Need help in finding the right HW for my new smart home

Is this a 4 gang one?

This is where “complex” systems like KNX come into play, really. The point is that it is a system, rather than a collection of independent units.

An alternative approach to multiple controls; one control location is the “master” which allows manual control but also has the capability to be controlled by OH. (A Sonoff dimmer for example)
The other control location is just a wallplate, with no direct infuence on the end device. It just reports to OH and OH does the thing to other dimmer.
In the event of “system” problems, you lose the remote control but can still turn the lights on.

These are difficult decisions to make.

With a new build, you should seriously consider wired solutions. Of course there are two approaches to that as well :wink:
Run all power cable - feeds to ceiling lights, cables to wallplates - back to a central cabinet. Here lives the active gubbins, dimmers etc. See DIN mount Sonoffs and so on. Choice of tech, reconfigurable.
Alternatively, run Cat5 signal cable to control and consumption points to control remotely mounted units. Again choice of tech, flexible.
A combination approach is also feasible.

Yeah, I’ve thought about master/slave wall mounts, maybe that is the way I’ll go.

KNX hardwares are like super expensive to me, I’ve just checked one relay switch which is like 300euros.
I’ll need like 10-14 wall switches, not to mention the other HW that would be used. In total 5000euros won’t cover the costs.

I’ll check on wired solution too. It seems interesting as an option to be used. Especially when my house is just getting built and i will have all the options for wiring etc.
So to talk about wired solution: So I can imagine how this thing will work…

Now I have a basic idea about wifi/zigbee/wzave products, but UTP wired wall switches bulbs? I’ve only seen a post about utp power feeded wall switch, so you won’t have to play with high voltage power… or is that an another thing? Enlighten me pls :smiley:

Hey,

maybe you should read this Topic:

There are the same requirements as here:

Wired
Works without OH or Internet
Dump Switches (same switch manufacturer as your outlets)

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I have a wired solution in my house… It´s called IHC. I cant find any english description of it ufortunatly. In short the concept is nearly the same as KNX, beside IHC got a specific controller (computer) where all the logic is located. And its prefered centralized setup.
I also have a small test setup of Velbus… It´s very powerfull, and for people in europe, I would suggest looking at Velbus system… https://www.velbus.eu
@MDAR is a great guy to advice you on this system. My experience is not that strong, yet. But I´m getting there :slight_smile:

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Thanks Kim.

It’s great to know that you’re having success with the Velbus kit.

@Kardiii
This post might give you some insights into the whole debate between wired and wireless.

From Z-wave to wired solution

Right at the bottom is a link to an example wired system.

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The Zooz switch I posted works along with a standard 3-way switch to control the lights in 2 locations. They can also handle more switch locations with 1 smart switch, depending on the specific wiring paths.

Yeah, I’ve checked that, but from picture, it seems they are for US plugs (holes).
I’ve also checked fibaro products, they are also zwave smart switches.

OK,
Where are you located?

EU, Hungary.
Fibaro products are almost the same, meaning they also have zwave products, or MCU is also a Zwave brand in EU. The problem is 1 switch costs 100 euros… I’ll need like 10+ pieces in the whole house. That’s a lot of money only for wall switches :smiley:

I don’t know your wife’s capabilities but that requires to setup the new bulb, too (in advance or when in need) so you need to have access to the Zigbee coordinator and have to mess with it. Way more work than to just put in another traditional bulb.
And usually it’s not the switch (smart or not) but the bulb or its builtin power supply (if 12V or LED) to burn so it’s a waste of ressources and money when you have to throw away and re-pay for electronics that would still work if just they hadn’t been part of the bulb.

A smart switch to fail is less probable than a smart bulb to fail (usually no power transformation in there so no heat dissipation etc).
And overall, the most probable case is no bulb or switch but OH to fail (we’ve got only one of that to affect ALL your lights, it’s running on a computer that can fail, you can accidently misconfigure things there etc).
Smart switches will continue to provide lighting while for smart bulbs you need another remote, up-to-date and able to control ALL of your lights. You may or may not have available in that critical moment.

OK, are these 4-packs of switches more reasonably priced? They are EU Z-Wave frequency.

Huh? You can get Fibaro devices everywhere, some for less than 50€ (well unless your great politicians put ridiculous import taxes on top but Fibaros are made in Poland).

Whew, sounds like real bargains. Unfortunately there’ll be taxes on top.

That is exactly what I am watching now. 10 pcs/s 21$/ piece, would be an affordable price.
The question is, does it work with OH. Probably yes, but i’ll search for this on the forum.

Stupid question again, without a dimming switch, would I be able to dim the lights from OH, even if the switch is not a dimming one? Don’t think so.

Thanks mate!

Yeah, in Hungary we have 27% taxes on every damn thing… such a ripoff.

From Ali we can evade the taxes if I order them in smaller bulks, or agree with the seller, to pay it in 2 way, so the tax authorities will only see the smaller payment :slight_smile:
But I’d not encourage any1 to cheat taxes :smiley:

I believe so. I don’t have as much experience with using Sonoff in this way so I can’t say for sure. It depends on how the Sonoff wires to the existing light switch.

I would assume that is correct.

I know in Zwave there are some two way light switches. I’ve also seen people talk about putting in two smart switches, one actually wired to the light and the other only wired to power up itself. Then the switches are configured to talk to each other (in Zwave this is called Association Groups) or they talk to each other using openHAB.

Oops, this is exactly what rossko57 describes. I should read all the posts before I start a reply. :slight_smile:

No. Dimming requires special hardware to achieve. If you don’t have a switch or a bulb that contains that hardware, you can’t make them dim from OH.

If you have a dimming switch, the bulb still needs to support dimming too.

I have some Neo Coolcam products used with OH. I do not see that they have dimmer switches listed though.

I’ ve heard the RaspberryPi 4 is so fast, you can create openHAB rules that are so fast that they can use PWM to control LED lamp brightness. :wink:

@matt1 Phillips fixed this fairly recently with a software update. You can now set the lights to retire their previous state on restoration of power.

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@Kardiii
If you´re going to build a new house. I would strongly advice you to focus on a wired installation (a wired smart home system) as a main installation. Then use openhab/whatever to act like a gateway between your main installation and whatever other needs you have, (which could be wireless, zigbee/z-wave/sonof/whatever).
The cost is a bit more, but you´ll get a main stable installation, which I believe is the most important factor when it comes to having an smart home system, which controls things in a house which can become fatal i case of an error, specially light, heating/hvac/ maybe even security/alarm (including smoke/fire alarms). These devices simply cant be run by something which sometimes doesnt work.
Then add openhab (or whatever other system) as an add-on to your main installation, to support your system in a parallel way, and perhaps less important devices, (such as local motion detectors, less important ligthing, voice control, monitoring systems etc).

Reason is fairly simple - If/when you get tired of openhab (or something else). You just pull the plug, and your house is still working in a smart way. If you have build you house from a system of z-wave/zigbee/sonoff or simular, you´ll be forced to be running somekind of system like openhab/HA or whatever, and you´ll be force to take some causion regard regular updates/stability/bad hardware etc. And you can not “pull the plug”, unless you start all over from scratch.

You have a huge advantage in building a new house. Choose right first time, and be pleased with getting a highly flexible and powerfull system which opens up all kinds of possibilities. Whatever you choose, make sure it can work/communicate with other systems, (ie focus on the interfaces such as ethernet, communication protocols etc).

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