Avenler

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15. Low-current systems and smart home

Important before you start. Avenler is an aid: it prepares the allocation, routing and schedules of low-current systems (data, TV, alarm, intercom, KNX…) as suggestions. Cable separation, line loading and equipment sizing must be checked against the standard in force and the manufacturer's instructions.

This chapter shows how the program handles the low-current design: systems and hubs, automatic allocation and routing, the checks, the schedule and the patch ports.

Systems and hubs

A low-current circuit (Circuits panel, type: Low-current) has a system: Data/network, TV/SAT, Alarm, Intercom, KNX, Fire alarm, Audio, Camera (CCTV) or Other. If you leave it empty, the program suggests it from the device symbols (the system most devices belong to). The system also gives a colour and a default cable type (e.g. UTP Cat6 for data, RG6 for TV, KNX J-Y(St)Y for KNX), which you can override in the route properties.

A low-current circuit can have a hub the cables start from. In the circuit editor the Hub selector offers the hub symbols on the floor drawing. The toolbar has five new low-current symbols: Wi-Fi access point, Network cabinet (the data hub), Intrusion alarm panel (the alarm hub), TV multiswitch (the TV hub) and KNX push button.

Automatic allocation and routing

Automatic allocation… puts the low-current devices into a separate circuit per system (G1, G2…); low-current circuits are not tied to a board. With the Plan routes checkbox it plans the low-current routes too:

  • in a star for data, TV, alarm, camera, intercom and fire alarm: a separate cable runs from the hub to every device;
  • in a chain for KNX and audio: from the hub (without a hub, from one device) always to the nearest next device.

If a star system has no hub on the drawing, its routes are left out and the preview says which system. The automatic routing is a suggestion: you can edit the result by hand afterwards.

Layers and plan sheets

Low-current cables are shown in a separate colour and layer per system; the legend and the DXF export are also split by system. For printing and the plan package, the Content selector can produce a separate Low-current plan, apart from the power one.

Checks

The Check panel runs three rules on the low-current design; all are informative, and the thresholds can be set in the settings:

  • Low voltage next to power: reports a low-current cable running close and parallel to a power cable over a long stretch (defaults: 200 mm proximity, 1000 mm parallel length). It is a floor-plan approximation: the surroundings of the connected ends and crossings are not counted; the required separation depends on the cable types and the regulations.
  • KNX line with too many devices: reports when a KNX line has more devices than the set limit (default: 64). This is the usual limit of a line segment; the real value depends on the power supply and the manufacturer's data.
  • KNX power supply missing: reports when no item with the KNX power supply role is assigned to the KNX line's circuit in the board.

Low-current schedule

The Low-current tab of the Schedules page gives four sheets, in the project's document language; each can be downloaded as XLSX and CSV, and can be added to the plan package:

  • Systems: devices, ports and PoE points per system;
  • Rack suggestion: the patch panel, PoE switch and rack size needed, as an informative suggestion;
  • Port schedule: room and patch port per data point;
  • KNX lines: devices and board items per line, and the power supply.

Editing patch ports

A data outlet has 1–2 Patch port fields in its properties. When empty, the schedule's computed port shows as a placeholder (based on the saved drawing); a filled value pins the port, and computed ports avoid it. Pinned ports appear in the schedule and in the plan package too.

The low-current functions can be switched in the admin System page; when switched off, the symbols, tabs and checks above are not shown.