ᐅ Retrofitting a Smart Home in a Single-Family House: Experiences

Created on: 9 Mar 2022 00:35

Hello everyone,

I have spent some time browsing the forum, reading posts, and researching online. But in the end, I am still faced with an overwhelming range of options when it comes to smart homes. I believe I understand the difference between smart as remote control and smart as intelligent automation. I still need to decide what I really need and would like to present my ideas and starting point as follows.

Purchase of an existing detached single-family house, built in 1994, prefabricated timber frame construction, 120 sqm (1300 sq ft) over 2 floors, no basement, gas heating system from Vaillant with a central controller and thermostats on the radiators, no underfloor heating
Family of four, with two small children who will be active in the house, (currently) no pets and unlikely to have any
The house already includes some more or less smart components that came with the purchase:

Most of the roller shutters on both floors are equipped with motors from Schellenberg and are controlled via radio remote
Two Velux roof windows with solar-powered exterior sun protection awnings controlled via the Velux app KIG 300
In the bedroom, there are Occhio lights, which are controlled via "Occhio Air" for lighting and scene settings
Husqvarna AM 315X robotic lawnmower, although I have not researched yet how independently it operates or whether it can be controlled or monitored
Outside there are one or two motion sensors for lighting, but I’ve not looked into those in detail yet

What do I need in terms of smart home... a difficult question. After much reading, there are many great things (or just gimmicks) and it seems appetizing, but as of now I don’t want to make it a hobby and prefer to keep it simple, set up myself, and remain in control. Depending on the use cases, I would like to define or program some logic (I used to be a software developer), but at a level where after 3 months without constant attention, I still understand what I did and can adjust it if needed.

Lighting control / scenes: I mainly see a need on the ground floor in the living and dining areas; for other rooms, I can manage without it. If possible, I would also like to include the bedroom lighting with the existing Occhio lights, but that wouldn’t be a priority or a reason to invest extra, especially across floors.
Heating control (lowering temperature at night and when away, heating the bathroom earlier in the morning than other rooms)
Roller shutter control

Retrofitting remote control for all roller shutters – continue with Schellenberg or replace everything at once?
Close all shutters at once when leaving the house – voice control would be sufficient for me
Timed opening and closing would be enough
Nice-to-have features include timing aligned with sunrise/sunset, energy efficiency by reacting to sunlight, automatic closure when leaving the house without manual command
I am unsure how useful parallel manual control via wall switches is, for example, when the children (when older) want to raise the shutters independently of any automation. Maybe manual control shouldn’t require a phone app. Also, the Velux windows are still operated separately

Add control for the Velux sun awnings so they can be lowered together with the shutters
Detect open windows and warn when leaving the house – this would be a bit more intelligent, but maybe just checking the phone or asking a voice assistant is enough... although as I write this, it is not really that smart 🙂

Nice-to-have: continuous ventilation warning at cold outside temperatures, which happens quite often at home

The old carport is planned to be replaced by a garage in the mid-term

Minimum would be to open the garage door by voice command from inside when getting dressed; on returning from work, a remote control from the car would suffice
Nice to have: the delivery person rings the bell, places the package inside, and I close the garage door remotely from the office. But that probably involves much more, like the door system, which I’d rather leave as is

Open questions: I haven’t understood yet why and how a photovoltaic system and associated charging station should or must be integrated into a smart home, but since our current petrol car will soon be replaced, an electric vehicle will certainly become a topic, along with photovoltaics in general
Presence simulation during holidays
Cut power to rooms/floors to reduce unnecessary consumption, although I don’t know if all devices can handle that well
Nice-to-have for later: lawn irrigation based on measured soil dryness
Nice-to-have: smoke detectors that notify me when I am not at home

Framework conditions

Most of the upstairs (first floor) has already been renovated, so in some rooms we will hardly do anything, meaning rewiring is rather out of the question. My question is whether a wired small solution only on the ground floor makes sense and could be extended to the upper floor later? The only upgrade planned upstairs is adding downlights in the hallway. A renovation might also be critical in terms of timing, effort, and availability of craftsmen, so retrofit solutions like wired DigitalStrom or wireless systems are options.
Overall, I would rather start small and grow into the topic. But from what I have read, this may make it difficult later when new use cases come up.

Schellenberg offers a solution with the Smartfriends Box (or integrated in Magenta Home), but this seems more like a niche product with a small active forum, so maybe not the best starting point?

I don’t feel comfortable adding dozens of switches and sockets controlled wirelessly in addition to the many existing devices in the household such as phones, tablets, TVs, etc. From a building biology standpoint, it is recommended to use only certain protocols to keep exposure low.
Real smart solutions require more rather than fewer sensors in the house. Since we have a minimalist design and value aesthetics, we don’t want sensors placed on every wall corner or ceiling. I would appreciate recommendations for sensors that don’t look like Big Brother’s eyes and can be well hidden.
Currently, we mostly use Apple devices, although I don’t want to be locked into this ecosystem. We also have Sonos for voice control in the house.
EnOcean is ruled out for us as a wireless solution; as someone in the forum mentioned, "Ok for the garage," but the clicking noise of the switches is not acceptable (I checked on YouTube).
I also don’t want to commit to proprietary systems.
I have no insight so far into potential interference and how, if a component, Wi-Fi, or internet fails, the most important functions can still be maintained. For example, I am not home but my wife can still turn the lights on or raise the shutters. Remote control from outside the house may be necessary for some current or future use cases, but it should not be essential for basic functions.

With these rough ideas, I have stepped into the smart home jungle and am picking up one term after another. I want to better understand this jungle, but the dependencies and compatibilities are hard to grasp. For instance, how do I program logic and control what, how powerful or limited is each solution – e.g. integrating devices from different manufacturers using various protocols, which devices/software work together, and how can these be controlled by phone or voice (if not fully smart).

So I tried to create an overview that certainly mixes up quite a bit, but maybe someone can support me with the various dimensions and layers and bring some clarity into this jungle 🙂

Clear table on gateway software, hardware, providers, and protocols in IoT.

I look forward to your suggestions and information on how to get started and what I would need to implement the described minimum and maximum or how the path from minimum to maximum could look over time.

Best regards,
Thomas

Mycraft11 Mar 2022 06:05

ostseekind schrieb:

Not even if both use the same protocol, that would have been my expectation here, that it would work? Otherwise okay, I need a layer on top.

No, not always even then. There are many promises, but in reality, full functionality is only guaranteed when staying within the same manufacturer’s ecosystem. As soon as other manufacturers come into play, you often end up with only basic functions.

karl.jonas11 Mar 2022 13:24

I have looked at the sources you cited (as well as my own Google results: cradle-mag, baubiologie-magazin, ibes-gegen-elektrosmog). The first sentence appears three times almost identically and without further explanation.
The second quote I found in the "pc-magazin", which is also not known for thorough research, along with the sentence "The purpose of Bluetooth and WLAN is to replace cables with wireless. That’s why they must always be active—meaning: on air." The latter is obviously nonsense. I also found this statement again in a book by Günther Ohland, preceded by the sentence "Building radio itself is harmless to health."

There are different views on electrosmog, but the statements you quoted can probably be ignored. It is more of a very personal yes/no assessment. Certain technologies are not relevant in this context.

karl.jonas11 Mar 2022 13:29

KNX is indeed expensive and (technically) outdated or not ideal, but it is the only standard that provides true interoperability between devices from different manufacturers. Other systems may have partnerships between some manufacturers, so it can work if, for example, Philips and Ikea cooperate. True interoperability with current and secure technologies is mostly only found in DIY projects, which you then have to take up as a hobby.

And now I’ll take cover 😳

ᐅ Retrofitting a Smart Home in a Single-Family House: Experiences

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