How does Niko Home Control for traditional cabling work?
You can discover more about the operations and opportunities of Niko Home Control for traditional cabling here. There is a summary of the different products that you can use to make your installation smart.
The brain of your installation: the wireless smart hub
The wireless smart hub is the brain of every Niko Home Control installation for traditional cabling. The smart hub controls the connected Zigbee® products that you can programme with the Niko Home app.
How is the network for Niko Home Control products for traditional cabling designed?
The Zigbee® products, which are powered with 230V, create a mesh network. That means that, between them, they can send the signal from the wireless smart hub. The wireless switches connect directly with the hub via Easywave.
The Zigbee® products (not the battery-driven motion detector and not the wireless Easywave switches) are powered by traditional cabling. The dimmer does not require a neutral conductor (N).
Using the Niko Home app on your smartphone, you can command all lamps or devices that are connected to connected switches, dimmers or socket outlets. You can also connect and command partner applications.
Connect the smart hub to your router in order to ensure a stable connection (via a UTP cable at a distance of at least 2 m). Connect the smart hub to your digital meter and you can consult your energy consumption (using a P1 cable of maximum 2 m).
Which functions can be carried out by the Niko Home Control products?
The connected switch or dimmer switches the connected lighting on and off (unless programmed otherwise).
The connected motor control operates the sun blinds.
After connection to the wireless smart hub, you can also command the lighting with the assistance of the Niko Home app and add this to a scene, for example, the lamps that you also wish to switch on in order to make it cosy in the evening.
The connected switch or dimmer must always be directly connected to the lamp.
You can add tradition push buttons in order to modify two-way ❶ or intermediate switching (❶ + ❷ + …).
You can programme the connected switch or dimmer in order to command a lamp that is not physically connected.
Any traditional push buttons which are connected to the extension portal of one connected switch or dimmer (❶ + ❷ + …), can only be programmed as a group. This allows you to create a setting to command a lamp that is not physically connected.
You can also programme the connected switch, dimmer or push buttons to activate a particular routine, for example, switching off all lighting when you leave home, or creating a certain scene by switching on and dimming the appropriate lamps.
Important before you start: What to watch out for before starting to install Niko Home control
Note: Once you are ready to start installing the installation, it is best to begin with the wireless smart hub. As such, you can already do the required updates while you install the other products.
What do you need when installing Niko Home Control?
- You need a modern electrical installation with three or five wires (phase, neutral conductor, earthing and possibly switching wires) with a cross-section of 1.5 or 2.5 mm2. This is usually the case in houses built as from 1985. To install a connected switch there needs to be a neutral conductor in the flush-mounting box. This is not necessary for a connected dimmer.
- You need Niko switches and socket outlets with square central plates (in the range since 2006). If your current switches and socket outlets are older or from another brand, you will need to replace the central plates.
- You need flush-mounting boxes with a depth of minimum 45 mm, in order to fit the connected switch, connected dimmer and the connected switching socket outlet with a flush-mounting depth of approximately 40 mm.
- You also need an internet network in your home. You can modify your switching without internet, but then you cannot register the wireless smart hub and you cannot programme the installation in the Niko Home app.
How many Niko Home Control products can you connect?
- When choosing the number of products, take account of the distance between the products. The different Zigbee® devices create a mesh network in which they communicate with each other. You can install the Zigbee® devices a maximum of 10 m away from each other, but the reach also depends on the thickness and the materials of the partitions in your home.
- You can install a maximum of 50 connected Zigbee® devices (switches, socket outlets, etc.), of which a maximum of 25 connected socket outlet or smart plugs.
- You can install a maximum of 50 wireless Easywave switches.
- To each light point (one or more lamps that are commanded together), you can connect only one connected switch or dimmer. For a light point with several control points, replace the switch that is directly connected with the lamp with a connected switch or dimmer. Replace the other switches with traditional push buttons.
- On the extension exit of each connected switch or dimmer, you can connect a maximum of 30 push buttons in parallel.
