Is the use of relays in an electrical installation compatible with the arts?

Like most in this section, I am trying to build a smart building installation. The plan is simple - everything controlled by relays (or dimmers on transistors) and it is the relays I am after. My plan is to put cards with relays (a la AVT: relay + some µC + ethernet) + a server in the attic which would manage all this on openHAB.

The question is whether such relays would work well for operating lights, operating sockets, gates, roller shutters and whatnot....

I am an electronics engineer by education and a programmer by profession. I should be able to cope with building and testing such a system, but unfortunately I have no idea about the standards for building installations. I know that these types of ready-made and dedicated devices cost ridiculous amounts of money and I wonder whether this is just speculation or whether there is something packed into them that justifies the price.

You are probably too much into technology, there are controllers for cookers, twilight detectors for lights and other devices, remote controls for TVs, and everything works perfectly well on its own
it doesn't need any other servers or inventions.

ddokupil wrote:

I am an electronics engineer by training and a programmer by profession. I should be able to cope with building and testing such a system but unfortunately I have no idea about the standards for building installations. I know that these types of ready-made and dedicated devices cost ridiculous amounts of money and I wonder if this is mere speculation or maybe there is something packed into them that justifies the price.

It seems to me that HapCan would be perfect for you. Also, I think the integration of HapCan with OpenHab was discussed in the forum of this project.

As for the absurdity of the prices, I don't know how much absurdity you've come across.... but generally quite high prices are made up of quite a lot of components and rather not electronic components

stkop wrote:

It seems to me that HapCan would be perfect for you.

I was also considering CAN but I think for me it will be more convenient and versatile however, ethernet. Interestingly, they use ordinary relays in these relays so I think they will suffice. You can also consider contactors as I am looking for one, but price-wise they are quite a bit more expensive.

adam158 wrote:

You are probably too much into technology, for cookers there are controllers, for lights there are dusk detectors, or other, for TV equipment there are remote controls, it all works perfectly well on its own
it does not need any other servers or inventions.

Of course they are. You can always turn on the light with a contact like 100 years ago, light the cooker when it's cold and turn it off when it's hot and get out of the car in a storm to open the gate. You can also create scenes with the lights, switch off everything in one place, leaving only the fridge on, for example, the heating off when you open a window and generally lower the temperature, but only in one unused room. Is it possible to live without a smart home? 99.99% of people in this country probably do, but since I'm just building a house in which I want to live for the next 50 years, I want to invest in something that will make my life more pleasant.
For the rest, with this attitude, what are you even doing in this department? I advise you to refrain from posing such and similar questions in the future. Even rhetorical ones. [retrofood]

ddokupil wrote:

stkop wrote:

It seems to me that HapCan will be perfect for you.


I also considered CAN but I think for me more convenient and versatile however will be ethernet. Interestingly, they use ordinary relays in these relays, so I think they will suffice. You can also consider contactors as I'm looking for one, but price-wise they are quite a bit more expensive.

Can in this project is a distributed protocol and is responsible for the communication within the network between the actuators and e.g. the Ethernet module.... everything is developed, also available in self-assembly kits.

As for the relays... in Hapcan, the relays are not at all ordinary, as they are bistable ... they only consume current when they are switched [which is a big advantage especially in terms of energy saving]. Monostable 16A relays are used as standard in automation controllers for use in the home. Some, in an effort to reduce size, use smaller ones, but this sometimes backfires. There are rather few components in the home that would require contactors for control [unless, for example, entire socket circuits].

Typical off-the-shelf via Ethernet modules are for example here: iqsystem.co.uk