Lighting control with Loxone: why we chose Tree over Air in 80% of our 2025 projects

Anyone who requests a Loxone quote eventually faces the question: Tree or Air? Wired or wireless? In 2025 we consistently chose Loxone Tree across eleven lighting control projects — and added Air components in three. Here's why, and when we would do it differently.

What technically distinguishes Tree from Air

Loxone Tree is a proprietary data bus that runs over a four-wire cable. Up to 50 Tree devices can be connected per Miniserver Gen 2, and more via extensions if needed. The latency is minimal, reliability is high — because there is no wireless transmission, there are no interference problems, no batteries, no range issues in solid-construction buildings.

Loxone Air uses 868 MHz radio with bidirectional communication. The advantage: no cable. The disadvantage: batteries (every 1–3 years depending on the device), potential issues in buildings with reinforced concrete or metal ceilings, and a latency that is irrelevant for light switches but can be noticeable for time-critical controls.

The official Loxone Tree documentation recommends Tree whenever a new installation involves wiring work anyway.

Why we chose Tree in 80 percent of our 2025 projects

The eight new-build projects of 2025 — from a single-family house in Freilassing to a commercial conversion in Siegsdorf — all had something in common: the electrician was on site anyway. In these cases Tree is the more economical decision because the cable effort is marginal and you save battery changes for decades to come.

Concretely: on a project with 14 switch surfaces and 60 lighting circuits in a single-family house, we installed nine Loxone Tree extensions and 14 Touch Pure Tree buttons. Total installation time for the Tree portion: two days. Over ten years, the client saves around 420 euros in battery costs — and battery changes always happen exactly when you don't expect them.

The three projects in which we used Air

That doesn't mean Air has no place. In a heritage-protected country house in Ruhpolding, drilling for cable conduits in the area of the external walls was not permitted. We used Air buttons and actuators for three rooms there, and integrated the lighting control nonetheless — at the cost of biannual battery changes that the owner consciously accepted.

Second scenario: extensions in buildings that already have Loxone but no spare cabling. Anyone wanting to extend their Loxone system with a winter garden or a guest room is often faster and cheaper with Air than with subsequent cable pulling — depending on the building.

Third scenario: temporary retrofits in rented properties where construction work is restricted. Here, Air is a pragmatic solution that can later be replaced during a full build-out.

What to clarify before deciding

When customers ask us which system is the "better" one, the honest answer is: it depends. Four questions help with the decision:

Will things be opened up and cables pulled anyway? Then Tree.

Is this a building with massive concrete ceilings or metal constructions? Then Tree, because radio problems in solid-construction buildings occur more often than the manufacturer's specs suggest.

Should battery changes be permanently avoided? Then Tree.

Is minimal intervention in the building fabric mandatory? Then Air as a pragmatic solution.

Loxone planning at HELITS always begins with a site visit — not with a standard quote. Anyone who wants to know which solution suits their building can find more information about our regional projects on our Loxone overview page.

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