I am building a new house and I am trying to prewire as much as possible. If price was not an object what would you pre-wire?
Currently, I have my house being set up for Lutron RA2 lights
Putting 18/2 for speakers in each rooms
One cat5e by each room for a tablet/intercom
Cat5e for cameras
22/2 for Door/window contacts by all exterior doors and windows
smurftube by every room (where the intercom is for future growth).
18/2 by windows where I may want power shades.
What else am I missing?
Thank you
deleted by creator
Make sure you have a conduit going from the entry point to your main IT closet, and from there to the attic and the crawl/basement, and a centrally located closet on each level.
-
I added a wall outlet & network drop for a portrait mount 32” tv in the kitchen. We have that connected to a DAKBoard and it’s easily the most used/commented on item in the house. It holds Family calendar, weather and the like.
-
Ceiling mount Sonos speakers in the kitchen, dining, master bath and master closet connected to Sonos amps. Rock solid and sound great
-
Lutron switches and shades. It’s been over three years and not one problem
-
Cat 6 to every tv location, exterior camera and AP
Edit: have everything terminate in the basement with at least 12 outlets on its own breaker and have the cable coax or whatever your isp connection is terminate there as well.
-
Smurftube in each corner and center of the ceiling of each room. As well as next to at least one outlet box on each wall.
Cat6E on the roof peaks and edges of the roof for cameras.
Neutral wires in all the light switch boxes.
Conduit to every room if desired, and honestly, I would pull fiber if I did it again.
My list:
- cat 6 to every room, preferably 2 per box, 4 per room
- conduit, I like the idea of a corner box and conduit to the attic
- wire contacts for every window and door for alarm. ( Do each contact homerun so they are sperate and can run as separate zones)
- speaker wire from either a wall patch or back to a central location.
- empty conduits to your.uility pads outside to a closet or garage for connectivity. I pulled fiber to minor for a bit of.lightening isolation.
- decide on wap locations and camera before build
- my favorite out outlets outside and in the soffits for Christmas/ holiday lights on their own GFCI breaker and run them to a switch in the garage. On ra 2 I have holiday mode that I turn on and bang Christmas lights are timed.
Couple suggestions
- Skip the cat5e and use 6 min not enough price saving
- For your windows just wire assuming motorized shades
- Consider wiring for or installing a house wide generator during your build, I retrod mine and it wasn’t horrible but if your going to do it anyhow nail it while it’s open.
- Don’t be afraid of dedicated power circuits. My panel is huge, my office has a separate circuit for one wall, vs the rest of the room vs the lights. All my lights are separate from the outlets in a room and all rooms are on their own. 20 amp outlets in the garage for tools. Anything pops it doesn’t take out half the house.
This 100%, also get some good outdoor outlets in a convenient location for robot mowers.
Not necessarily related to home automation but outlets behind every toilet if you ever plan on installing bidets
Use CAT6 or even 6A. CAT8 is the latest standard, but it’s probably too expensive?
Also consider running fiber optic between floors as a backhaul since 10G fiber switches are cheaper than cooper ones.
Cameras are fine on 5E, but may as well CAT6.
Run multiple random ceiling drops for APs and other home automation devices / sensors.
I would also run a pvc pipe conduit from attic to basement.
Run Ethernet to your doorbell
I would run Cat6A not cat 5E. At least 5 runs to each room. I would run the largest reasonable gauge cable and have each rooms receiver in a closet along with the networking gear. I’d future proof running 2 fiber runs to each room.
Power delivery USB C that supports 100w minimum to every room. PoE cable to every room. Switches with energy monitoring.
Run conduit. That way it standards change you can run new cabling through it with minimal effort. That’s the most valuable thing you can do.
Oversize any in slab conduits for the future. Same if your feeder comes underground.
3/4 plywood under drywall where tv is going, media box with outlet, 2" Smurf tube from behind TV to couple locations where your AV gear might end up over the years to boxes with brush plates
Conduit or pipe between basement and attic for any future expansion.
Outlets in outside soffits for Christmas lights
Pre wire for smart doorbell
KNX wiring