ᐅ Smart Home Solutions for Electrical Renovations – Recommendations

Hello everyone,

We want to completely renovate the electrical system in our detached house. Since I am very tech-savvy, this would be the perfect opportunity to install some sensors and actuators and connect them to make the house a bit smarter. After several weeks of evening research, I have learned quite a bit, but sometimes I still find it hard to see the wood for the trees. That’s why I wanted to ask for your advice on the approach you would recommend.

What do I want?
Definitely the control and automation of 10 roller shutters in the house. Also control of lights would be great. The status of windows and the patio door would be nice as well. Possibly temperature sensors or a weather station. It would be fantastic to receive push notifications about mail arriving in the mailbox, which is located a few meters (feet) away from the front door.
Preferably an integration with Apple HomeKit.

What don’t I want?
I would like to avoid having to use a large number of different gateways and apps. I don’t want to have to replace batteries regularly.

I understand that a wired KNX solution would probably be the most robust and future-proof (since it is manufacturer-independent). Just today, I came across a KNX-HomeKit bridge from 1Home that is due to be released soon. However, I fear that a KNX solution would exceed the budget and that adjustments would be less intuitive than, for example, through HomeKit.

During my research, I came across the following products:

• Eltako Series 64: offers flush-mounted modules for roller shutters, dimmers, and impulse relays that include EnOcean, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, and are already HomeKit-certified. So, I could cover the roller shutters and lights with this, right?
• HOPPE EnOcean window handles: I find these interesting because they require no power, have no visible parts (e.g., contact magnets), and can even detect a tilted position. What I am unsure about is how to best integrate these into HomeKit.
• EnOcean switches: also battery-free, so they can be placed anywhere.
• Doorbird D2101V plus I/O controller A1081 and indoor station A1101 as a video intercom, since I can operate it remotely or via a Fritz!Fon, use an RFID chip, and it is said to be controllable via an API.

What do you think about these components?
Is there any reason not to use Series 64? Would it, for example, be better to install components on a DIN rail instead?
How do I integrate the EnOcean devices into HomeKit? Can I use one of the gateways from Opus or Eltako for all of them, or do they only support their own devices? Would a Homee be a better choice?

As you can see, with thousands of possibilities almost everything is possible, but understanding how everything works together is not so easy. It would be great if you could give me some tips and advice.

There are basically only two drawbacks to the Series 64: 1. Price, 2. Power consumption.

What personally bothers me about most so-called smart home systems is the retention of basic standard switches or only a marginal improvement of these with custom versions. They are usually much too rigid, limited, and unimaginative. Despite Wi-Fi, Alexa, and the like, you often end up with no more than 2-3 functions, or the controls are so complicated that you quickly lose interest.

MBPassion schrieb:

With thousands of possibilities, almost anything is possible, but how well everything works together is not easy to figure out.

That’s exactly the strength of KNX – everything works together, without exception, regardless of who makes it and what functions it offers. Once the red-gray terminal is connected, 100% compatibility is guaranteed.

MBPassion schrieb:

However, I fear that a KNX solution would exceed the budget and adjustments would be less intuitive compared to, for example, Homekit.

Fear of the unknown?

If you’re already tearing everything apart, you might as well go with KNX. Wiring doesn’t cost much, and window sensors can easily be added later once the cabling is in place.
However, you should be able to program it yourself; otherwise, it can get expensive.
Because of its flexibility, it can be quite confusing for beginners at first. Other providers tend to be much more user-friendly.
The components themselves are not very expensive. Especially with actuators, you can, for example, buy an 8-channel version and save the cost of 8 individual actuators from other suppliers.

I’d like to mention OPUS greenNet. It offers largely standard wiring and is HomeKit-compatible straight from the factory. It provides a simple EnOcean solution if you don’t want to dive too deeply into the technical details required, for example, by KNX. It’s wireless, but EnOcean is well established.

Mycraft schrieb:

Basically, there are only two drawbacks to the Series 64: 1. Price 2. Power consumption

What is the approximate power consumption per flush-mounted actuator?

The argument regarding power consumption with the Eltako flush-mounted actuators is valid. I have now checked — a datasheet states a standby loss of 0.9 watts. For me personally (at this stage of expansion), that would still be within an acceptable range. But clearly, wiring like KNX would have an advantage in this regard.