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!
AllThumbs schrieb:
My comment was in response to the accusation from @RotorMotor that we were writing too much about alarm systems. But yes, I agree with you. The statements you mentioned were completely unnecessary.I know, I wasn’t referring to myself 🙂
People just focused on the alarm system from my original post and kept commenting only on that.
If anyone is interested, I can roughly share the prices for the sub-items:
Metering system
Actuators
Sensors
etc.
R
RotorMotor9 Apr 2021 10:56RE-1407 schrieb:
I know, I wasn’t referring to myself 🙂
People just focused on the alarm system from my opening post and only commented on that.
If anyone is interested, I can roughly post the prices for the following items:
Metering system
Actuators
Sensors
etc.That would be very interesting to see how close you get to the 10k!RotorMotor schrieb:
That would be very interesting to see how close you can get to the 10k mark!Here is a rough estimate, where I am aware that there are potential savings in some areas, but reducing costs was not the primary goal when expanding KNX.
The sub-items also include ceiling penetrations, ceiling boxes, programming, etc.
Metering system 5,200 (Hager products)
TKNX actuators 4,200 (Jung)
KNX sensors 10,300 (Jung)
Installation devices 6,500 (including DALI dimming)
Cables and wiring 8,000
Equipotential bonding 300
Network technology 1,000
Door communication 2,600 (Gira)
Camera surveillance 2,500 (AXIS)
Intrusion alarm system 2,500 (INDEXA)
less 10K for the trade, deducted from the construction service description
plus VAT = approx. 39,000
Sorry, my mistake. I didn’t correctly understand your intentions. For most users here in the forum and in this thread, the goal is to spend as little money as possible on KNX while achieving the best possible results.
In your case, it seems to be completely different. Again, sorry—I didn’t realize that the usual cost constraints don’t apply here and that the 10K mentioned in the thread title carries a certain undertone and serves as a sort of limit, especially since the budget planned was actually four times that amount.
That is, of course, a completely different matter.
In your case, it seems to be completely different. Again, sorry—I didn’t realize that the usual cost constraints don’t apply here and that the 10K mentioned in the thread title carries a certain undertone and serves as a sort of limit, especially since the budget planned was actually four times that amount.
That is, of course, a completely different matter.
Mycraft schrieb:
Sorry, my mistake. I didn’t properly understand your intentions. For most users here in the forum and in this thread, the goal is to use KNX with as little money as possible while achieving the best possible results.
In your case, it seems completely different. Sorry again, I didn’t realize that there isn’t the usual cost constraint here, and that the $10K mentioned in the thread title has a certain nuance and acts as a sort of limit, since four times that amount was actually planned.
That’s obviously a completely different ballgame.All good! I’m not holding a grudge 🙂 I just want to contribute to helping others where I can.
R
RotorMotor9 Apr 2021 15:14RE-1407 schrieb:
TKNX actuators 4,200 (Jung)
KNX sensors 10,300 (Jung)
Installation devices 6,500 (including DALI dimming, among others)Thank you for the information. I just realized that I completely misread the numbers in my initial response.
It wasn’t an extra cost of 17k but rather 39k plus or minus the 10k for the “standard” package?
That, of course, is quite far from the concept discussed in this thread.
However, if you only look at the “KNX points” mentioned in the quote, it’s just 14 to 20.
But that doesn’t include wiring, so it’s hard to separate those costs.
What exactly is included under the sensor category?
If I understand correctly, there were about 5 presence detectors?