What solutions are available for a smart room? Ethernet, lighting, control systems

Hello everyone, I have a question: my parents are building a house, and it’s now time to fit the electrical system. I’d like to set up my room as a sort of ‘smart room’ – I’d really appreciate some suggestions, such as a mini Ethernet setup in the room. Please could you give me some ideas? Best regards

Mate, I was at a presentation of the system www.xcomfort.pl the other day – an interesting presentation and some cool features, but that price….
Think about how much you can afford to spend on an investment like this, and then consider what you can install within that budget to suit your needs.
As for this ‘mini Ethernet setup in a room’, what do you mean by that – running a LAN cable to the sockets? Controlling the blinds, heating or lighting via your mobile?

What are your needs? That’s the first thing you need to figure out, and then you can think about and work out the price, because a proper smart home or room does cost a bit

Hello
A little piece of advice from my own experience: a smart home can be a bit of a nuisance too. For example, a book falls over and the light switches off.
Jerzy

Bronek22 wrote:

The previous speaker wrote... but that price!!!!! And what about without it?

And of course it has to be included...
As for that statement and smart buildings, the cost of such a comprehensive control system, including installation, may well exceed the value of the building itself on more than one occasion. I’m also including the design work here – that’s fundamental.
Let’s not go into the details of connectivity, topology or equipment, as this is always a case-by-case matter and every installation of this type will be treated differently. Not least because the challenges include issues such as walls, ceilings, large gaps, distances, and the wide range of possibilities, ideas and requirements of a client who happens to have capital and wants to invest it in something – an attractive and modern property.

As for prices...
A simple module or relay (call it what you will, depending on its function) to activate the system might cost around 250 PLN and upwards (and there could be as many as several hundred of them in a single room; the number of rooms – ???), but a room control console with all the bells and whistles costs from ~7,000 PLN upwards, wireless remotes from 250 to ~3,000 PLN and upwards, and the main unit managing all the consoles – it’s a headache.
I’m not even mentioning software licences here, as for a building like this, the software is usually custom-built to the client’s specifications for all sorts of fancy features. Etc. ....


The average Joe – including myself – simply won’t be able to afford it.

That’s why, if we’re talking about professional control systems, you’ll unfortunately have to spend a bit on buying this and that in certain quantities, depending on your needs.

If we’re talking about a smart detached house, the cost is significantly lower. This is partly because the requirements are fewer and the amount of equipment used in the installation is smaller. In simple detached houses, no design is required; just a straightforward configuration of these modules/relays (call them what you will) is carried out using a simple control unit that can be programmed, for example, via USB.

There is a wide choice here. Many manufacturers, many possibilities, a range of prices...
A typical installation for such a simple smart home costs between 35,000 and 60,000 PLN, depending on the owner’s requirements and ideas.

When it comes to a smart room, it all depends on the initiative, needs, ideas, aspirations and implementation of the project in question – and, above all, on the budget available. You also need to consider whether such a smart room makes any sense at all if it’s to be just one room in the whole house.

Best regards, JohnySpZOO

I have a really great solution for automated lighting, which I install for my clients.
Of course, simple systems can be set up using alarm control panels, such as Integra, but the capabilities of these panels are extremely limited.

My solution is based on simple PLCs, or as some people call them, programmable relays.

A single such controller has 8 outputs, which can control 8 circuits, and 12 or 14 control inputs.
Using a single module of this type, I can, for example, create 2 chandelier circuits plus 2 single lighting circuits that can serve as night lighting.
The programme I have created performs the following functions:
Manual or automatic lighting control using motion detectors.
Simulation of the presence of household members once the alarm control panel has been armed.
Control of each light, regardless of the number of circuits in the room, using two bell-type buttons (monostable). One of the buttons acts as a manual light switch, whilst the other acts as a toggle switch.
The system also responds to external lighting and thus determines whether the lighting should be switched on by a motion detector or not.
Control of evening and night-time lighting.
Evening lighting refers to overhead, bright lighting, such as a chandelier or lamps.
Night-time lighting refers to LED lighting or low-intensity wall lights, which are used to provide illumination when moving about at night.

The system can be switched between manual and automatic operation.
Manual operation involves disabling the motion detectors, and the lighting is switched on and off manually. When switched to automatic control, the controller reacts as follows:
We enter the room; the motion detector reacts, but nothing happens immediately.
When you switch on the lighting using button no. 1, which turns the lighting on and off, or press button no. 2, the lighting that was last set using button no. 2 is switched on
Using button no. 2, we switch sequentially between the wall light (night light) and the two circuits of the chandelier.
Whilst you are in the room, the lighting configuration you last set remains on at all times. If you leave the room, the lighting automatically switches off approximately 15 minutes (the times can, of course, be adjusted) after you have left. Upon re-entering the room within the next hour, the lighting automatically switches on with the configuration that was last set and remains on for as long as we are in the room. After a very long absence from the room – more than 2 hours – when the lighting has switched off automatically after we left, the controller switches to night-time lighting mode, i.e. it stops switching on the overhead lighting (chandelier/lamp), and, upon entering the room, switches on only the wall lights or LED night lighting. This continues throughout the night, until the external light sensors detect that it has already begun to get light outside, or until we use button no. 2 to change the lighting configuration by switching on the chandelier circuits. Once it has become light outside, the controller also stops performing the automatic night-time lighting function and ceases to switch on the lights altogether. Of course, we can restore the evening or night-time lighting at any time by pressing button no. 2 and setting the lighting scheme we want. In the same way as before, this lighting will be automatically switched off after a specified time.
Buttons 1 and 2 also have another really cool function.
Well, by pressing and holding button no. 1 for more than 5 seconds, we switch off all the lights in that room.
By pressing and holding button no. 2 for more than 5 seconds, we switch off the lights throughout the whole house. This means we no longer have to run up and down the stairs and through all the rooms to switch off lights that have been left on and are still lit, whether in manual or automatic mode.

Once the alarm is set to standby, a signal is sent from the alarm control panel to one of the inputs on the controller. The controller then begins to simulate the presence of occupants by switching the lights on and off at random.

This solution requires all lighting circuits (chandeliers and lamps) and switches to be connected to a single junction box, where the set of controllers is installed. A single controller of this type can control two rooms, each containing two circuits – one for a chandelier and one for a wall light – or typical night-time lighting, such as LEDs.
Alternatively, it can control six individual lighting circuits, i.e. six different rooms.
Alternatively, it can serve 3 rooms, each with one main lighting circuit plus a night-light circuit.
Thanks to this solution, we can implement any lighting functions. We can create any number of switches for each circuit, replicating the functions of staircase switches.

P.S.
These controllers can also be used to control roller blinds and many other functions as required.
The total cost of automating the entire house is a fraction of the cost of commonly known smart home systems.