Casambi is a Bluetooth 5.0 mesh lighting control system from Finland. It addresses a real problem: how do you control luminaires in rooms where running DALI-2 or 0-10V control cables is impractical? Retrofit installations, heritage buildings, or areas with complex ceiling structures are natural fits.

How Casambi works

Each Casambi-enabled luminaire contains a CBM-001 BLE chip (or a Casambi-compatible retrofit module). These chips form a self-healing mesh network — up to 250 nodes, with about 10m typical hop range indoors. The Casambi app on a tablet or phone controls the mesh directly via Bluetooth. No hub required for local operation; the Casambi Gateway CGW-EU provides IP connectivity for KNX integration.

Casambi vs DALI-2: when to use which

Use DALI-2 when: new build with accessible cable routes, maximum reliability required, emergency lighting testing needed, luminaire count exceeds 50. Use Casambi when: retrofit without cable routes, heritage or listed buildings, temporary or movable lighting rigs, or mixed DALI + wireless in one installation. Casambi and DALI-2 can coexist — some luminaires have both (e.g. Tridonic basicDIM Wireless).

KNX integration via CGW gateway

The Casambi Gateway CGW-EU connects to the local network (Ethernet) and bridges between the Casambi mesh and other systems. For KNX: the CGW exposes Casambi groups and scenes as KNX group objects. A KNX group address telegram → CGW → Casambi broadcast to the mesh. Typical setup: KNX group 0/4/1 (1-bit on/off) → CGW → Casambi group "Living Room" on/off.

What KNX group objects are available

The CGW supports: on/off (DPT 1.001), relative dimming (DPT 3.007), absolute dimming 0–100% (DPT 5.001), colour temperature (DPT 5.001 scaled), RGB colour (DPT 232.600), scene recall (DPT 18.001), and power status feedback. This covers most KNX lighting control use cases.

Limitations to know

Casambi does not support DALI-2 emergency lighting testing — for emergency compliance you still need a wired DALI-2 circuit. The mesh can be slow (500ms–2s latency) for scene changes with many nodes — not suitable for fast strobing effects. Range through concrete is reduced to 5–8m per hop. And unlike DALI-2, Casambi does not currently carry full DiiA certification — verify this for projects requiring CE marking of the complete system.

Practical commissioning tips

Commission in the Casambi app: create groups, set scenes, configure the CGW. Then in ETS: add the CGW as a KNX device (ETS app from Casambi), configure the group object bindings (which Casambi group maps to which KNX GA). Download and test. For large installations: use a dedicated Wi-Fi access point co-located with the CGW — Casambi mesh range is Bluetooth, but CGW needs stable IP connectivity.