ᐅ Simple Smart Home System – HomeKit: Bosch, Opus, or Others?

Hello everyone,
after reading quite a bit about different smart home systems and trying to get an overview of the very extensive market, I am now extremely undecided and confused about which direction to take.

We are planning to build a single-family house with 182 sqm (1956 sq ft) and a double garage in the middle of the year. We would like to include some automation to make life easier.

To better assess this, I have tried to list the most important factors and requirements:

• Must
• Control roller shutters
• Control lighting
• Should
• Control front door
• Partially control power outlets
• Could
• Control music
• Control garage door
• Integrate smoke detectors
• Won’t (not needed)
• Integrate robotic lawnmower
• Integrate alarm system
• Control heating
• Control photovoltaic system

Additional requirements:

• Voice control via Apple Watch and HomePod/Smart Speaker
• Touch control via iPhone and iPad
• Ability to easily create custom automations without programming
• As few battery-powered devices/switches as possible
• Lights should still be controllable via physical switches

Use cases/examples:

• I come home in the evening, the outdoor lighting turns on, and I open the door without a key. As soon as I enter the hallway, the hallway light turns on automatically and is slightly dimmed according to the time of day.
• I get up in the morning, and if it’s a weekday between 6 and 8 a.m., and I walk through the downstairs hallway, the roller shutters should go up. Additionally, the light in our dining area including the kitchen turns on.

Budget:

• Max. 8,000€

About the planned house:

• Living area: 182 sqm (1956 sq ft)
• Rooms:
• Open living/dining room with kitchen
• Office/guest room
• Bedroom with dressing room
• Guest bathroom
• Bathroom
• Children’s room 1
• Children’s room 2
• Fitness room
• Utility room
• Approximately 15 controllable lighting units
• 3 external venetian blinds (also called “brise soleil” or sun protection screens)
• 11 roller shutters

Systems I have already looked into:

• KNX
• Loxone
• free@home
• HomeMatic
• Bosch
• Opus

Current preference would be:

• 2x iPads including wall mounts
• 1x Opus greenNet central unit
• 14x Opus roller shutter controllers (flush-mounted)
• 18x Opus light switches (flush-mounted)
• 3x Opus presence/motion detectors

I would gradually acquire and integrate the rest, such as HomePod, Denon receiver, Hörmann garage door control, etc.

Questions:

• Do you know of other systems I should look into more closely?
• Is a simple KNX/Loxone solution feasible within a budget of 8,000€? If yes, are there options to simplify the automation interface or even integrate it with Apple HomeKit?
• Does anyone have experience with Opus or Bosch?
• Has anyone made their house/new build smart with HomeKit?

Final note:
Please, no fundamental discussions about the term smart home. I know KNX is top of the line. The independence, security, and bus system are very appealing. However, based on my online research, prices starting at 25,000€ are simply too high for the automations I am planning.

We have Somfy installed. With that, I can manage the "must" requirements. Some of the "could" ones (garage door, smoke detectors) are also feasible. I'm not sure about the "should" ones...

In general, I am naturally in favor of KNX, but considering the requirements and the budget, it probably won’t work out. Opus works perfectly. However, multimedia is only possible with HomeKit or by integrating Control4. The "central unit" is not really a central controller; it is "just" a HomeKit or LAN gateway. The system itself operates fine without a central controller. You would need to create the automations in HomeKit or Control4, although Control4 is not really a do-it-yourself system. In general, the question is whether you want or can do everything yourself or if you need to rely on professional help, which will cost money as well.

/Edit: I just noticed that Opus now also supports Mediola integration. That could open up quite a few possibilities.

A basic question: Are you free to choose the electrical installation system (Elis), or are you bound to a specific one? If you are bound, what experience does it have?

Schimi1791 schrieb:

We have Somfy installed. This allows me to manage the "must" requirements. Some of the "could" ones (garage door, smoke detector) are also feasible. I'm not sure about the "should" ones...

Thank you for your opinion. I had already looked into that since we had visited a few Viebrockhaus homes, which apparently come equipped with Somfy.

It is definitely interesting that an integration with Apple HomeKit is expected later this year. I will certainly keep an eye on that.

I just remembered that Somfy also offers socket adapters that can be controlled via Wi-Fi. This way, a "should" requirement would also be met 🙂 So, for a simple system, everything needed is available.

Ultimately, many different systems can probably be integrated under Google.