I am looking into transforming the light switches, curtains, and ACs in my house to a KNX based system. If I understand correctly, KNX is an open standard that allows anyone to configure their devices. I am planning to get a contractor to do the installation for me, and he will select the actuators, install the wiring, and perform the initial configuration.
Many people around me are advising me not to do home automation in general because you end up with a black box that a contractor would give you that you don't understand, would be dependent on that contractor to make the simplest changes to configurations, and they would charge a lot and have a high running cost over time. However, I consider myself very tech minded (I am a computer engineer by trade), and I work with control systems for a living, so I think I can handle this stuff myself.
Is it possible, or practical, for me to maintain my own KNX system, or is this something that is best left to the professionals? What tools do I need to do this? What sort of effort is required?
(I hope I am posting this in the right place. Can't find a home automation stackexchange so this is the closest thing)