Hello,
for our planned new build, I would like to automate as much as my budget allows. A central control system (touchscreen/app) for blinds, underfloor heating, and possibly indoor/outdoor lighting. Since I’m not familiar with this topic, I have two basic questions:
1). What approximate costs should I expect if about 170sqm (1,830 sqft) of living space including bathroom, toilet, hallway, 4 living rooms, and garage are to be automated? Of course, I understand you can’t give me an exact estimate.
2). How should I best approach my planning? Since I assume my budget won’t cover everything at once, I want to at least make all necessary preparations during construction. That way, I can add features later without having to open up walls. Sort of like preparing the roof for solar panels in advance…
Looking forward to your answers
for our planned new build, I would like to automate as much as my budget allows. A central control system (touchscreen/app) for blinds, underfloor heating, and possibly indoor/outdoor lighting. Since I’m not familiar with this topic, I have two basic questions:
1). What approximate costs should I expect if about 170sqm (1,830 sqft) of living space including bathroom, toilet, hallway, 4 living rooms, and garage are to be automated? Of course, I understand you can’t give me an exact estimate.
2). How should I best approach my planning? Since I assume my budget won’t cover everything at once, I want to at least make all necessary preparations during construction. That way, I can add features later without having to open up walls. Sort of like preparing the roof for solar panels in advance…
Looking forward to your answers
B
Bauexperte15 Jan 2014 17:15Hello,
If you are considering well-known providers in this field – Siemens or KNX – you should calculate starting from around 10,000 EUR (approximately 10,700 USD).
One of my clients – a former Apple technician – recently started his own business specializing in home automation; he is based in Leverkusen. If you’re interested in further information, contact me via private message and I’ll gladly share his contact details.
Regards, Bauexperte
kirsel schrieb:
For our planned new build, I would like to automate as much as my budget allows. Central control (touchscreen/app) for blinds, underfloor heating, possibly indoor/outdoor lighting. Since I’m not familiar with this topic, I have two basic questions:
1) What costs should I roughly expect if about 170 sqm (1,830 sq ft) of living space including kitchen, bathroom, hallway, plus 4 living rooms and a garage are to be automated? Of course, I understand you can’t give me an exact figure.
2) How should I best plan this? Since I assume my budget won’t cover everything at once, I want to at least make all necessary preparations during construction. This way, I can retrofit later without having to break through walls. Kind of like a photovoltaic preparation for the roof…
Looking forward to your answers
If you are considering well-known providers in this field – Siemens or KNX – you should calculate starting from around 10,000 EUR (approximately 10,700 USD).
One of my clients – a former Apple technician – recently started his own business specializing in home automation; he is based in Leverkusen. If you’re interested in further information, contact me via private message and I’ll gladly share his contact details.
Regards, Bauexperte
Hello kirsel,
About 1.5 years ago, I was working on exactly the same idea. After a lot of consideration and research, I came to the conclusion that if you want KNX, it has to be installed from the start. Retrofitting is hardly possible or very difficult. The entire wiring is different compared to conventional wiring. Having just the bus cable won’t help you. You need to run each device separately to the distribution board. Outlets can be wired with 5 or better 7 conductors, and later you can decide which ones should be switchable or not.
I then chose KNX and for a 185 m² (1990 ft²) house, the total electrical installation cost me about 28,000 euros. This included control of lighting, roller shutters, window monitoring (have you considered window contacts?), scenes (lighting scenes, absence simulation, etc.).
I would always recommend leaving the planning to a KNX specialist. They are best suited to advise which sensors/actuators fit your needs. It’s a good idea to join a KNX user forum and then it’s all about reading... reading... reading.
Good luck and have fun with the project!
About 1.5 years ago, I was working on exactly the same idea. After a lot of consideration and research, I came to the conclusion that if you want KNX, it has to be installed from the start. Retrofitting is hardly possible or very difficult. The entire wiring is different compared to conventional wiring. Having just the bus cable won’t help you. You need to run each device separately to the distribution board. Outlets can be wired with 5 or better 7 conductors, and later you can decide which ones should be switchable or not.
I then chose KNX and for a 185 m² (1990 ft²) house, the total electrical installation cost me about 28,000 euros. This included control of lighting, roller shutters, window monitoring (have you considered window contacts?), scenes (lighting scenes, absence simulation, etc.).
I would always recommend leaving the planning to a KNX specialist. They are best suited to advise which sensors/actuators fit your needs. It’s a good idea to join a KNX user forum and then it’s all about reading... reading... reading.
Good luck and have fun with the project!
I can fully agree with that... I did my installation myself, but the costs are realistic... and you have to decide in advance which system you want to rely on...
Mixed installations are always a compromise and usually just lead to problems...
Similarly, things like only installing roller shutters and leaving the rest for later end up looking like you wanted to do something but couldn’t after all...
Mixed installations are always a compromise and usually just lead to problems...
Similarly, things like only installing roller shutters and leaving the rest for later end up looking like you wanted to do something but couldn’t after all...
My husband programmed and designed our entire home automation system himself because the common systems are too expensive and don’t offer everything he wants. This way, the home automation is individually expandable and can be tailored to personal needs. If you want more information, feel free to read all about it on our building blog.
Best regards
Best regards