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    New Construction and home automation.

    I am in the process of finalizing plans to build a new house. Current house is sold and the majority of the home automation setup is in the process of being removed and returned back to normal except for the zoned audio and security system.

    My current setup has the following:
    Zoned Audio - Nuvo
    Security - DSC - wireless, wired sensors, motion sensors, IT100 and Envisalink self monitoring
    Lighting control - all Z wave Leviton switches
    Plugin modules - all Z wave Intermatic
    Heating/cooling - Heat pump w/backup nat gas. Trane z wave thermostat
    Cameras - 6 IP Axis PTZ's to DVR
    Irrigation - Etherain
    Video - HDMI to all TV's. Dish Hopper and joeys. Rural location
    Distributed IR - 2x Itachs
    Cat 5 and coax - 2 runs ea to each room
    Electricity monitoring - TED
    Weather station - Davis Vantage Pro
    Server - HSPro, Movie files, Music files, Video distribution over IP to XBOX/Apple TV, Camera DVR, File server, Backup for PC's.
    All current networking/Video/Audio/DVR equipment is rack mounted, backed up w/ UPS and in a central location

    Question is this: If you had the opportunity to do it all over again with new construction, what changes/additions would you make?

    Any thoughts/ideas from others would be greatly appreciated!

    #2
    I have a heap of cable running all over my house, but always feel like i missed out a bit in terms of not running enough cable, my suggestions are simple but would be as follows:
    1. Work out where you are going to put cameras, inc outside and run cable there for POE powered cameras
    2. Consider running a few network cables to each TV, that way Ethernet is covered, and you can use the other cable for IR if you need it
    3. Consider whereever your server is, to run conduit there so you can easily get cable into and out of that location.
    HS3 PRO, Win10, WeatherXML, HSTouch, Pushover, UltraGCIR, Heaps of Jon00 Plugins, Just sold and about to move so very slim system.

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      #3
      Looking specifically at your list, id also recommend

      Running conduit and cable to your outside tap(s), where you can have the Etherrain in an enclosure,

      Determining if you intend to eventually put things like the Homeseer touch screens, if so run an ethernet cable there as well (e.g. inside the front door),

      Consider your security system, do you want sensors on each door, or just windows, motion sensors etc.
      HS3 PRO, Win10, WeatherXML, HSTouch, Pushover, UltraGCIR, Heaps of Jon00 Plugins, Just sold and about to move so very slim system.

      Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | Google+ | Website | YouTube

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        #4
        travisdh-

        Those are all good ideas.

        May past experiences of pulling wire and cables in the existing house will be better planned and installed in the new construction before the drywall goes up.

        Same thing with the security system. I had to use wireless sensors on all the windows due to existing finish. All security sensors will be hard wired on new house. I don't like to rely on batteries for security sensors.

        Sometimes the obvious is easily overlooked and forgotten about.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by scotchskip View Post
          I am in the process of finalizing plans to build a new house. . . .Question is this: If you had the opportunity to do it all over again with new construction, what changes/additions would you make?
          Chris,
          The one thing that always seems to come up short is cabling. You can never have too much wire! As you note, it'll never be easier to run wire than while the walls are open. If I were doing it again I'd run at least two cat5e/6 to every wall of every room. In main rooms or large spaces, I'd up that to four. Yes, most of it will remain buried in the wall, but chances are very high that at least a few will be just what you need for some unexpected project someday. Be sure to document the location of the wire. Pictures, video, good labeling at the termination in your wiring closet are all important to help you find the wire again when you've forgotten where exactly you put it. (A toner will also come in handy, but good records will make the job much easier.)

          I'd also reinforce Travis's suggestion for conduit, especially if you have a multistory house. (You may have to cap the ends to satisfy the building inspector, but you can easily saw off the caps when the time comes to use them.)

          Audio wiring is also a place where planning can help. If you run speaker wire and catX past where you might install a keypad, then to the speakers, you will give yourself more flexibility in the future.
          Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
          HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

          HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

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            #6
            Here is an FAQ called wiring your house 101.

            http://cocoontech.com/forums/files/f...new-house-101/

            A lot of this stuff comes down to budget and what you can DIY versus what the contractor will provide. Depending on building codes et al; LV stuff and if the contractor will give you the opportunity or will provide an abundance of chases and wiring at a reasonable cost.

            I would have preferred doing a pre-wire in current home and didn't. That said the home has been post wired over the last 10 years literally one wire at a time; very slowly. While difficult there is always a means or mechanism of pulling cable and using or making chases. The PITA part is to have to fix drywall or climb into the attic et al.

            We also did a during construction wiring endeavor. The contractor was nice and provided us with a window of 3-4 days and the ability to run our own cabling. We did originally get a quote for some basic LV wiring specifications and did let the contractor run the television and telephone cabling and alarm cabling. That said in 2-3 days we ran all of the "extra" LV cabling to a center spot in the home designated as the "comm closet". This cabling included more alarm LV wires, speaker, cat5e, et al. The media room / great room was a "job" in itself; prewiring for speakers plus wires back to the comm closet and interconnectivity between some custom built in shelving plus additional chases. Here in the current home I have sub audio zones / video zones such that there is interconnectivity between these sub zones at the comm closet. The "wires" themself are cheap meaning you can buy bulk cabling at a reasonable cost. I personally used mud plates on the prewiring chosing not to bury the cabling in the walls. That though was a bit low on the WAF and I still have many mud plates and blank covers in Florida today. The wire terminations and methodologies are mostly all the same. IE: patch panels in the closet to mostly all multiple keystone jack plates. I have now seen a trend (which I really personally don't like) of putting "passthru" wall plate covers where cables just come out of the walls. I guess its easier but my preference is to terminate whatever LV stuff at the wall plate. I did notice in Florida that all of the walls/wood studs had fire breaks with cross 2X4's which made even the prewiring a bit of a chore. I do see many discussions relating to code and what type of material is being used these days for fire breaks either using insulation or insulation foam versus sold wood or drywall cut breaks. I don't have any fire breaks in the vertical walls here in the midwest but did see them in an older home I had that was originally built in the 1950's.

            There is also the methodologies of lighting technologies to look at as today you have legacy on the wire technologies, wireless technologies and a hybrid of wired and wireless technologies. Personally I would have the electrician utilize deep boxes and insure that you have a neutral in every box. Here I was lucky in the midwest with metal conduit / metal gang boxes that the electrician did wire a neutral to ever box. In Florida the electrician did utilize 3 wire plus ground copper to ever box but did utilize shallow boxes (which are somewhat difficult to deal with when automating the switches). Relating to electrical I have split up the circuits in the midwest providing more breakers for more circuits filling my panel providing a granularity of sorts per room and per load. Some folks have suggested putting your lighting circuits on separate breakers on one phase of the circuits in a new house to help with the "wired" lighting technology. IE: my garage used to be on one circuit; IE: lighting, outlets, outside coach lighting and two garage door openers. I split it up to separate breakers; mostly because I have a compressor in the garage and utilize electric heat for quick heating of the garage sometimes. Its also easier if you want to add a generator in the future to have your circuits split out a bit more granularly.

            Another thing to look at is the HVAC stuff. Today the R-values are very good. Proper venting (tin cutting) with an energy efficient unit can provide both good heat and cooling at a relatively low cost. It isn't always the size of the furnance or AC but rather the proper zoning of the duct work (returns and feeds) that will provide a nice even flow. Two neighbors recently redid their HVAC (two zones each) at a high cost (< than $50K each - high and won't buy them much more than they already had). The issues when redoing them was a lack of a supply which can be somewhat difficult in a post build but can be done. Really for this stuff its the tin cutting and proper flow versus the sizes of the HVAC units. But that really is the most costs in most systems (much labor versus materials costs). Historically because of low cost electric and gas that was never an issue; today it is something to pay attention to. Old friend is an HVAC guy; tells me its a real science to do it correctly and always mentions the analogy of attempting to heat the house with a candle and cool it with an ice cube.

            The grill.....we ran a natural gas line to the grill location. In the old house I purchased the grill from a combo fireplace and grill store. It was expensive and lasted 20 years. In the newer home we opted on purchasing a grill from a big box HW store at around $1000 or so...that said it looked nice and had a "brand" name on it but the burners and grating only lasted about 3 years.
            Last edited by Pete; April 13, 2013, 03:29 PM.
            - Pete

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              #7
              And then

              Figure out the maximum wiring requirements for each room...and then add 2 more.

              Have the wiring CERTIFIED before the walls go up AND before you take ownership! My neighbor had his whole house wired and had it tested and certified before the walls went up. Sometime during the rest of the construction, someone used a saw to cut through the wall to get to or fix something. Cut right through the main trunk of cables killing about 50% of them. Didn't find this out until he was moved in and trying to connect things. It took six months to get the builder to finally do anything.
              .

              Comment


                #8
                New Construction and home automation.

                When I did a major addition to my house several years ago, I ran lots of CAT 5 and speaker wires. I took hundreds of digital photos of the wiring before the drywall was installed so I would know where the wires were inside the walls. This was very helpful because I had several places where I sealed up a small coil of wire inside the wall. It's almost impossible to know exactly where you want speakers located before the room is finished.

                Steve Q


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                  #9
                  I built in 2004 an went nuts with wiring - 4 cat 5's and 2 Coax to each outlet, Cat5 to each light switch and door.

                  In retrospect, the cat 5 to the lights were not needed - I had ALC lighting back then, now use Zwave and love it.

                  My regrets - not wiring for shades (cat 5 or 2 wire). I also wish I wired more for cameras because wireless cameras are useless (in my opinion). I had the electrician out several times since I built running more wire for cameras.

                  Also, I don't use Coax at all so I would not do it again to my areas. Now, 2 Cat5's can handle an HDMI via a balun (actually, sometimes just 1 cat5 if the run is short). I would easily do 4+ to each location even with wireless being the "norm". You mention 2 runs, I would easily go 4. If you do whole house video, 2 would be used for HDMI, 1 more for something like a Global Cache to control the zone and another one to hook to the TV/Receiver. Heck, to be honest, I would do 6 to each zone and drop the coax since the receiver, TV, blueray need Enet.

                  Also, don't forget the driveway and other outside areas - a driveway and mailbox sensor are big hits in my setup.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Very good advice from everyone. I really appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions and info.

                    Mailbox - I do the same thing with wireless sensor to alarm and axis camera for snapshot to phone.

                    Will run plenty of cat5 or 6 as well to every location.

                    Window blinds are a good idea to pre wire as well.

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                      #11
                      5/8 & 3/4 ENT dropped down the walls into the gang boxes.

                      Leave the old coax and cat 5 for the purchaser and pull only cat 6 in your new build.

                      If all your light switchs are HS controlled through pairing u might save but not having to pull wire for 3 or 4 way circuits. But know you will pass on those switches when u sell the house.

                      Color code all your wires per system

                      What does everyone think about the cost for STP CAT cable?
                      HSPro: 3.0.0.194
                      PL: Insteon PLM 3.0.5.20,Insteon Thermostat 3.0.1.1 , UltraM1G, RainRelay8, UltraECM3, UltraPioneerAVR3, BLBackup, weatherXML, Jon00 Network & PC Monitor
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                        #12
                        How is your planning coming along?

                        What do you think you will implement different in your new design?

                        Heres another thread where I was babbling about my opinion of future proofing.
                        http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=159607
                        Last edited by CharlieWayne; June 1, 2013, 10:31 AM. Reason: added links and comments.
                        HSPro: 3.0.0.194
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                          #13
                          Relating to the mailbox stuff; here a bit overdone.

                          There are multiple HV / LV chases going from the house to the mailbox.

                          (the "mailbox" was an endeavor as it was partly a DIY and partly a subcontracted bricklayer).

                          I just replaced an older analog camera with an older Speco Dome camera.

                          I am modifying the Speco Dome with a Grandstream IP HD camera board such that it does both analog and IP.
                          Attached Files
                          - Pete

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Pete View Post
                            There are multiple HV / LV chases going from the house to the mailbox.
                            Wh do u mean by chases? Did u use condutit, pipe, or something of that nature so u can pull your wire through for the current build or future expansions?
                            HSPro: 3.0.0.194
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                              #15
                              I wanted to be there when they installed my sprinkler system a few years ago (actually right after the move to the house in the early 2000's).

                              I paid the guys a bit of cash on the side to run sprinkler PVC lines sort of fan shaped from the house to the periferals of the property lines everywhere. Guessing there is almost as much of these pipes as their is sprinkler lines today. They had the right equipment and they were able to do it fast. (under cement walks et al).

                              I was impressed.

                              The mailbox has two HV chases and two or three LV chases (1.5" PVC). There is an RG6, siamese cable, landscaping wire, cat5e (2-3), switched and non switched HV, et all going to it. I over did it on the cement though in the DIY which is some 4-5 feet down and ran the PVC tubing through the cement base and out the top which I can get to easily today.

                              There were no berms, mailbox, etc at the time of the sprinkler system install. (really no landscaping then).

                              I did pull most (all) of the cabling to the mailbox before the brickwork was done (it did sit unterminated from the basement to the mailbox for some maybe 1-2 years).
                              Last edited by Pete; June 1, 2013, 12:39 PM.
                              - Pete

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