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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daniel0319
8 Aug 2021 11:58
Patricck schrieb:

In most cases, floor heating systems are also equipped with valves. I don’t know of any construction site without room thermostats or valves. Slow response or not, it doesn’t matter whether it’s multi-family housing or single-family homes.

When building according to KFW standards, individual room control is actually mandatory, as far as I know.

That will be the case for me as well, and there will be thermostats. The question I had was whether it makes sense to make them smart or if that’s unnecessary.

Yes, we are building to KFW 55 standards.
Mycraft8 Aug 2021 12:31
daniel0319 schrieb:

The question I had was whether it makes sense to make these smart, or if it’s pointless.

Anything beyond a simple temperature display to satisfy curiosity or use that information in other ways (e.g., statistics) is generally unnecessary in modern, occupied homes.

Underfloor heating simply cannot respond as quickly as you might want (or as you know from high-temperature systems like radiators). By the time the screed heats up or cools down, the next morning has already arrived. In some especially efficient systems, it can even take 2–3 days.

You can still install an energy recovery device (ERR) if required. However, hardly anyone actually uses it because it’s unnecessary with underfloor heating. Of course, it’s a different matter with systems that are completely messed up; in those cases, everything depends on the emergency stop devices on the walls.
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daniel0319
8 Aug 2021 12:44
Mycraft schrieb:

Anything beyond a simple temperature display to satisfy curiosity or to use this information in other ways (e.g., statistics) is generally unnecessary in modern, occupied houses.

Underfloor heating simply cannot respond as quickly as you might expect (or as you might be used to with high-temperature systems like radiators). By the time the screed has warmed up or cooled down, the next morning has usually already arrived. In some highly efficient systems, even 2-3 days might have passed.

You can still install a residual current device (RCD) if required by regulations. However, in the end, hardly anyone uses it because it’s unnecessary with underfloor heating. Of course, with severely flawed systems, it’s a different matter. There, the only option is the emergency stop switches on the walls.

Quick side question: What exactly is meant by ERR?
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RotorMotor
8 Aug 2021 12:57
daniel0319 schrieb:

Quick question, what exactly does ERR mean?

Single Room Control means having a thermostat in each room and a valve on each circuit.
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daniel0319
8 Aug 2021 13:05
RotorMotor schrieb:

Individual room control means having a thermostat in each room and a valve on each circuit.
Ah yes, got it. Thanks.

Is it possible to monitor the thermostats, or are there options to directly record the temperature data from each room’s thermostat in Home Assistant? As you already mentioned, purely for information purposes.
untergasse438 Aug 2021 13:33
It is also possible to achieve individual room control by measuring the temperature, for example, with a touch sensor that is already installed, and letting the software handle the regulation. The software then controls the valves. This way, you don’t need to install unattractive thermostats in every room, and you won’t have them on the walls even if you eventually follow the path to proper hydraulic balancing 🙂