joth

I'd lean towards multiple power supplies in this case. But I'd also wager the whole lot would be fine on 1.5mm2 in practice for the combination of reasons mentioned before.

Loxone recommend budgeting 10W per speaker for normal installs https://www.loxone.com/enen/products/audio/install-speaker/#:~:text=Power supply planning,to safely cover power peaks. Also bear in mind that on a 40m run, no all the current will be drawn along the full distance. It's a ramp function, so on average you can model the full current at the midway point (or half the current the full distance). You can also run it as a ring and feed the power (but NOT DATA!) cores from both ends if you really want. That halves the average current again. I typically run data buses, even strict buses like 1-wire, as a ring back to the node 0 anyway, and only connect one end, as it makes it easy to test for continuity, diagnose issues, and even split the ring into 2 separate buses in case of any issues (cable damage or interference).

The commoning of grounds is a requirement for Loxone Link and Tree, but NOT for Tree Turbo https://www.loxone.com/enen/kb/tree-turbo/ "If separate power supplies are used, it is not necessary to connect all the GNDs." Tree Turbo is a bastardized variant of ethernet, so kinda make sense.

It's the difference between test voltage limit and application voltage. The data sheet actually rates the insulation up to 5500VAC ! https://pim.loxone.com/datasheet/100606-audio-cable But also has this clumsy wording (probably clearer in the OG Deutsch) "The power wire with 2 x 1.5 mm² can be loaded with 230 V, but the data wire must not be connected to a 230 V circuit. Before connecting the data conductors, the entire circuit must be limited to a maximum of 25 V." i.e you can use it for 230V if you want to, but then you can't use the data cores for anything because that needs to be SELV. As an example, you could run this and put (only) mains down it now, but installing it as a future proof to switch over to 24V + data in future. For light switches, maybe? (Why you'd want to do that with audio cable is anybody's guess; my guess is this is the spec for the Tree cable and they've just changed the jacket colour) (also the 25V reference is weird, pretty sure all Loxone components are rated upto 30V input from PSU)

As an example, the Install 7 Master has 35W peak power consumption. So less than 1.5A. That will be ok on 1.5mm2 cable at 40m Can you show your workings to arrive at 13mm2? Some notes: you don't have to daisy chain all the Master speakers: it's an option if it makes sense to, but you can run separate Tree cable to each master if you worry one will be overloaded. Often the max line length is (signifantly) lower if running dedicated cable direct from panel to each fixture rather than daisy chain. 35W is a peak power consumption, in reality with music it's incredibly difficult to ever hit that. In practice expect a couple watts per Master. End of the day, if you're using the speakers for background music and announcements voltage drop on the line will be pretty unnoticeable (the D-class amp will compensate by drawing a bit more current), c.f. constant voltage LEDs the voltage drop is perceptible, but constant-current LEDs will self correct for voltage sag. (One of a few reasons it's unfortunate Loxone don't have any credible solution for CC fixtures)

Sorry to be the neighsayer, but I think a house built with a dependency on Home Assistant almost certainly will put off future buyers, for the simple reason there's no support network for ongoing maintenance (same for zigbee, mqtt and even shelly) Even using professionally installed gear like Lutron, Loxone and KNX is borderline as while you maybe able to find a dealer/installer in an area (if you're fortunate you have a selection to choose from) then you're still locked into that system and to some degree at the mercy of the lifetime of support available on it -- and likely, the solvency of the company sponsoring it (Full disclosure: I'm a professional installer/programmer of some of these systems and this is the tldr of what I would discuss with any prospective customer) To your question - I'm not quite sure which smart switch back box devices you're looking at, but projects I've seen where customers want conventional or period style switches they use a retractive switch from soholighting.com or similar and wire that into a bus interface device (e.g. MDT 2-fold digital input or Loxone Nano DI Tree, or similar) -- reducing the problem from one of mechanical design to an electrical wiring task. Aside - the fact you're looking for an easy way put a device into pairing mode, without removing the faceplate, sort of suggests you've already lost the battle for non-techy usability.

Loxone PS&B fits in a standard depth panel. The deep version panel is really only needed for "industrial" type PSUs like Meanwell XDR-480E.

@NBW for the high end spec you appear to be building to, I'm surprised you're not aiming for high airtightness and hence MVHR? As well as removing the need for per-bathroom extractors it would help with the room by room heating balancing you mentioned as a goal. (Not so much due to the MVHR moving heat around, more by applying a whole-building strategy to thermal envelope and airtightness design)

Yes that's correct, my comment was speaking to @JamesPa point that MCS are the (sole) guardians of the standards, not regarding certification perse.

No chance this changing any side soon: aside from BUS, MCS is also mandated by law for permitted development rights for ASHP install. And notice the wording on this is changing in May 2026: previously it allowed for MCS 020 or equivalent standards, but from May it it MCS 020 compliance, or no heat pump for you. (Obv you can still go the PP route, but what LPA is not going to slap the MCS020 requirement on their approval). https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/heat-pumps/planning-permission-air-source-heat-pump - Oh, And I love the way the "MCS 020" link sends you to a 404 not found error on the MCS website. Pretty much highlighting the exact perils of public law referencing a private corporation (charitable trust) as the monopoly gate keeper for standards. Still, I guess it's no different to IET owning the wiring regs is it? Well, except they do at least step up and define the regs and the methods for the most part.

That's definitely a monobloc and those are definitely water pipes. Insulation is required by part L and by MCS MIS 3005, which I presume is why city plumbing think it's OK to charge over 200 notes for a pair of flexis https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/pump-house-ashp-flexible-hose-750mm-female-114in-fh-750-2-114-f/p/648052 EDIT F*** me! I think that's the price for a single flexi, so > £400 for the pair. I'm in the wrong business.

I've used them a few times when a room needs more expansion than I can fit on a standard cat 6a drop. My ususal approach is one cat6a home run per room. Provides power (orange) tree (green) and 4 discrete digital ins (blue + brown pairs) for retractive switches, basic motion sensors, window/door contacts. If a room needs >4 DIs I either split to 2 zones and have 2 home runs, or put a Nano DI at the first drop (e.g. main light switch back box or main motion sensor) and wire all the other DIs to that. You can even get funky using the 4 spare cores the panel plus a Nano to provide 10 DIs per room... but you're creating a maintenance headache for anyone wanting to alter it in future. A really consistent approach would be on (or more) nano per room, in an obvious location (I like the ceiling motion sensor as easy to fish wires to and lots of wriggle space behind it) and pull all the digital devices to that for the room. The layout of the house impacts the decision a bit -- if the panel is super central and easy to wire into then why not do it all central. But retrofitting a 5 story Victorian townhouse - different matter and a more distributed approach makes much more sense.

I believe you can mix and match and active (master/slave) sub into an otherwise passive audioserver speaker set. As an added benefit it gives you a Bluetooth streaming receiver for the room the sub is in. (Which maybe more accessible/familiar for guests) - at least, they said this works on the loxone partner training when Master/slave was being announced. (I pointed out at the time that this master/slave terminology was tabooed in USA at least in the 90s as non-PC, which is why USB made a late change to Host/Contoller terminology just before the 1.0 spec published. I guess Loxone either don't care for that market or have their own ideas where popular sentiment is headed ) Fwiw i like stereo pairs in any indoor room i care to have music in; I use bookshelf speakers in most rooms. Fancy Logan Martins with sub for the TV. A few concealed Monitor Audio wall mounts. No ceiling speakers as i just don't like the sound from them. But also i just use AudioServer as an spdif source, and use an Anthem MDX-16 amp (install predates the new audio server, and the Anthem is a totally different level) If installing now I'd probably put a ceiling speaker in hall and landing just for announcements, instead of the grim burglar alarm sounder

I'd imagine they're over specifying it as everyone does in audio. Gold plated connectors and all the rest of it. It'll work fine on 1mm if you have to, but if you're running the power 5m between cabinets to the audioserver I'd be inclined to cable anyway, it's not going to make a measurable difference to the project cost. Interesting experience @Kelvin with the TP link. I've only ever used audioserver with unifo router (3 installations) so can't comment other than confirm I never saw those symptoms. The main issue I've dealt with is flakiness with AirPlay discovery and control. But I don't use that myself

Be careful about the distance from WLED controller to the tape. As well as the usual voltage drop on a long line, it's also prone to interference. For example the WS2811 guideline is 10m maximum, but some people have problems even working within that

Jeez I've be telling y'all to give it a try for 5 years and the response is always Raspberry Pi blahblahblah (i stop listening after the first word) I've built or flashed esphome onto a couple co2 monitors, energy monitor, wled addressable strip light controller, radar motion sensor, 1-wire interfaces, a few modbus gateways, openevse car charger, various smart light bulbs and wall socket relays, probably a bunch other things i forget now lol I need to work through updating them all to esp32 though as the older esp2866 doesn't have enough flash for the standard stack of components I like to include in the build.

I also have a trade account with Future Automation in case anyone needs help with ordering

My car was sold as having a top speed of 140mph but I very rarely use that.

Interesting. i saw the Deege reference on the website, but AI did a better job of doxing the individuals connected with it. (Yay thanks AI) Deege did my battery install (and forgot to bill me for it for over a year lol), so the name did jump out. They're Kent based.

I fell over on this line lol. Who or what is WonderWatt? I mean, obviously it's this website: https://www.wonderwatt.com/ But their contact and about pages don't mention a company name/number, the the ToS doesn't even mention which country's law it is acting within. I'm curious where I'm sending my data if I sign up, but statements like "We will process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and in compliance with applicable data protection laws" are meaningless without stating who or where they are, and which country's law they are following.

But an mvhr unit has no way of measuring how much energy the building would be using on heating if it was to be used under some other hypothetical conditions, such as if it were turned off. It has measurements for air flow rate and incoming/outgoing air temperature so the only thing it can realistically tell you is how much energy it has recovered from the outbound air in the operating conditions it is actually working under.

Compared to running the fans but without any heat exchanger. What else could it be? This is obviously not a comparison of a leaky house vs airtight with mvhr, but as an mvhr designer it's the only sane number to provide, given the instrumentation available to the device.

According to the status page ours is reducing our heating demand by about 2000 MWh per year. So something like £50-400 per year savings, depending how much you pay for heating energy. But hard to place a figure on the air quality, cleanliness and health benefits. That's the primary reason I installed it, rather than for a bottom line cost saving

Haha well remembered - yes that is a problem we have in our house, but not one I've tried to solve through simultaneous ASHP heating and cooling. (Although a w2w heatpump would indeed allow pumping excess heat from the FCUs upstairs back down to the UFH downstairs) My solution is during the heating season, the ASHP is in heating mode only (for the UFH) and the bedrooms have additional fan bringing in cool air from outdoors as needed (essentially an MVHR mega-boost mode). This air intake fan shares duct work and electronic dampers with the FCU network.

That's a neat in-roof install method, great to see new innovations for making neat and cost efficient installs. ( I say new, maybe this is old hat but it's 6+ years since I researched RIS for my own install) Using battery to smooth out export within your export cap is excellent idea, but doing so optimally is an interesting problem in sunshine and price forecasting. Do you already have tech solution in mind for that?