000 (10K), you can do quite a lot regarding KNX automation..Yes, that surprised me too. A colleague also received about 5,000. Now we’re adding a bit more and getting a comprehensive setup. It’s going to be a great project.
You are comparing apples and oranges here. You are comparing the performance described in the building specification including labor costs with DIY work plus material costs. Not everyone knows an electrician who can quickly do all the wiring. If you not only have to buy the basically inexpensive material but also pay for the installation, 3,000€ will really not get you very far. A few lights turning on and off with a motion sensor only scratches the surface of KNX and I can manage that easily without KNX anyway (just install a motion sensor). Since there are 5-core cables throughout the house, the spare wires can be used for controls and you don’t have to pull new cables.
I wrote that it would be 2,000–3,000 more, not 2,000–3,000 in total.
For an extra 3,000, you can already make lighting and, for example, sockets or roller shutters a bit smarter—just as I mentioned, the conventional wiring that is included in every building specification, such as:
1 push-button circuit from three locations to one lighting point
1 standard socket outlet
1 switched circuit to one exterior lighting point
1 doorbell system with door button and two-tone chime
or
1 control circuit to one lighting point
2 standard socket outlets
1 switched circuit to mirror cabinet outlet
can be implemented in KNX, and the rest can be gradually upgraded later if needed. But even without further expansion, the increase in comfort is significant—especially when you consider a few push-buttons or any lighting scenes controllable from any location in the house.
For an extra 3,000, you can already make lighting and, for example, sockets or roller shutters a bit smarter—just as I mentioned, the conventional wiring that is included in every building specification, such as:
1 push-button circuit from three locations to one lighting point
1 standard socket outlet
1 switched circuit to one exterior lighting point
1 doorbell system with door button and two-tone chime
or
1 control circuit to one lighting point
2 standard socket outlets
1 switched circuit to mirror cabinet outlet
can be implemented in KNX, and the rest can be gradually upgraded later if needed. But even without further expansion, the increase in comfort is significant—especially when you consider a few push-buttons or any lighting scenes controllable from any location in the house.
Similar topics