Smart home System

[cmdonaghy85]

Hi everyone.
I was wondering if anyone on the forum has any good knowledge on smart home systems and installation. I am in the process of building and am now ready for wiring. As everything is open and have a blank canvas we wanted to at least wire the house for a smart home install and maybe try and set it up partially but if we have the wiring in place then we are future proof. This will entail lighting control, security, blind control, heating, etc. Any advice would be most welcome
Cheers

 

[johnb2713]

If youre up for a tint bit of coding, have loo here https://www.home-assistant.io/

J

 

[poni]

you can only future proof so far into the future 20 years ago we would have run cat 5 cable all over the house but now most things are WI-FI or Bluetooth not needing cat5 cable , and now we have cat 6, and cat 5e cable, who knows what the next 10 years will bring, let alone the next 20,
it also depends on how much you want to spend
if money is not a problem,
then every lighting point wired back to one control box,
every window would have a power point wired back to another control box ( opener/blind)
maybe the same with all the sockets all wired back to a control box

 

[Geoff1946]

My inclination would be to install a few extra conduits, in the walls, into the roof space, underfloor, etc wherever you can foresee installing anything. Also to use conduit for switch drops, etc, so you can add to and re-configure wiring with the minimum disruption. Provide access points in suspended floors. A consumer unit with lots of spare capacity.

 

[Murdoch]

If you’re not a spark I would recommend you get one involved now .

there are many ways to waste huge amounts of money on smart technology. I’ve just removed load from a house for the new owner as they didn’t get on with it

wifi isn’t everything - we have multiple hard wired points and very good WiFi too.

much to think about before running cables imho

do your plans include solar pv? Hot water tank ?

 

[cmdonaghy85]

If you’re not a spark I would recommend you get one involved now .

there are many ways to waste huge amounts of money on smart technology. I’ve just removed load from a house for the new owner as they didn’t get on with it

wifi isn’t everything - we have multiple hard wired points and very good WiFi too.

much to think about before running cables imho

do your plans include solar pv? Hot water tank ?

Will Probably look into solar PV in the future and will install a cylinder that will have an additional heating coils to allow for future solar. Just not worth doing solar now as no point in having an inverter that is only 3.6kW. will wait in the future to see this technology getting better.

I'm more now only thinking about making sure the wiring is done in a way that will allow a smart system to be installed maybe a bit at a time even. Wasn't sure what the lighting is generally best done for this. Im assuming that a way of doing it is literally every light and switch point all wired back to a central hub, or control box that would be under the distribution board so all the moxa or whatever controllers is being used, the wiring would be going into dim rails and then wiring from the controllers up to whatever way the lighting or blind, etc is to be configured. I suppose just wanted to see what is the best way if doing this

 

[cmdonaghy85]

you can only future proof so far into the future 20 years ago we would have run cat 5 cable all over the house but now most things are WI-FI or Bluetooth not needing cat5 cable , and now we have cat 6, and cat 5e cable, who knows what the next 10 years will bring, let alone the next 20,
it also depends on how much you want to spend
if money is not a problem,
then every lighting point wired back to one control box,
every window would have a power point wired back to another control box ( opener/blind)
maybe the same with all the sockets all wired back to a control box

When you say every light point to you mean then for say a bedroom with a light in the middle it would be 1 single cable from the light to the DB and then also the same for switch? That's a lot of cable. Is there a way that even if it was 1 circuit that the cable could run from the DB to the switch so there is a neutral at the switch and then to the light?

The hallway for example will have low level wall lights that we want to come on only at night and via a PIR so for the likes of this I'm assuming 1 cable from the DB around all the lights and then 1 cable from the DB around the 3 PIRs

 

[poni]

one circuit for 3-4 lights ,wired to a large control box, then each /every light wired back to the same control box with the control relays/dimmer units ,switching would be from a central control unit wirelessly or local wireless switches then the same for all the rest

When you say every light point to you mean then for say a bedroom with a light in the middle it would be 1 single cable from the light to the DB and then also the same for switch? That's a lot of cable. Is there a way that even if it was 1 circuit that the cable could run from the DB to the switch so there is a neutral at the switch and then to the light?

 

[Murdoch]

I guess all this rather depends on your budget?

Inverters aren’t limited to 3.6kw - that’s the limit to what you can export to the grid.

 

[binky]

I wired a house for smart controls about 10 years ago, it's a lot of extra cables and cost a fortune. I would be more inclined to look at WiFi system which generally involve a control gadget in the back of switches and sockets, its a lot easier.

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

I was wondering if anyone on the forum has any good knowledge on smart home systems and installation.

Murdoch has really hit the nail on the head..............mostly.

I guess all this rather depends on your budget

I would have to ask "what is your definition of a smart home?"

Running cables from here to there is expensive and could be pointless. An example would be the milliskin recessed spotlight, suppose you needed 6 in a room, you could loop from the first light to each light after (5 more) then back to either a central point (If you really wanted to) or loop on to the next room and repeat. No switches required at all as they are smart lamps, so you could control them via your phone or tablet or "Smart speaker" There are other RGB smart lamps out there that cost less Example

One of the most (then) popular ideas for lights was the Lutron (cabled) system. You have to dedicate a whole cupboard to it, but you had a "small control panel" on the wall of each room, press a button and the lights would do what ever that button is programmed to do. As I understand it, it needs a lot of cabling. But it has been around long before the smart lamp was even thought of.

You may also want to consider running in cables to supply sockets by windows to control blinds.

I like smart lamps, I have one RGB one, I do not use it, I really should take it down, it was a novelty, but of no practical use indoors, outside, definitely. (But it's not rated for outdoor use)

So really, it is a mixture of what you want and what you can afford.

​

 

[binky]

Will Probably look into solar PV in the future and will install a cylinder that will have an additional heating coils to allow for future solar. Just not worth doing solar now as no point in having an inverter that is only 3.6kW. will wait in the future to see this technology getting better.

You would benefit far more from solar than smart home gadgets, it's a lot cheaper to install as part of a new building than retrofitting later. Have a read of the solar section of this forum.

You will need a new grid connection, so talk to your DNO about solar as part of that, they may offer an enhanced connection.

 

[johnb2713]

Just not worth doing solar now as no point in having an inverter that is only 3.6kW. will wait in the future to see this technology getting better.

Inverters aren't limited to 3.6kW, that's the maximum the DNO is obliged to accept for export. To export more there are forms to fill and they say yay or nay to your request. Inverters can have their export limited to comply, my DNO app has just been accepted and I can now export up to 11 kW (I aim to export zero, if I'm exporting I've failed !)