Hi,
I’m still undecided about installing home automation in our planned new build.
My requirements are as follows:
- Control of roller shutters or blinds (possibly window contacts to detect open windows)
- Control of heating / air source heat pump or solar system
- Control of a video intercom system via a tablet
Of course, I have looked into KNX and the material costs alone would be around 6000€ (approximately 6,350 USD). As an alternative, Loxone is mentioned increasingly often, although the proprietary format is a bit off-putting.
My requirements could also be met with a manufacturer-specific system.
Do you have any recommendations for or against home automation (in my case)?
Best regards
Acd85
I’m still undecided about installing home automation in our planned new build.
My requirements are as follows:
- Control of roller shutters or blinds (possibly window contacts to detect open windows)
- Control of heating / air source heat pump or solar system
- Control of a video intercom system via a tablet
Of course, I have looked into KNX and the material costs alone would be around 6000€ (approximately 6,350 USD). As an alternative, Loxone is mentioned increasingly often, although the proprietary format is a bit off-putting.
My requirements could also be met with a manufacturer-specific system.
Do you have any recommendations for or against home automation (in my case)?
Best regards
Acd85
After spending most of last week reading and planning, I have now finished the room layout.
Attached are the floor plans with symbols marked by clear position numbers, the legend, and the room schedule (which can’t really be read as a JPEG).
The biggest challenge for me in the whole planning process remains the lighting.
Since we don’t really like recessed ceiling spots due to their very focused lighting, I’m not sure how best to handle it.
In the circulation areas, WC, and dressing room, the plan is now to install an LED panel as the main light source.
For accent lighting in the stairwell, we would like small wall lights at knee height along the stairs and additional wall lights at the landings. Since these are not meant to be very bright, I decided against making them dimmable. Does that make sense?
In most living areas, a single central light fixture connected to a dimmer actuator is planned.
In the dining/kitchen area and the master bathroom, I would like to use LED RGB(W) strips for indirect lighting. Since I have several Philips Hue products and want to keep these, I’m considering whether it would be possible (and more cost-effective) to control these strips via the Hue system.
The Hue system could then be integrated into the bus system through a KNX gateway.
Basically, I would like to cover as much as possible with LEDs, and DALI seems perfectly suited for this, but I don’t fully understand it yet:
Simplified, I should be able to run a 5x1.5mm² cable from the distribution board room to room. In each room, there would be a certain number of electronic ballasts (EVGs) controlled via the DALI gateway.
However, since we won’t have dropped ceilings due to low floor-to-ceiling heights, I assume the ballasts will need to be placed in halogen junction boxes with transformer tunnels or centrally (which is generally not recommended).
As you can see, the lighting still gives me quite a headache.
Regarding switches, I’ve tried to limit it to a maximum of one switch per room since the rooms aren’t very large.
The only exception is the bedroom, where there would additionally be a push button at each side of the bed. Does this make sense?
What about circulation areas (stairwell, WC)?
Would it be sensible to use a standard push button with a bus coupler there to manually turn on the main lighting, in case the automatic dimmed and staircase lighting isn’t sufficient, or to control the shading manually?
I’ve really tried to break away from the idea of having as few switches as possible, but I can’t quite figure out how to control the brightness in these rooms without at least one push button.
One idea is to dedicate one button from the lighting switch in each adjacent room (E0 = Entrance, E1 = Kitchen, E2 = Living, E3 = Hallway) to control the lighting in the stairwell. That should work, right?
Should I connect the basement lighting directly to the bus, or would it be better not to, to ensure the lights at the distribution board still work in case the bus fails?
Overall, the number of switched sockets seems quite high to me. I’m still not sure if this is necessary.
Do I understand correctly that if I run just one 5x1.5mm² cable from the distribution board to a room only for the sockets, I can create three groups? For example, one group for constant power and two groups switched?
Would it make sense to plan a subdistribution board in the stairwell on level 2 or 3 in advance?
How would I then connect this subdistribution to the basement?
Quite a bit of text—I hope you can help me out. After this week, my head is really spinning, and I can’t see the forest for the trees anymore.
The exterior landscaping is still being planned but hasn’t really been considered yet.
Thanks at this point also to @Tom1607 who kindly shared his planning with me.
Best regards
Attached are the floor plans with symbols marked by clear position numbers, the legend, and the room schedule (which can’t really be read as a JPEG).
The biggest challenge for me in the whole planning process remains the lighting.
Since we don’t really like recessed ceiling spots due to their very focused lighting, I’m not sure how best to handle it.
In the circulation areas, WC, and dressing room, the plan is now to install an LED panel as the main light source.
For accent lighting in the stairwell, we would like small wall lights at knee height along the stairs and additional wall lights at the landings. Since these are not meant to be very bright, I decided against making them dimmable. Does that make sense?
In most living areas, a single central light fixture connected to a dimmer actuator is planned.
In the dining/kitchen area and the master bathroom, I would like to use LED RGB(W) strips for indirect lighting. Since I have several Philips Hue products and want to keep these, I’m considering whether it would be possible (and more cost-effective) to control these strips via the Hue system.
The Hue system could then be integrated into the bus system through a KNX gateway.
Basically, I would like to cover as much as possible with LEDs, and DALI seems perfectly suited for this, but I don’t fully understand it yet:
Simplified, I should be able to run a 5x1.5mm² cable from the distribution board room to room. In each room, there would be a certain number of electronic ballasts (EVGs) controlled via the DALI gateway.
However, since we won’t have dropped ceilings due to low floor-to-ceiling heights, I assume the ballasts will need to be placed in halogen junction boxes with transformer tunnels or centrally (which is generally not recommended).
As you can see, the lighting still gives me quite a headache.
Regarding switches, I’ve tried to limit it to a maximum of one switch per room since the rooms aren’t very large.
The only exception is the bedroom, where there would additionally be a push button at each side of the bed. Does this make sense?
What about circulation areas (stairwell, WC)?
Would it be sensible to use a standard push button with a bus coupler there to manually turn on the main lighting, in case the automatic dimmed and staircase lighting isn’t sufficient, or to control the shading manually?
I’ve really tried to break away from the idea of having as few switches as possible, but I can’t quite figure out how to control the brightness in these rooms without at least one push button.
One idea is to dedicate one button from the lighting switch in each adjacent room (E0 = Entrance, E1 = Kitchen, E2 = Living, E3 = Hallway) to control the lighting in the stairwell. That should work, right?
Should I connect the basement lighting directly to the bus, or would it be better not to, to ensure the lights at the distribution board still work in case the bus fails?
Overall, the number of switched sockets seems quite high to me. I’m still not sure if this is necessary.
Do I understand correctly that if I run just one 5x1.5mm² cable from the distribution board to a room only for the sockets, I can create three groups? For example, one group for constant power and two groups switched?
Would it make sense to plan a subdistribution board in the stairwell on level 2 or 3 in advance?
How would I then connect this subdistribution to the basement?
Quite a bit of text—I hope you can help me out. After this week, my head is really spinning, and I can’t see the forest for the trees anymore.
The exterior landscaping is still being planned but hasn’t really been considered yet.
Thanks at this point also to @Tom1607 who kindly shared his planning with me.
Best regards
Hello,
Yes, that is exactly right.
It also depends a bit on the cable lengths. Beyond a certain length (around 15m (50 feet)), you can no longer protect the circuit with a 16A breaker.
If you install sub-distribution boards (which I consider sensible), you need to feed them with 16mm² (about 5 AWG) cables. The advantage is that you have shorter cable runs to the consumption points.
I solved it in my home by installing lots of ‘blank boxes’ (-> simply plastered over) with bus wiring inside. If I ever need an additional switch, I just open one up. This also allows for special installations later on. You can also use the bus wiring for i2c or onewire (provided it is wired in a star topology). The bus system makes it easy to start minimally and expand later if needed.
Regarding your lamps, just wire all lighting outlets from the distribution board in a star layout. That way, you can decide later what you connect where and how you control it. Better to have a few more than too few.
Am I correct in understanding that if I run a 5x1.5 cable from the distribution board to a room just for the outlets, I can create three circuits from it? For example, one constant power circuit and two switched circuits?
Yes, that is exactly right.
Would it make sense to plan a sub-distribution board in the stairwell on level 2 or 3? How should I connect this sub-distribution board to the basement?
It also depends a bit on the cable lengths. Beyond a certain length (around 15m (50 feet)), you can no longer protect the circuit with a 16A breaker.
If you install sub-distribution boards (which I consider sensible), you need to feed them with 16mm² (about 5 AWG) cables. The advantage is that you have shorter cable runs to the consumption points.
I really tried to let go of the idea of using as few switches as possible, but I can’t quite figure out how I would control the lighting brightness in such rooms without a push button.
I solved it in my home by installing lots of ‘blank boxes’ (-> simply plastered over) with bus wiring inside. If I ever need an additional switch, I just open one up. This also allows for special installations later on. You can also use the bus wiring for i2c or onewire (provided it is wired in a star topology). The bus system makes it easy to start minimally and expand later if needed.
Regarding your lamps, just wire all lighting outlets from the distribution board in a star layout. That way, you can decide later what you connect where and how you control it. Better to have a few more than too few.
R
roadrun8729 Jul 2016 14:35Is that the MDT glass touch switch?
Yes, I would install it again! Above that, the MDT glass switch 2 will be added, which will be available in 3-4 weeks. It has a display where you can set and view the heating controls as well as operate the individual controls for the blinds (there are 5 blinds in the room).
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