[chriswwweb]

LOL ... there has been a standard for years for smart home devices, it is called KNX (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNX_(standard)) ... what is wrong with KNX? Hundreds of companies already support it, so why not join them instead of re-inventing the wheel?

I think I know what im talking about, because my (smart) home automation is based on KNX, I use Alexa voice commands or a KNX app on my mobile devices to controll all my KNX compatible devices, a server gets the commands and allows me to control the lights (on/off/dimming), to inquire an set the temperature in each room, to control the inner blinds as well as the outer shutters (open/close), to get data of water consumption, electricity consumption from many devices like the cooking plate, the owen, the lights, the AC, ... to get values from my weather station like wind speed, wind direction, sun intensity and much more ... I also have fire detection sensors, movement sensors, air pollution and water leak sensors which can trigger alarms... I can inquire on my phone if I forgot to turn off the owen in the kitchen, if the main door is being or has been left opened. Through Alexa I have also connected my Roomba as well as my TV and all the media devices connected to it (using the Logitech Harmony hub) but those two things are not KNX, everything else is.

Being able to control all this through Alexa is super fun. When I go to bed I just need say "Alexa good night" and Alexa tells my KNX shutters to move down to 100%, all my lights in any room to 0%. When I leave the house I say "Alexa, good bye" and Alexa checks if my appliences are turned off, turns the lights off and lowers the heating in all the rooms a bit. Also as im super lazy, if I finish cooking and throw myself on the couch but forgot to turn of the kitchen lights I just need to say "Alexa turn of the kitchen lights and turn on netflix".

What is also nice is that I can program (control and combine) everything myself. I currently use NodeRed (https://nodered.org/). So I can program routines, like "if the time is > this and the front door gets opened send me an email or SMS", if the wind speed is above a certain threshold open the shutters to avoid damage, ...

[lioeters]

I enjoyed the description of your home automation setup! I learned about the wide range of sensors and devices that can be incorporated, and that technically it's possible for the owner to programmatically control everything. I can see you're riding the edge of the coming wave.

Looking at the differences between the KNX standard and the "Connected Home over IP" project.. From the latter's home page [0]:

> By building upon Internet Protocol (IP), the project aims to enable communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services and to define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification.

This seems like a higher level of abstraction than KNX (unless "smart home devices" in the above description includes the kind of individual sensors you mentioned) - and exclusively focused on using the Internet Protocol.

Reading the Wikipedia article on KNX, it does sound like it has all the elements needed for home automation, including what this new standard aims to achieve.

[0] https://www.connectedhomeip.com/

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EDIT: Now reading about the ZigBee specs, I find there's a big overlap in protocols/functionality. As a complete newcomer, it's hard to disentangle the pros/cons of these standards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee

[chriswwweb]

Yes I'm riding the automation wave, but only because after working for 20 years as a developer I was finally able to afford buying an apartment and wanted to try to push automation to it's limits. I haven't done it all and could go even further, which is why I like KNX, it's not closed or bound to a single company so I can buy add even more stuff from a lot of providers (see some example of companies in my other comment).

The alexa bridge is not perfect, sometimes it has hald a second of delay. Twice a year the servers are down and it doesn't respond for few hours, but besides that I'm very happy with it. B.t.w. I used this server from PRO KNX to connect my Alexa(s) to the KNX server: https://proknx.com/en/news/2017/realknx-2-0-voice-control-al... (it is also compatible with Google Home as well as Apple Homekit).

Thx for the clarifications about the differences. I don't know much about the KNX standard. I fiddle around a lot with NodeRed (nodejs / javascript) and use some Alexa routines but I never tried to implement the standard myself. As far as I understand it, KNX is also using IP Networks, because all my devices have IP addresses and my servers are open on different ports.

I hope the Google, Apple, ... alliance decided to do create a new standard for good reasons, but I have doubts as I can't find someone that explains me what is so bad about the existing standard. Why Apple, Google and the others don't just join the KNX foundation and why this already open and royalty free KNX standard can be built upon!?

[tzs]

Is KNX affordable? I did some searching to see how to control Philips Hue lights via KNX, and found something called an "ise Smart Connect KNX HUE" for this. I found a few sites online selling this, all in Europe.

Most would not show me a price without me first creating an account and logging in, but I did find one German site that would show me a price, which after converting Euros to USD, came out to a little over $300. I also found a UK site that would show a price. That, after Pounds to USD conversion, was over $500.

I did a little searching to try to find out how lights are handled in KNX without bridging out to some completely different system like Hue. All I was able to find was lighting fixtures with KNX control built in. I didn't see bulbs with it built in.

Does this mean that if someone without any home automation decides that they want a couple of smart lights, to do it purely with KNX that have to replace some light fixtures?

That's not how most people in the US add some smart lights. Most here do it by buying bulbs that screw into fixtures meant for regular bulbs, and implement the smart stuff in the bulb itself. There is no need to replace fixtures (which you may not be allowed to do if you are renting).

[chriswwweb]

KNX is a standard not a brand, hence you can just say KNX costs 10 euro or 1000 euro. KNX via an adapter can control regular lights, at least on/off not sure about dimming. But KNX is best used with compatible lights, which means you need special lights and different cables. I think in my appartment there are two cables, I assume one is for control and the second is the regular power source. For example some companies that in my opinion have good products are BAP Tech (https://www.bab-tec.de/), Gira (https://www.gira.com/en/gebaeudetechnik/systeme/knx-eib_syst...), Jung (https://www.jung.de/en/820/products/technology/knx-system/) ... to find companies near you I would recommend using the official KNX website: https://www.knx.org/knx-en/for-professionals/community/manuf.... the system for the lights is called DALI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Addressable_Lighting_I...), for example OSRAM has a Dali/KNX website here with more information: https://www.osram.com/ds/highlights/knx/index.jsp ... to find prices I would recommend using a website like https://www.eibmarkt.com/ (set the country to United States and the currency to US Dollar)

[jaakl]

“I” in KNX stands for inexpensive.