ᐅ Best Smart Home Upgrade for New Construction

Created on: 20 Jul 2021 13:17
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Pacc666
Hello

Are there good retrofit smart home systems available?

We bought a semi-detached house as a new build from a developer.

The electrician declined to work with KNX and said he is not familiar with it and won’t do it.

My question is: Are there good retrofit options for smart home systems that don’t require opening up the walls (that is not an option)?

Which systems would you recommend?

Functions:

Light control
Window sensors (preferably invisible)
Shutter control
Music control
Video doorbell

It should definitely be possible to create scenes and rules.

I’m also open to other suggestions for useful functions I may not have thought of yet.
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NoggerLoger
2 Aug 2021 18:04
However, the others are not bad either. Loxone also has its charm and good ideas.
Patricck2 Aug 2021 18:18
Pacc666 schrieb:

I came across the Comexio system while continuing my search for a suitable smart home solution.

They claim to offer a professional smart home system at affordable prices.

Has anyone had experience with the Comexio smart home?

Personally, I would go with Loxone. Compared to Loxone, Comexio is still far behind. Also because Loxone is constantly bringing more manufacturers on board. They are currently in talks with Velux, and the community on the blue F and Loxwiki is huge. And it simply works, as long as you don’t make mistakes when programming.
Patricck2 Aug 2021 18:21
Mycraft schrieb:

It’s another PLC tied to a single manufacturer. If it fails, you end up with a dumb home. If the manufacturer goes bankrupt... and so on. The wiring is also more complex than with, for example, KNX.

Loxone going bankrupt is rather doubtful. It’s also doubtful that the components would no longer be available. If the KNX power supply fails, the system goes down as well. You replace the miniserver, put the SD card back in, and the system runs again. With KNX, you need a programmer to reconnect the components using the ETS software.
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NoggerLoger
2 Aug 2021 18:27
Patricck schrieb:

It’s rather doubtful that Loxone is going bankrupt. It’s also doubtful that the components are no longer available. If your KNX power supply fails, your system will stop working just the same. With Loxone, you just replace the Miniserver and put the SD card back in, and the system runs again. With KNX, you first need a programmer to reconnect the components using the ETS software.

I’ve witnessed the SD card problem twice with my brother’s system; after that, he converted everything to KNX and never had any issues again. But of course, you need ETS 5 for that—and nowadays there is also a more affordable Home edition available. Configuring it isn’t stressful, but it’s not exactly intuitive either; however, I appreciate having the choice. Just take the example of presence detectors, which either work optically or use ultrasound to detect breathing. Still, I assume a Loxone system is simpler and faster for the average user. Ultimately, you have to decide what matters most to you.
Patricck2 Aug 2021 19:03
How much does an SD card cost? If in doubt, I just create a backup. Remove the card, insert a new one, and restore the backup... it takes about 10 minutes.
SD cards cause issues not only with Loxone. However, replacing them is not a problem.
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Pacc666
2 Aug 2021 19:40
I also find Loxone quite interesting, but one problem with Loxone is that if they were to go bankrupt at some point, I would have to replace all the wiring and tear open the walls.

That is the biggest criticism.