I'm in the process of building a house and am thinking of going the KNX route. I'd prefer critical things to be hardwired rather than rely on wireless, just because it's more reliable.
I'm interested to know if you installed everything yourself or had a contractor do it? My understanding is it is expensive to get someone to do the work (as usually it's hotels or offices having this done), but the actual hardware doesn't cost much more than the z-wave equivalent.
Oh and your Room of Requirement definately needs more explanation :-)
I had a contractor and he did all the electrics as well. This meant that the cost for labour wasn’t really much more than getting all the “dumb” electrics done.
Ultimately wiring for KNX doesn’t take a lot more than just running a single extra wire through large sections of rooms since it’s a bus based system.
We worked on an hourly rate + cost of materials, rather than a fixed contract.
All the other home automation people I talked to didn’t really “get it”. This guy opened up to me about the importance of open standards from the first time I talked him and was happy at the concept of me programming the KNX devices myself, so I knew as soon as I met him that he was the right guy for the job.
I worked really closely with him (a daily catchup every day) in order to make sure everything was perfect.
I was really happy with the process, but it relied on getting a guy I could work really well with.
In Germany, there are lots of people who plan and program the KNX system themselves. The actual wiring is carried out by a professional but the commissioning etc can be done by anybody. KNX requires a specific software (ETS).
As KNX is a global standard this procedure becomes more and more implemented. We have published an ebook about how to get started with KNX, ETS 5 and ETS Inside (cheaper version of it) and share best practices.
I'm interested to know if you installed everything yourself or had a contractor do it? My understanding is it is expensive to get someone to do the work (as usually it's hotels or offices having this done), but the actual hardware doesn't cost much more than the z-wave equivalent.
Oh and your Room of Requirement definately needs more explanation :-)