Smart home
Loxone explained: the smart home from a single source
One Miniserver, one manufacturer, one piece of software: Loxone promises home automation without a babel of protocols. What the system can do and where its limits lie.
Loxone was founded in Austria in 2009 and in a good fifteen years has become one of the most widely installed systems in the German-speaking world. The difference from KNX is fundamental: with Loxone, the intelligence sits not in every device but in one central computer, the Miniserver.
The heart: the Miniserver
The Miniserver is a small device in the distribution board. It processes all inputs – buttons, motion sensors, temperature probes – and controls the outputs through extensions: lighting, blinds, heating, music, access. It is programmed with Loxone Config, free software in which functions are connected graphically. Anyone who wants to change a rule moves blocks instead of writing code.
Three routes to the devices
- Tree: Loxone's own bus, laid as a green cable, for buttons, sensors and actuators in new builds.
- Air: radio on 868 MHz for retrofits and anywhere no cable runs.
- Link: the connection to the extensions in the board, for relays, dimmers, DMX, Modbus or KNX, for example.
Through interfaces, Loxone also integrates third-party systems: KNX devices, blind motors, heat pumps, wallboxes, photovoltaics. Its own products range from glass buttons and presence sensors to the audio server for multiroom music.
The autopilot
Loxone markets its installations with the image of an autopilot: the house should do as much as possible by itself. Lighting follows the time of day and presence, blinds follow the sun and room temperature, heating follows the calendar. The goal is a house in which nobody needs an app any more. In practice that succeeds where the integrator takes time over the settings and the residents can name their habits.
Strengths
- Everything from one source: hardware, software and app fit together.
- Very fast implementation of logic, scenes and automation.
- App, visualisation and remote access are included.
- Good price per function, especially in a detached house.
Weaknesses
- Proprietary: the system lives by the manufacturer Loxone.
- Centralised: if the Miniserver fails, the installation stops – buttons then no longer work in the classic way.
- Changes need Loxone Config and experience; the software is powerful, but not a toy.
- For remote access, the connection runs through the manufacturer's service.
Who Loxone suits
Loxone is the right choice for clients who want plenty of automation, energy management and a good app, and who prefer a well-thought-out complete system to an open standard. It fits new builds as well as renovations, because Tree and Air can be mixed. Anyone who has to keep a building manufacturer-independent for decades, on the other hand, is better advised with KNX – or with a combination in which KNX forms the basic installation and the Miniserver takes over the logic.
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