KNX - the standard that does not tie you to a single manufacturer
KNX is an open international building automation standard defined by ISO/IEC 14543-3, EN 50090 and EN 13321. It belongs to no single company. It is maintained by an association of manufacturers, and certified devices from different brands communicate with each other over the same protocol
For the building owner, KNX is an installation that does not age with fashion. For the integrator, it is a bill of materials that has to be pulled out of several manufacturers' catalogues before anyone orders the first actuator. That second part is what we do.
500+
manufacturers worldwide
8000+
certified products
Time
How long does an estimate take you today?
The integrators we talk to spend 10 to 20 hours on a single installation. KNX adds what single-vendor systems do not have: the bill of materials has to be assembled from several brands' catalogues at once. It is work nobody pays for until the client signs.
Spreadsheet and manufacturer price lists
10-20 h
- Copying rooms and areas off the floor plan
- Counting points, channels and input and output modules by hand
- Pulling prices from several KNX manufacturers' catalogues at once
- Building the proposal and the PDF from scratch for every client
doEstimate
minutes
- Rooms, functions and areas read from the floor plan
- Actuators, input modules and power supplies matched to the point count
- Prices and margins taken from your configuration
- A proposal in your logo and colours, ready to send
You set the price list, margins and function packages once, at the start. Every later estimate already uses them.
Architecture
How is KNX built?
KNX TP bus
The primary medium is a dedicated twisted pair cable run alongside the electrical installation. The same cable carries telegrams between devices and powers the bus.
Distributed architecture
There is no central unit the installation cannot live without. The logic is stored in the individual devices and the bus only carries messages between them.
KNX RF and KNXnet/IP
Where a cable cannot be run, the same standard works wirelessly on a sub-GHz band, and KNXnet/IP carries telegrams across Ethernet.
ETS, one tool
The whole installation is designed and commissioned in ETS, published by the KNX Association. It handles devices from every certified manufacturer, so the project is not tied to a single brand.
KNX Secure
The standard covers encrypted communication: KNX Data Secure protects telegrams on the bus, KNX IP Secure protects traffic sent over the network.
Certified compatibility
Every product carrying the KNX logo is tested in an independent laboratory. It is certification, not a vendor's promise, that decides whether devices from different brands work together.
Advantages
Why choose KNX?
- Open standard defined by ISO/IEC 14543-3 and EN 50090, independent of any single manufacturer
- Distributed architecture - no central point whose failure stops the whole installation
- Over 8,000 certified products from more than 500 manufacturers, with no vendor lock-in
- Compatibility confirmed by certification, so the installation can grow for years
- Works equally well in a single family home and in a large commercial building
- More than 140,000 trained integrators worldwide, so servicing does not depend on one company
Limitations
What to consider?
- KNX sits in the premium segment - certified devices and a separate bus mean a higher entry cost, repaid by the durability of the installation, freedom in choosing manufacturers, and room to grow
- Commissioning an installation in S-Mode requires ETS, published by the KNX Association: the licence is paid and the software runs on Windows only
- Control logic is changed in ETS rather than in the user app, so an integrator is usually needed
For KNX integrators
Working with KNX? This tool is for you
The openness of KNX is an advantage when designing and a cost when estimating: the devices come from many manufacturers, and every proposal means assembling a bill of materials from several catalogues. doEstimate turns a floor plan into a costing based on the products you work with, your service rates and your margins. The client gets the proposal the same day, and how much of it they see stays your call: you set the level of detail and the way it is presented.
A floor plan instead of a spreadsheet
You upload the architect's floor plan. Zones, functions and points are analysed from the drawing, with no manual pass needed.
Many manufacturers, one bill of materials
The openness of the standard stops costing you time. Products from different KNX brands land in a single list, and you decide which catalogues you work with. The catalogues of the most popular manufacturers are already integrated.
Your price list, your margins
Prices are pulled automatically from manufacturer catalogues, and you set your discounts and markups once. Products from manufacturers we have not integrated yet, you add yourself.
A proposal under your own logo
The client gets a proposal with your logo and your brand colours. You set the level of detail yourself, from a full product list to a proposal focused on functions only.
How an estimate is produced
How is a KNX installation costing created?
Set up the scope of your services
You tailor your own packages: pick the functions, choose the devices and fill in the pricelists for installation and programming work.
Upload the floor plan
You upload the architectural drawing. Rooms, their functions and areas are read from the plan, with no manual retyping into a spreadsheet.
Automatic device selection
Actuators, input modules, power supplies and accessories are matched to the calculated points, from the catalogues of the KNX manufacturers you work with.
Costing and a proposal ready to send
Once the plan is analysed and the package is chosen, a proposal for the client is ready. You decide how detailed it should be. Send it to the client straight from the app or hand it over in person on site.
Scope of the estimate
What does a KNX installation estimate include?
A house does not end at automation. The costing also covers the accompanying installations, such as the home network or the CCTV system, without which the job is incomplete. You pick the manufacturer in those areas yourself, and the estimate shows the full scope of your service with every part the installation needs.
Network and cabling
Structured cabling, switches and Wi-Fi access points. Without a stable network there is no remote access and no visualisation over KNXnet/IP.
Video surveillance
Cameras, a recorder and PoE power. You are free to pick the surveillance components from any manufacturer.
Access control and door entry
Door entry, readers and locks. KNX gives you plenty to choose from, and you build the packages on the products you prefer.
Supporting equipment
The distribution board, bus power supplies, backup power, luminaires and blind drives. The parts that get left out of proposals and then push up the final cost.
Data security
Every integrator works on a separate database. Your clients' projects do not land in a shared pool, and only you have access to them.
Support at the start
You configure the price list and function packages together with us, in an online workshop. You are not left alone with an empty panel.
Your brand
Your logo and colours in the proposals and in the email sent to the client. The proposal is entirely yours.
About the standard
What is KNX?
KNX is a standard that manufacturers agreed on together, with compliance confirmed by certification. More than 500 manufacturers build for it today and over 8,000 certified products are on the market. The standard has been evolving for over 30 years and counts more than 140,000 trained integrators and several hundred training centres worldwide.
Approach
An installation that outlives its devices
In KNX every device holds its own set of tasks and carries them out on its own. A push button passes the command straight to the actuator, with no central controller in between. There is no single device whose failure takes control away from the whole installation: a faulty actuator only drops its own circuits. Replacing a module years later means loading its settings from the project rather than rebuilding the installation, because certification and a shared communication standard keep device generations compatible.
Estimate KNX installations with doEstimate
A KNX costing from the building's floor plan, calculated on the products you prefer and your own service rates. What used to take several evenings now takes a few minutes.