How to Program Scenes on KNX

Configuring scenes on KNX can be performed in 3 ways - KNX based, device based or externally.

KNX Based

This is the standard KNX method for using scenes. Each keypad button press sends a different scene number, which is recalled by the relay or dimmer.

It is also possible to configure a long press of the button to initiate a save scene command. This stores the current lighting levels into the scene.

A single group address is all that is needed for all the scenes in a room. This will have the scene object from each button press along with a scene object from each actuator. If more than one keypad or an external controller needs to call the scene it is just a case of sending the scene value to the same scene group address.

Device Based

It is also possible for a keypad to act as a scene controller. The keypad will send a value to each channel that needs to be controlled and can receive a scene command from another device. Whilst useful to know, it takes longer to program than standard KNX scenes and doesn’t add any functionality. This came about when older KNX actuators had limited scene storage functionality.

External

In the same way, an external scene controller, such as the Gira HomeServer or a scene logic module, can be used. Again, this was very common when using older KNX actuators.

In this case the keypads would be set to send a 1 bit switching object, which is then used to recall an internal scene on the HomeServer, in turn sending the values back to the bus.