Simon Buddle takes a look at Matter and how it can be integrated with KNX to offer a solution for any piece of smart technology a client might desire.
I’ve got a few bits of smart home stuff in the house; not much, just thermostats, smoke alarms, lights and speakers. They provide all the functionality I need. The Philips Hue helps me to pretend we’re in when we’re not, whilst the others keep the house warm and alert me when I’ve set something on fire.
There’s something very comforting about my Nest smoke alarms – not because they are any better than run-of-the-mill smoke detectors, not even because aesthetically, they look so much better than others. Nor is it even the little night light function (which is brilliant by the way), that is almost as good as a Basalte Auro PIR. No, it is none of those functions or features. It is simply that once a week it tells me everything is fine in its world. It tested itself and all is well. The only time a traditional smoke detector communicates with you is to tell you that all is not well; either your house is on fire, or the battery is dying.
Nest thermostats also look better than any on-wall thermostat. They are easy to use, tactile and ergonomic. I once went to a house that had a Nest thermostat in every room – twelve all told. Each one controlling the valve for the underfloor heating loop. Absolutely barking mad, but it does show how people are drawn to these products. They are visible everywhere you look; the advertising is sleek and they’re not expensive to boot.
The importance of being open
We have lived for years with companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon working solely in their own ecosystems – a siloed approach that benefits no one. Nobody wants to live in a Google house, but many people do want to live in a house with lots of smart home technology. At last, it looks like the problem has been solved.
The Matter smart home protocol was first released in October 2022 following a three-year development period. The current release v1.3 became available in May of this year. Matter is a freely-available connectivity standard for smart home and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. It aims to improve interoperability and compatibility between different manufacturers and security, and always allowing local control as an option. And that really is the key – finally they have all decided to play nicely. The market is huge and there’s plenty of opportunities for everyone.
KNX and Matter
Bringing together KNX and Matter systems is easily achieved. There are already quite a few KNX-to-Matter gateways available from manufacturers such as 1Home, Elsner, Atios, and ABB. As the integration between the two worlds becomes commonplace, I’m sure we’ll see a flood of such gateways on the market.
Integrating KNX and Matter systems together also facilitates control via Apple HomeKit, Google Home Assistant and many other user interfaces that are often embedded in smart devices or phones at the point of purchase. That is a low-cost option to enable KNX integration with user interfaces (UI) that customers already own. Whilst I’m a strong advocate of simple and robust controls, I always recommend a hard-wired UI as the primary solution to control a KNX home, but there are applications where a secondary smart device UI is of value.
For us as integrators I think the real boon is that we can say ‘Yes’ to almost any type of smart home technology and its integration with KNX. The list of devices already Matter-enabled is staggering and growing day by day.
The Nest thermostat is an obvious winner. But equally there are, for example, air purifiers which can be combined with a KNX sensor and integrated, security sensors that could also double up to provide data for room occupancy, or the status of a window sent to KNX so that we can ensure the heating and cooling are working as efficiently as possible. Remember the days of a contact on your hotel room’s window that switched off the AC?
We should, of course, always be wary of the adage ‘Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.’ But that’s why we’re seasoned integrators. We understand that Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Bluetooth etc are all wonderful technologies, but system-critical devices or functions must be robust and operationally foolproof. An alarm signal that doesn’t signal isn’t worth the air it didn’t transmit through.
Conclusion
The truth is that it really is down to our imaginations as to how far we can integrate the two worlds of KNX and Matter. And that’s the joy for us – it’s win, win. We can already solve 99% of customers’ wishes just with KNX, but now we have the added advantage that should they want to, we can offer them an easy solution for any piece of smart technology they might desire. If the client is looking for a specific aesthetic, or a product that sits outside of our KNX world, we can now bring that under our control and integrate it into the entire system.
Simon Buddle CEng MIET, is a consultant for Future Ready Homes, a specialist in BMS and ELV services system design.
