Enjoying Smart Home comfort even while you’re not at home? For Dag Rogge, a KNX enthusiast and avid traveller, this idea became reality: he transformed a regular truck into a smart RV, complete with Gira KNX technology. Read on to learn how he managed to do that – and see the stunning result.
From Smart Home to smart RV: exploring Australia with the Gira KNX system
15 years ago, Dag already knew that connected living offers a variety of benefits. Back then, he was renovating an old farm together with his wife and took the opportunity to set up a Gira KNX network across his 900 m² property. "We automated several areas on our farm, such as the facilities where we keep our horses. The KNX system has been working reliably ever since we've installed it."
"For our trip to Australia, we’ve completely automated our service truck based on the Gira KNX system. The smart RV has been functioning perfectly to this day." – Dag Rogge
The idea of building a mobile Gira Smart Home came years later, when Das was planning a professional expedition to Australia for Jaguar Land Rover. Together with his team, he would be travelling the country in a so-called "service-truck". That's where Dag recognised the potential for an RV with smart technology "I just thought to myself, whatever works at home should work in our truck as well," he recalls.
Living in a smart camper: convenient and weatherproof
Dag quickly took matters into his own hands. With the help of Gira, he designed and constructed a smart RV based on the Gira KNX system. Using the Gira FacilityServer – similar to the Gira HomeServer – he can now control the vehicle’s indoor and outdoor lighting, air conditioning, heating, along with many other functions. “At first, I was a bit nervous about the project, but my concerns were completely unwarranted. The Gira KNX network in my smart RV could even withstand extreme temperatures of up to 40 °C in Australia.”
Overcoming the challenges of constructing a smart RV
It was not always easy to turn the dream of smart camping into reality. Dag remembers the difficulties he faced, especially in the beginning: “Of course, the truck didn’t have the electricity network necessary to connect Smart Home devices. Integrating a suitable power supply was definitely our biggest challenge.” In the end, a combination of several batteries manufactured by Victron with a fitting inverter did the trick: the batteries’ direct current were transformed into alternating current, thus providing an adequate source of energy. The smart RV can now be powered up to twelve hours with additional help of the dynamo. Regardless of the rocky start, Dag couldn’t be happier with the final result: “The KNX system works perfectly well even today, several years after its installation. My smart mobile home was definitely worth the effort.”
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