ᐅ New Semi-Detached House – Is Investing an Extra $10,000 Worthwhile for a Smart Home?
Created on: 17 Jan 2021 17:11
G
Giggz123
Hello everyone,
we are currently planning the construction of our half of a semi-detached house. Initially, I was considering a KNX solution for home automation, but the reality as homebuilders is catching up with us, and the budget is getting tighter. Due to the plot, we are tied to a construction company that handles all trades (including electrical) with their own staff. The contract is expected to be signed soon.
The construction company seems to have limited expertise regarding smart home systems, so I’m now considering how to best proceed.
At the moment, the plan is for conventional electrical work (about 8,000 EUR), plus additional services for almost 4,000 EUR net to install a LAN connection in every room and reach a total of 100 power outlets and 20 lighting points (there may still be some missing).
We still have about 10,000 EUR left, so the entire (smart) electrical installation can cost around 22,000 EUR. We have also planned 13 roller shutters / blinds, which — for now — will have conventional electrical control.
Requirements - Must Have:
Nice to Have:
Options:
1. Conventional wiring plus standalone radio solutions (this is what we currently have in the rental apartment: Somfy roller shutters, HUE lights, etc.), integrated into a common visualization platform (such as ioBroker and others)
2. Proprietary system, currently the favorite is probably Free@Home with central actuators, allowing a possible later switch to KNX if needed. Alternatively, Homematic Wired might be an option.
3a. KNX with the must-haves and preparation (cabling) for nice-to-haves / as much as possible
3b. KNX with must-haves, nice-to-haves via radio solutions / gateways, integrated into a common visualization (ioBroker and others)
I’ve read a lot about this but somehow keep going in circles...
Do you have any advice on how to best approach this now? Should I create a room schedule and request various offers for options 2 and 3? Should I look for a qualified system integrator / smart home expert who can offer both options 2 and 3? Or is this basically unrealistic with the given budget, and I should focus on option 1?
Although construction doesn’t start until summer, if I want to try to contract the electrical trade elsewhere, I only have about 4 weeks left.
I am not completely ruling out KNX and could also imagine doing some work myself. Has anyone used a solution where they hired a planner, had the control cabinet assembled and shipped, then had the construction company’s electrician install all the wiring, and finally configured everything themselves?
Many thanks in advance!
we are currently planning the construction of our half of a semi-detached house. Initially, I was considering a KNX solution for home automation, but the reality as homebuilders is catching up with us, and the budget is getting tighter. Due to the plot, we are tied to a construction company that handles all trades (including electrical) with their own staff. The contract is expected to be signed soon.
The construction company seems to have limited expertise regarding smart home systems, so I’m now considering how to best proceed.
At the moment, the plan is for conventional electrical work (about 8,000 EUR), plus additional services for almost 4,000 EUR net to install a LAN connection in every room and reach a total of 100 power outlets and 20 lighting points (there may still be some missing).
We still have about 10,000 EUR left, so the entire (smart) electrical installation can cost around 22,000 EUR. We have also planned 13 roller shutters / blinds, which — for now — will have conventional electrical control.
Requirements - Must Have:
- Lighting:
- Central control of lights (preferably all, if necessary by floor, room, or selected areas); partial dimming
- Shading:
- Central control of roller shutters / blinds with automated shading
- Power:
- Make approximately 10+ power outlets switchable
Nice to Have:
- Avoid residual current devices (RCDs) if justifiable via smart home (I do not intend to actively control heating)
- Connection to controlled residential ventilation system
- Integration of voice control
- Window contacts
- Visualization
- Presence detectors
- Sonos integration
- Intercom system integration (Doorbird, Busch Jäger Welcome)
- Alarm system functionality (via presence detectors / sensors, possibly also a proprietary system, e.g. Busch Secure@Home)
Options:
1. Conventional wiring plus standalone radio solutions (this is what we currently have in the rental apartment: Somfy roller shutters, HUE lights, etc.), integrated into a common visualization platform (such as ioBroker and others)
2. Proprietary system, currently the favorite is probably Free@Home with central actuators, allowing a possible later switch to KNX if needed. Alternatively, Homematic Wired might be an option.
3a. KNX with the must-haves and preparation (cabling) for nice-to-haves / as much as possible
3b. KNX with must-haves, nice-to-haves via radio solutions / gateways, integrated into a common visualization (ioBroker and others)
I’ve read a lot about this but somehow keep going in circles...
Do you have any advice on how to best approach this now? Should I create a room schedule and request various offers for options 2 and 3? Should I look for a qualified system integrator / smart home expert who can offer both options 2 and 3? Or is this basically unrealistic with the given budget, and I should focus on option 1?
Although construction doesn’t start until summer, if I want to try to contract the electrical trade elsewhere, I only have about 4 weeks left.
I am not completely ruling out KNX and could also imagine doing some work myself. Has anyone used a solution where they hired a planner, had the control cabinet assembled and shipped, then had the construction company’s electrician install all the wiring, and finally configured everything themselves?
Many thanks in advance!
A
AllThumbs8 Apr 2021 15:35RE-1407 schrieb:
The alarm system is not connected to KNX in our case, as far as I remember. It should be on a separate circuit. Ah, okay. I thought it might be integrated since you mentioned occupancy sensors. So these are dedicated specifically for the alarm system?
AllThumbs schrieb:
The problem is that it’s difficult to determine the actual additional cost. An alarm system and cameras initially have nothing to do with smart home technology. These would have been added on top even with conventional wiring. The same applies to every spotlight and outlet that I add beyond the construction specification.
Window contacts might also be installed with conventional electrical work and then used exclusively for the alarm system.
I think it’s good when people share their total costs, but unfortunately, it’s hard to draw conclusions about the additional price. I agree 100%, BUT:
I can’t quickly provide a perfectly precise calculation for you to work with because I haven’t memorized the quote. I can only list what the electrician approximately included and will install, as well as the total costs involved.
To be fair to everyone, we would need to go through the quote in detail and decide whether it’s KNX or not, and so on.
AllThumbs schrieb:
Ah, okay. I thought this would be based on that, since you mentioned occupancy sensors. So these are also dedicated to the security system? If I remember correctly (the discussions were almost a year ago), occupancy sensors and the security system are supposed to work together – but don’t ask me how the electrical setup will manage that.
I can’t confirm the VDS certification for you 100%, I only read that the battery is VDS certified.
A
AllThumbs8 Apr 2021 15:43RE-1407 schrieb:
100% agree, BUT:
I can’t quickly provide you with a precise calculation to work from, as I haven’t memorized the quote. I can only list roughly what the electrician included and will install, and what the total costs will be.
To be fair to everyone, the quote would need to be thoroughly analyzed to decide whether to go with KNX or not, etc. That was meant in a general sense and not as a request for you. Even breaking down the quote won’t help much, since conventional electrical work would have looked quite different from the start—starting with cable lengths/types and also the devices to be installed, etc.
RE-1407 schrieb:
If I remember correctly (the discussions were almost a year ago), occupancy sensors and the alarm system are supposed to work together—don’t ask me how the electrical setup will achieve that.
I can’t confirm the VDS certification with 100% certainty; I only read that the battery is VDS-certified. Okay, that suggests the systems are actually fully independent.
R
RotorMotor8 Apr 2021 15:43RE-1407 schrieb:
... which is not necessarily required (which we also did with weather stations, etc.).
We should all remember where we come from and how we started.
Most of us still live like 20 or 30 years ago (no disrespect intended),
but what we are discussing here (KNX and similar systems) is, in my opinion, pure luxury.Just to ask a bit provocatively: What exactly is "smart" to you?
RotorMotor schrieb:
A bit of a provocative question: What exactly is "smart" for you?I'm not a typical smart home installer, as I don’t use everything that’s possible or want to use it, and I’m keeping some features in reserve for later. For now, it has been enough that I don’t have to raise and lower blinds in 15 rooms every day. I can control the ventilation/air conditioning/heating/lighting/intercom system, or at least check them remotely. I also understand that ventilation/air conditioning/heating settings don’t need to be changed daily.Once we have fully moved in, scenes and the extra features that my wife will certainly come up with will be programmed.
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