Rob99 Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 My wife and I have been wanting to self build for years but circumstances have frustrated us so far. It's still on our to-do list but for the moment we're extending our existing house. The builders arrived 6 weeks ago and will be here until November. They're doing most of the work, especially the structural stuff but I'm putting in underfloor heating on the ground floor and a Loxone system to control lighting, heating, security, music etc. Please bear with me as I ask numerous questions, some of which no doubt will be very specific to whatever is taxing my brain at the time.........sorry!! Cheers Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnaught Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Welcome, @Rob99. There are lots of people here who will be able to answer your questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alphonsox Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Welcome to the forum, all questions welcome. Whereabouts are you extending ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Thanks for the welcome. We're extending at the rear to have a larger kitchen and adding a new dining room alongside. At the front we're converting the garage and extending out to create an office/study and larger entrance hall. All single storey. If I misinterpreted your question @alphonsox then we are located in West Sussex.......!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alphonsox Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 35 minutes ago, Rob99 said: Thanks for the welcome. We're extending at the rear to have a larger kitchen and adding a new dining room alongside. At the front we're converting the garage and extending out to create an office/study and larger entrance hall. All single storey. If I misinterpreted your question @alphonsox then we are located in West Sussex.......!! Strange as it may seem where you're extending (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland N/S) will effect where you're extending (up, down, front, rear). And no, it really doesn't make any logical sense. -:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Welcome Rob! I installed Loxone in our new build a couple of years ago to control external blinds, lighting and a few other bits and pieces. All working well, except for the 1-wire extension which seems to have died. Do have a think about whether Loxone is the best option for audio. Their gear is expensive for what you get (the multi-channel amp is a rebadged unit that you can get cheaper elsewhere). I know there are a few things you can do with integration, but if you don't plan to use those, there are probably better and cheaper options for audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Thanks Jack I do like the Loxone stuff (so much so that i'm looking at it as a business alongside my other stuff) but i agree the music stuff is a bit on the expensive side. I think the amp is a re-badged Dayton MA1240 which is available for much less than Loxone sell it for. Unfortunately I'm no expert on the audio side so feel a bit out of my depth. I'm going to wire for speakers everywhere as all the ceilings will be accessible during the works but beyond that I'm not sure. Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Neil Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Given that the Loxone unit is a badged Dayton, does this mean you could swap one out for the other in a system which was otherwise designed with all loxone kit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I believe so, but it's worth asking on the Loxone Google group: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/loxone-english Very helpful bunch of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Neil Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Will check it out - thanks.I had heard of them before, but they were at the Self Build show in Manchester at the weekend and they had really helpful chap who made me consider it more. One of the things I couldn't quite get my head around was the cost of spots in comparison to what you can get if non-smart. Mnd you compare it to Philips Hue and it's not so offensive a price. Before I start looking at that other dirty dirty forum, can you easily summarise for me what 'Tree' is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 15 minutes ago, Big Neil said: Before I start looking at that other dirty dirty forum, can you easily summarise for me what 'Tree' is? They hadn't released this before I installed my kit, but I believe it's what Loxone calls their bus-based control system. It allows less wiring, as you just loop from point to point. Personally I'd stay away from it, as it's completely proprietary. It ties you into using Loxone devices. If you eventually decide to (or need to) move away from Loxone, you'll need to replace all Tree-based devices and will be limited to using bus-type home automation systems (KNX uses a bus format, I think). I haven't used any of Loxone's lights. I just used DMX control (which is native to Loxone) and DMX mains dimmers. This is something I'd reconsider if I were doing it again - mains dimmers just don't give the quality of control that proper LED drivers offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelliekins Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 14 hours ago, jack said: I haven't used any of Loxone's lights. I just used DMX control (which is native to Loxone) and DMX mains dimmers. Hi Jack. Are you sure Loxone has native Dmx control? I thought that was a separate extension? Or do you mean KNX? I am about to start the home automation installation, including UniPi and Loxone kit alongside 24v DMX dimmers and relays. Might well start a thread about it all! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Sorry, I meant "native" as in "designed to work natively with". You do need the DMX extension of course. I don't recall the details, but I believe the KNX functionality in Loxone isn't the full deal. Something to do with licensing of the KNX software, but again I don't remember the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Neil Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Just to clarify, because I learn like a child, DMX is some sort of control protocol is it? So if i get the DMX extension block for the mini-server, I can then get DMX based down-lighters for example, and control them as if they were loxone own branded ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Exactly. The Loxone DMX extension is just a standard DMX controller. You can use it to control anything, including lights and DMX relay boards (much cheaper than Loxone extensions if you need to increase the number of output relays). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Davies Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMX512 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Neil Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 On 27/02/2019 at 14:01, jack said: Exactly. The Loxone DMX extension is just a standard DMX controller. You can use it to control anything, including lights and DMX relay boards (much cheaper than Loxone extensions if you need to increase the number of output relays). Bang on that - good to know. I suppose it's nice to have an all encompassing guarantee and not have to worry about company one saying a problem is with company two etc, but when their normal Downlights are about 70 quid a fitting, that really grates on me. I do quite like their Touch pure switches it has to be said but at £133 something a piece, i'd rather eat a moldy Badger on a rotten cabbage. On 27/02/2019 at 18:06, Ed Davies said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMX512 Thanks Ed - will take a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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