Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Support for our english speaking visitors

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tomi_cc16
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Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von tomi_cc16 » 26.12.2017, 17:31

Dear English speaking Community,

I have the feeling that e-Q3 and Homematic (IP) is rougher a “German speaking” thing. Also I found no other English speaking Homematic Forum.
E.g. some weeks ago I was in London at the airport and had time to read some papers but in the local UK IT smart home magazines had different rankings and products but Homematic was in no magazine mentioned.
How did you find the Homematic system and where do you buy components?

Therefore I would be interested how you as a not “German speaking” person where you from and how did you found the product Homematic? Where there any references in magazines in your country or did you found HM per web search?
And also do you think Homematic or Homematic IP should be more present in your country and that a bigger English speaking community would help the HM products and your problems?

What things are you in general missing with Homematic / Homematic IP?

Also it would be MEGA Cool if you would Add your city / country (Street not necessary) in this thread to see on google maps outside german speaking region where useres located:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37061
Zuletzt geändert von tomi_cc16 am 27.11.2018, 10:45, insgesamt 6-mal geändert.

Benutzeravatar
Roland M.
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System: CCU
Wohnort: Graz, Österreich
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von Roland M. » 26.12.2017, 17:33

...and please do mention, which country you come from!

Thanks!


Roland
Zur leichteren Hilfestellung bitte unbedingt beachten:
  • Bezeichnung (HM-... bzw. HmIP-...) der betroffenen Geräte angeben (nicht Artikelnummer)
  • Kurzbeschreibung des Soll-Zustandes (Was soll erreicht werden?)
  • Kurzbeschreibung des Ist-Zustandes (Was funktioniert nicht?)
  • Fehlermeldungen genau abschreiben, besser noch...
  • Screenshots von Programmen, Geräteeinstellungen und Fehlermeldungen (direkt als jpg/png) einstellen!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. CCU2 mit ~100 Geräten (in Umstellung auf RaspberryMatic-OVA auf Proxmox-Server)
2. CCU2 per VPN mit ~50 Geräten (geplant: RaspberryMatic auf Charly)
3. CCU2 per VPN mit ~40 Geräten (geplant: RaspberryMatic auf CCU3)
CCU1, Test-CCU2, Raspi 1 mit kleinem Funkmodul, RaspberryMatic als VM unter Proxmox, Access Point,...

blueznl
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von blueznl » 26.12.2017, 18:50

Country: Netherlands

It was the only (affordable) system (at the time) I could find that would allow me to control my heater (city heating valves) without going all-out into domotica systems...

Reasons:

+ wireless (no space for additional cabling)
+ must support radiator valves as well as power switches (to control floor heating pumpts)
+ easily programmable
+ affordable (payback by energy gains in approx. 4 years, Homematic isn't cheap but )
+ no central (non-local) server required (which is why I don't like Homematic IP)

Things I did not like / missed:

- documentation (everything is probably there but it's cumbersome and not easy to read)
- two very annoying bugs (radiator valves do not report low battery, and especially do not report CAL errors)
- UI (a more user friendly UI would have been appreciated, for example some official app on IOS / Android)
- lack of some native functions
- alarm support (I know it existed in the past, but I wouldn't have bought an eGardia system if it was easier to do in HomeMatic)

I think the best way to promote the system is simply create better documentation, for example a number of what/if scenarios and what you need to solve them, perhaps a 'homematic for dummies' or 'homematic survival guide' :lol:
Zuletzt geändert von blueznl am 16.01.2019, 17:59, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.

Benutzeravatar
Roland M.
Beiträge: 9736
Registriert: 08.12.2012, 15:53
System: CCU
Wohnort: Graz, Österreich
Hat sich bedankt: 251 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 1356 Mal

Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von Roland M. » 26.12.2017, 22:03

Thank you for your response!
Just two additional questions: how did you find the Homematic system and where do you buy components?


Roland
Zur leichteren Hilfestellung bitte unbedingt beachten:
  • Bezeichnung (HM-... bzw. HmIP-...) der betroffenen Geräte angeben (nicht Artikelnummer)
  • Kurzbeschreibung des Soll-Zustandes (Was soll erreicht werden?)
  • Kurzbeschreibung des Ist-Zustandes (Was funktioniert nicht?)
  • Fehlermeldungen genau abschreiben, besser noch...
  • Screenshots von Programmen, Geräteeinstellungen und Fehlermeldungen (direkt als jpg/png) einstellen!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. CCU2 mit ~100 Geräten (in Umstellung auf RaspberryMatic-OVA auf Proxmox-Server)
2. CCU2 per VPN mit ~50 Geräten (geplant: RaspberryMatic auf Charly)
3. CCU2 per VPN mit ~40 Geräten (geplant: RaspberryMatic auf CCU3)
CCU1, Test-CCU2, Raspi 1 mit kleinem Funkmodul, RaspberryMatic als VM unter Proxmox, Access Point,...

StefanD
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Registriert: 17.11.2016, 10:42
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von StefanD » 01.02.2018, 14:18

Country: Netherlands

I was already using the FHT8 system for my central heating system. When that was discontinued, I looked for an alternative and Homematic seemed about the only system that was able to drive the radiator valves and send a signal to the central system to start or stop heating based on valve openings.

Reasons:

- Stand alone system (no Internet required)
- Able to drive radiator valves and start/stop central heating system
- Seemingly endless possibilities, although scripting required. (no problem for me)
- Ability to control lighting
- Affordable

Things I did not like / missed:

- Outdated GUI on the CCU2, requiring quite some time to get used to
- Documentation could be better, although this forum easily fills that gap.

Experience:
- The system has been totally stable until now, very reliable, which is very important since I use it for controlling my central heating
- Lighting control and integration with existing systems (I use Berker S1) is superb

Sergo
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von Sergo » 04.02.2018, 09:23

Decided to copy Stefan's structure ;)

Country: Estonia

I'm for third year looking for automation system to install and so far e-Q3 (not Homematic IP) is my preference. I'm a bit skeptical about current Homematic IP because I would prefer to have control on the critical home system...even in case of complete disaster, like internet is down ;)
Hoping to get things moving this year. And by the way, I found e-Q3 just by searching internet for radiator valves :lol:
We also have few small companies who sells Homematic IP with installation, but their price list are not humane :roll:

Reasons:
- presented on the market relatively long, with significant community (mostly German speaking)
- capable to drive radiator valves & manipulate with gas boiler on/off, control windows
- high potential for customization
- Reasonably priced
- capable to operate standalone, while potential for remote operation "exist"

Things I dont like:
- Outdated GUI on the CCU2, along with security issues if exposed outside
- Documentation, including user guide, could be better, covering common configurations & include programming/scripting reference/guide in English
- Unclear possibility/options on:
--- connecting to CCU2 from outside
--- how to connect CCU2 to get input from existing low voltage sensors (like over cable fire alarm, motion detectors and others)
--- integration with other popular SmartHome systems

Sources of supply in my region:
some items available on https://www.elfadistrelec.ee/search?q=e ... ageSize=30
for the rest looking on Amazon.de & www.elv.de/

In overall, Homematic providing impression of a product that will be present for significant time going forward. Keep it going :!: :!: :!:

Sergei

bogd
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von bogd » 04.02.2018, 20:07

Country: Romania.

When I got started with home automation systems, this was the only system I could find that was able to control my radiators' thermostatic valves. Strangely enough, thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) controllers are missing from most of the other radio-controlled systems (I only know of one Z-Wave TRV head).

I found homematic because there were companies selling their products here. And once I had my heating system control in place, I actually started to love the system (long battery life, pretty good API for interfacing with the CCU from my own programs, etc). So I kept on adding components (at first buying them from local resellers, later from Amazon, at much lower prices).

However, I have to say that it was not easy for a non-German speaker to get it all working. The most important thing that is missing? All the documentation that I could find for the CCU2 API is in German. So... one thing you can do that would immensely help people like me - provide English translations for ALL the documentation. Trying to figure things out with Google Translate and various third-party libraries from the Internet is definitely not fun at all...

tomi_cc16
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Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von tomi_cc16 » 04.02.2018, 21:18

Hi,

Thank you for the first feedbacks. Hope you already checked out the summary about Homematic CCU vs Homematic IP Access Point:
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=41325

One more question, did you checked eQ-3 website - which german documents (e.g. WebUI Handbuch) are you missing in english?

DE: http://www.eq-3.de/service/downloads.html
EN: http://www.eq-3.com/service/downloads.html

EN Documentation can also be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=45485

Regards

Thomas
Zuletzt geändert von tomi_cc16 am 27.11.2018, 09:37, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.

twautele
Beiträge: 1
Registriert: 28.12.2017, 21:09

Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von twautele » 06.02.2018, 17:52

Country : Belgium

Homematic-ip : ease of setup and use. Nice iOS interface. Wall thermostat for heating control of radiator valve (something
missing with z-wave solutions).
I did try raspymatic but lack of english doc and gui make it uneasy and didn't provide more functionality for me.

Bought from ELV and amazon mostly.

bogd
Beiträge: 5
Registriert: 21.10.2015, 11:29
Danksagung erhalten: 6 Mal

Re: Why did you choose Homematic (IP) in your country?

Beitrag von bogd » 07.02.2018, 15:12

@tomi_cc16: As mentioned in my previous post, I was never able to find the CCU2 API documentation in English.

Something like this: http://www.eq-3.de/Downloads/eq3/downlo ... pc_API.pdf . Is there an English version of this? (or any English documentation, for any API provided by the CCU2?)

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