With the first fix well under way, we are looking to finalise much of the sockets and switches that will be used as part of the second fix.
We have decided to use Schneider flat plate screwless switches and sockets throughout the house. This product range has a full range which includes ethernet sockets, shaver sockets, etc. These come in a variety of different finishes. We have decided to used stainless steel with black inserts. These match the window and door furniture that we have selected to use elsewhere.
The front of the switches and sockets can be removed while the rooms are being painted and simply pushed into place once the paint has dried.
The majority of the light switches will be modified Schneider two button switches. The switches have been modified to use an RJ45 socket make them easy to connect to the Loxone lighting computer. Each of the buttons has an LED. These come in a variety of colours. We have decided to use ones with white LEDs.
This is a two way switch. It is from the screwless flat plate range from Schneider. The small circles at the top of each of the button are LEDs. They come in a variety of colours. We have decided to use white LEDs.
The black socket at the top of the switch is an RJ45 socket. We will use CAT5e cable to connect these switches to the lighting computer (Loxone).
Hi, can I ask how much you paid for your switches? Did you modify them yourself to accept the rj45?
Having lived with the loxone would you recommend it?
Thanks
The single button switches were about £35 and the double button switches about £48. They were modified by Andy Stephenson who runs a small bespoke electronics business. You will find his details on the Loxone website. Let me know if you can’t find them.
The Loxone kit has worked well for us. But do bear in mind that we completely rewired the property – we went back to just four walls and no roof. This makes a big difference. You also have to bear in mind that I did all the programming myself – the electrician pulled the wires through and labelled them up, the rest was done by me. I have spent a lot of time thinking about and then modifying how our lighting works. This included integrating the Loxone kit with the alarm system, getting it to work with external sensors and rooflights. If I had to pay someone else to do this, it would have worked out very expensive.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Stephen.
Thanks Stephen, I am building a new build and work in IT, have been a programmer, IT Manager etc so not expecting any problems configuring the thing just the time I am going to want to spend tinkering with it that will be the problem. Not to mention the grief I will get from the wife when I change what buttons do what 🙂
In which case, I think the Loxone kit is a great choice. A number of the other manufacturers rely on a partner network to do all of the programming and aren’t keen on end users doing it. I think this is a flawed approach since you will never get the system to evolve if you have to pay someone else to programme it and you won’t be able to predict what you are going to do with it until you have lived with it for some time.
The Loxone kit would really benefit from more documentation. There is a lot of stuff online (some very technical stuff too), but a reference manual is missing. This makes it very hard to get into it when you first start. Since you work in IT, you will no doubt be used to learning things from a book. This is hard with Loxone, but stick with it, it is definitely worth it. I went on their courses (Parts 1, 2 and 3) which helped to flatten out the learning curve a bit. The videos on the website are good too. If you have any questions, they are always good to talk to – I got lots of ideas from them.
If my experience is anything to go by, finding an electrician how is willing to do just the cabling and labelling will be the challenge.
Can I put forward the female point of view? The switches are lovely and the idea and potential of the whole system is awesome. And, when it works its all great. However, its quite irritating when Steve changes the configurations without mentioning it to me and the dog is crossing his legs and I can’t see in the $%^&”!! drawer to pick up the right key for the front door. Seriously though, the thing I really worry about is if Steve “fell under a bus” I would be totally clueless on how to do simple things in the house…and I do worry about that. J