ᐅ New Construction – Which Smart Home System?

Hello everyone,

I am finally planning to build our own house with my family. I don’t want to do without a smart system and have already done some research.

Loxone is basically off the table for me because it mainly relies on its proprietary system and products.

Of course, I have repeatedly come back to KNX (as here in the forum as well). However, I am not entirely happy with it because I don’t want to have to call a programmer every time I want to make a change; I also don’t really want to buy the ETS license. Additionally, I want to integrate and network fingerprint scanners, Sonos, and a heat pump, but I haven’t fully figured out how to do this with KNX.

The house basically has two floors with an open-plan kitchen/living area, entrance hall, utility room, bathrooms, children’s rooms, bedroom, garden, and so on.

The following systems should be connected:
- Lighting (some dimmable)
- External blinds / weather station
- Underfloor heating
- Heat pump
- Music system (Sonos)
- Fingerprint access
- Video intercom
- Some switched power outlets
- Photovoltaic system

Since I am technically fairly knowledgeable, I want to be able to manage, adjust, and optimize my system myself in the end.

Does anyone have good input here? Or already experience with Loxone, KNX, or others?

Thanks and best regards,
Stefan

If all these things are important to you, as you listed them, then only KNX is an option.
If you just want to make life a little easier, individual systems for a fraction of the cost will do.

I’m more the latter type and solved it this way:

Your list:
Systems to be integrated:
- Lights (some dimmable) – a few where this matters with hue lights – about 10 units in the house
- Venetian blinds + weather station – solved using Homematic IP
- Underfloor heating – if you need to control that, the heating system is poorly designed
- Heat pump – what exactly do you need to control there?
- Music (Sonos) – there are countless solutions; I have a few Spotify-compatible devices and Echo speakers
- Fingerprint access – you might as well leave the door unlocked then
- Video intercom – I’d consider this necessary only from about 500m² (5,400 sq ft) of living space upwards
- Some switched sockets – I also handle this with Homematic
- Photovoltaic system – I use SolarEdge; I don’t see anything missing there either.

We implement everything from your list except for the photovoltaic system (which we don’t have) using free@Home. The only thing that doesn’t work with this, and which I miss, is the controlled residential ventilation. For that, there is only the system/app from the manufacturer.

Hello,

thanks in advance for the quick responses.

@Lumpi_LE based on what you described, these seem to be separate systems that cannot be interconnected. For example, I would like to use a fingerprint scanner to control both music and lighting (hallway, etc.) or have the photovoltaic system managed together with the heat pump/heating as an "energy manager." In the end, I don’t want to have 10 different apps or 10 displays, each operating independently. Please correct me if I’m misinformed.

@Katdreas thanks for the info. free@Home looks really interesting. I hadn’t considered it before. To what extent can I customize it myself? Since it is KNX-based, as I have seen, do I need the ETS software?

Best regards
Stefan

bonkers223 schrieb:

I’m not entirely happy here either, because I don’t want to have to call a programmer every time I want to make a change;

Well, you don’t have to. For minor changes, the ETS demo version is sufficient and it’s free. After commissioning, you can use it to adjust small things that don’t fit. Or you can get a device with ETS-Inside integrated, then you can basically adjust everything from the tablet.

bonkers223 schrieb:

I’m not really keen on purchasing the ETS license either.

As I said, you don’t have to unless you want to build a system entirely from scratch.

bonkers223 schrieb:

Furthermore, I want to integrate and network fingerprint scanners, Sonos, and also a heat pump, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do this with KNX.

It’s not always straightforward because it’s about connecting systems that were neither designed nor originally intended to work together. But KNX as a medium usually makes it possible.

bonkers223 schrieb:

Since I’m not clueless when it comes to technology, I want to manage, adjust, and optimize my system myself in the end.

With KNX you have everything you need for that and you can intervene more or less deeply in the functions of the devices (if they have a KNX gateway) — not just turning lights on/off, dimming, or controlling blinds.

bonkers223 schrieb:

To what extent can I also make changes myself? Since it’s KNX-based as far as I have seen, do I need ETS?

No, you can do that through your own app, but it is very limited and restricted in what it allows. It’s a system designed for simple home use and only scratches the surface of what is possible with a full-featured KNX system.

bonkers223 schrieb:

For example, I want to use a fingerprint scanner to turn on music and lights (hallway, etc.).

What’s the reason for doing that? I mean, where do you see the use case? When entering the house?

bonkers223 schrieb:

Or have the photovoltaic system manage the heat pump/heating as an "energy manager."

That often works quite easily with KNX, although there’s usually little to actually control once everything is set up. Mostly it’s about monitoring and fault reporting, for example if a pump fails.

bonkers223 schrieb:

In the end, I don’t want 10 apps or 10 displays all doing their own thing.

Yes, that is one of the biggest strengths of KNX. Everything in one place (and independent of manufacturer) on one screen, or from a single application. You’re not tied to any platform — basically any control device can be used as long as it supports IP or KNX as an interface.

bonkers223 schrieb:

For example, I want to use fingerprint recognition to turn on music and lights (hallway, etc.) or have the photovoltaic system managed together with the heat pump/heating as an "energy manager."

Don’t get me wrong, but that sounds like “seen it in an ad once, looked cool.” You can simply have the lights turn on when it gets dark—why wait until you enter the door? And having music start when you come home might be nice if you’re living alone in an apartment. The heat pump, when properly set up, already does its job well; letting it be controlled by something else can actually be counterproductive.

But anyway, KNX can do all of that, and I wouldn’t choose any other system. Just be aware of the costs and the work involved.