ᐅ Consultation for Smart Home New Construction Wireless Systems

You set the temperatures in the rooms once. In the bedrooms, you close the valves until the temperature is right. The heat pump then takes care of the rest through the flow temperature.

For implementation, I would recommend taking a look at the Enocean system. Eltako/Opusgreen and others. Except for the configurable switch with display, you can find everything you need there.

Roller shutters controlled only via smart home, without physical switches. Seasonally automated (Sonoff relays). We use Homematic, which works very well with wireless control. However, I still find physical switches practical sometimes, as they are faster than using Google Assistant and are right at the window.

• I also want to control underfloor heating circuits only via smart home. For this, I would need temperature and humidity sensors in the rooms. Which ones would you recommend? Which relays could I use for the valves? They are basically just on or off. I would probably need 8 to 10 units. I might skip that, since you rarely adjust these. For temperature and humidity sensors, I can recommend Tasmota/ESP8266/Wemos for DIY solutions, because you can connect everything that way. A temp/humidity/motion sensor with a Wemos D1 Mini plus power supply should cost around €10 (China import)?
• I want to override light switches in the rooms with Shellys. Shellys are great.
• There should be touchscreens on two floors with all information and control options, OpenHAB + HABPanel?
• Additionally, Android apps on every phone to control the home. You mean the OpenHAB app?
• A configurable button with a display in the living room? What could be used here? We don’t have one; maybe build it ourselves? Wemos + display?
• Alarm system with motion sensors and possibly door/window contacts. I have a Xiaomi gateway plus window contacts. Motion sensors don’t work well for us because of the cat and kids. Xiaomi motion sensors can also control Shellys if needed. I also have a Sonoff Touch that shows and switches the alarm system status.
• Control via OpenHAB. OpenHAB is also great. Do you know OpenHABian?
• Which sensor can I use to control any actuator with a simple wall switch? I’m not sure I fully understand the question. Xiaomi offers battery-powered switches for controlling devices, which can be integrated into OpenHAB. Alternatively, you can install a Sonoff Basic/Mini or Shelly behind a switch and then control any device with OpenHAB. Or a Sonoff Touch?

Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Everything should be relatively inexpensive to implement. I’m happy to invest programming effort myself.

Robot vacuum cleaner? Has a socket been planned for it?
I would also suggest planning a brightness sensor to coordinate roller shutters, TV, and lighting.
Door contacts on the gate?
Are outdoor cameras planned?
Maybe invest a bit more in better gas/electricity/water meters that allow good data reading?
Plan a parking spot for the robotic lawnmower close to the house so it has good Wi-Fi coverage.

Great answer.
Exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you.

Oh, very interesting topic. I have faced or am facing similar decisions.

At first, I only wanted to use Fibaro (controller/sensors/actuators), but now I have openHAB running on Synology (Docker).
As a test, I ordered one actuator, dimmer, roller shutter, motion sensor from Fibaro, and the USB stick from Aeotec, all Z-Wave devices. Shelly devices are also still on my list to try, as well as the Aeotec multisensor.

Additionally, I have integrated a Xiaomi Roborock, Samsung TV, Philips Hue, and a weather station.
Integration becomes more difficult with controlled ventilation systems, washing machines, dryers, etc. KNX is usually the standard there. Possibly pulling a bus cable to those two locations as “preparation”?

I am really positively surprised—openHAB runs very stable. Ok ... so far it’s only a few devices.

Roller shutters only controllable via smart home without physical switches. Seasonal control (Sonoff relays).

I agree with nms_hs, I would not want to do without physical switches.

There should be touchscreens on two floors with all information and control options

I had considered that too but decided to skip it.

Control via openHAB

Regarding setup with openHAB, I have to say there was a lot that would probably frustrate a “layperson” and with every binding there was somehow an issue in the stable release that didn’t work properly ...
But anyone planning something like this in my opinion knows what they are getting into.
Also think carefully about where you install it. A Raspberry Pi was not my first choice.

teh_M schrieb:

[...]
Also, think about where you install that. A Raspberry Pi wasn’t my first choice.

What kind of weather station do you have? OpenWeatherMap works pretty well for me, except for the current precipitation data. So I’m still looking for a reliable solution for that.

I’m lucky to have a superior user who developed an OpenHAB binding for Helios for controlled residential ventilation (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery). I only use it once or twice a year, though. It’s basically the same situation as with underfloor heating. But I’m working on integrating a TVOC sensor and just finished a CO sensor, which should turn off the ventilation if bad odors come from outside.

As for washing machine/dryer/oven/stove/dishwasher/fridge, I don’t see much potential for smart functionality. They always require some user interaction anyway. The best you might get is a “cycle finished” notification, but for that, a Sonoff POW would be sufficient.

I’m running OpenHAB on a Raspberry Pi 3, plus Pi-hole/Grafana/InfluxDB. I feel like it’s starting to reach its limits now. What are you using?

nms_hs schrieb:

What kind of weather station do you have? OpenWeatherMap works pretty well for me, except for the current precipitation data. So I’m still looking for something reliable.

Renkforce WH2600 with the IP box. It’s identical to the AmbientWeather WS1400 IP. Several manufacturers produce identical units. The firmware is also compatible.
Whether it’s reliable remains to be seen. It’s definitely not top of the line, but it’s fine for a start.

nms_hs schrieb:

Washer/dryer/oven/stove/dishwasher/fridge—I don’t see what could be smart about these or what benefits they would bring.

Well, combined with a solar PV system, I can imagine some possibilities. Whether it actually helps is something to test. Even if it’s just a notification via Telegram that the laundry is done. Just a gimmick... or smart?

nms_hs schrieb:

I run OpenHAB on a Pi 3, plus Pi-hole, Grafana, and InfluxDB. It feels like it’s reaching its limits. What are you using?

Synology DS918+, also running Grafana and InfluxDB in separate Docker containers. This keeps everything nicely separated.

As for the Pi — well, I’m a bit wary. I previously ran a Pi with FHEM and EQ Max thermostats, plus 433 MHz wireless sockets. That was (sorry) rubbish. Then the SD card failed after about six months and everything was lost. Nope, never again.

So I try to avoid it as much as possible. OpenHAB is already a “DIY hack” on its own. I don’t want to cobble together five more interfaces on the Pi.

If necessary, I rely on wired connections and remove the wireless components. If the Synology or anything else crashes, I can still operate 95% of the system with switches. That was very important to me (or my wife ).