ᐅ Choosing a Smart Home System for Roller Shutters, Awnings, and More

Hello,
We are currently facing the exciting and challenging question of which home automation system is best suited for our needs.
Below, I have tried to explain the existing requirements, wishes, and thoughts on this topic, and we look forward to further input.
Thank you very much in advance!

Which system?
Somfy was frequently recommended to us.

However, in some aspects, I have increasingly noticed recommendations against it, mainly concerning heating thermostats and switchable power outlets.
I was also puzzled by the overall situation regarding Somfy’s central components. Originally, there was the predecessor of the Tahoma Switch, the Connectivity System, and a DIN rail system. A successor is supposedly planned for the last-mentioned system, but its release is unclear. Altogether, this results in a rather uncertain roadmap. Naturally, the plan is to use a future-proof system that will not be discontinued within the next few months.

Additionally, there seems to be no planning certainty here because current generation changes not only add improvements but also eliminate many protocols.

Finally, I tried to ask Somfy support some questions in advance. Unfortunately, this was completely unsuccessful, which does not bode well for potential support cases.

Current situation
The planned project involves a retrofit in an existing building. Retrofitting in-wall cables should therefore be avoided.

A LAN network wiring is present throughout the house, allowing additional range extenders (repeaters, receivers, or the respective manufacturer’s term) to be distributed around the house.

Advantages and disadvantages
We are completely open to knowing which systems besides Somfy should be considered. Due to this lack of knowledge, the pros and cons of the different systems are also unclear.

Ultimately, the goal is to find the system best suited for the scenario described here.

Existing components
Currently, there are only a few systems in use, limited to heating scenarios and switchable power outlets.

• Heating thermostats (AVM)
• Switchable power outlets (AVM)

So far, the Fritz!Box has been quite versatile for us, but this is changing increasingly. Reasons include switching to higher-quality manufacturers (Wi-Fi with multi-SSID with separate networks for “all devices communicating with the cloud”), VLAN, technology changes, or problems and limitations in the AVM world (e.g., DECT across multiple floors, DECT range extenders/repeaters for home automation).

Planned components
Why is the question of the right system currently important to us? We are planning to purchase awnings for the terrace as well as roof windows. Even if these are currently the priority products, we do not want to limit ourselves only to them.

• Roller shutters (Somfy was recommended)
• Markilux awning (Somfy motor was recommended)
• Vertical awning Roma (Somfy motor was recommended)
• Terrace lighting (24V system with distributor, dimmer, transformer [Hera LED 24 / 75W F and Hera LED 24 Receiver 24V DC 1]), ideally, the entire dimmer-transformer combination could be replaced
• Roof windows from Roto
• Outdoor socket for seasonal outdoor lighting (Christmas, winter)
• Switchable socket with energy consumption measurement (ideally also reversed to measure energy fed in)

Desired aspects
The following points have been identified as important or desirable for us:

• Central component (preferably DIN rail system or similar)
• LAN, not just Wi-Fi (the system should be in a separate VLAN)
• Repeaters/range extenders should be available, preferably with the option to connect via LAN
• Use of a manufacturer’s cloud should be optional only

Surely something was forgotten, but hopefully, this gives a first impression of the underlying idea.

So, actually not a smart home, just a few simple helpers.

For example, I would simply install a few Shelly devices. They use Wi-Fi but do not require a manufacturer’s cloud service.

As @KarstenausNRW has already mentioned, this project has nothing to do with smart homes but rather making a few components remotely controllable.
I would also consider using Shelly devices and/or combining them with ioBroker or Home Assistant.

I don’t quite understand how this:

Stefan08154711 schrieb:

Retrofitting flush-mounted cables should be avoided.

and this:

Stefan08154711 schrieb:

• Central component (preferably a DIN rail system or similar)
• LAN, not just Wi-Fi (system should be in a separate vLAN)

are supposed to fit together.

Either everything is already installed everywhere, which would mean everything was planned for a specific system, or all cables have to be newly installed. Alternatively, everything could be wireless/Wi-Fi, but then that has nothing to do with the DIN rail system.

KarstenausNRW schrieb:

So actually not a smart home, just a few simple helpers.

For that, I would simply install a few Shellys. They use Wi-Fi but don’t require a manufacturer’s cloud service.

Shellys would indeed be a fairly affordable solution. As far as I can tell, you can also set up scenes with them. However, I would miss having heating thermostats in this setup.

Where does smart home actually begin? Looking ahead, weather sensors might be added to the awnings or roof windows, which could trigger actions like closing windows depending on weather conditions. To me, that would count as smart home. In other words, the first step is enabling automatic control, followed by the addition of scenes and sensors.

Pacmansh schrieb:

I don’t quite understand how this:


and this are supposed to fit together.



Either everything is already installed everywhere, which would mean it’s all planned for a specific system, or everything needs to be newly installed. Alternatively, everything could be wireless via radio/Wi-Fi, but then it wouldn’t have anything to do with the DIN rail anymore.

There is actually quite extensive LAN wiring in the house. This would allow central components of a system or additional range extenders to be connected so that Wi-Fi wouldn’t have to be used.

From my understanding, with modern wiring, all components are usually wired in a star topology to the central unit. This is neither possible nor desired here. The smart home components are therefore supposed to be controlled wirelessly.