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Smart Home/Structured Wiring


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Finally getting started on post Harvey house plans….  It will never be easier or cheaper to pull wire, than it will be during construction, but what to do in our increasingly wireless world?  We will for sure wire for phone (at least one), TV coax, CAT internet, POE security cameras, and theater.  What else, if anything, should we do?  Lighting will mostly be LED cans.  Are those smart controllable?  Or, is it all going to soon be obsolete, as systems like Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Amaon Echo proliferate?

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I'm slowly swapping all if my stuff out for Nest products. Smoke alarms, ac control, doorbell and outdoor camera. I really like their app and software, and I love having it all in one app. If you already have things in place, it's simple to swap out for new stuff. You just need some wires for power in place.

 

If you are pulling new Ethernet, make sure you use cat6 so you can have gigabit network throughout the house.

 

 

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Another good thing to add to the house is an HDTV antenna. If you are wiring coax around the house, be sure to link it all on a big splitter in the attic. Then have a line out to the roof or chimney with the antenna mounted. It's really nice to have if you cut the cord.

Also, if you do go this route, choose where your main cable box would be if you have a provider like Comcast or att, then run a second coax line to that location from the attic so you can use both cable and the antenna.

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We ran cat6 errwhere.  Most of it will probably never get used, but better to have it now.  Remember if you do a mesh router you can always use a wired backhaul.

We ran lots of speaker wire, too, but I'm finding that syncing up whole house audio with Google Homes/Chromecast Audios is easier and cheaper for our needs presently.

Smart lights can either be at the switch or the bulb -- I have a mix of both, as there are advantages of each for different uses.  One thing to consider is flush mount LEDs instead of putting LED bulbs in cans -- we did that in a lot of places.  It looks surprisingly good, and saves money -- cost is about the same as the can enclosure, and lower installation cost.

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11 hours ago, Damor said:

We ran cat6 errwhere.  Most of it will probably never get used, but better to have it now.  Remember if you do a mesh router you can always use a wired backhaul.

We ran lots of speaker wire, too, but I'm finding that syncing up whole house audio with Google Homes/Chromecast Audios is easier and cheaper for our needs presently.

Smart lights can either be at the switch or the bulb -- I have a mix of both, as there are advantages of each for different uses.  One thing to consider is flush mount LEDs instead of putting LED bulbs in cans -- we did that in a lot of places.  It looks surprisingly good, and saves money -- cost is about the same as the can enclosure, and lower installation cost.

We will not skimp on cat6a cable.

That was my thinking.  We likely wire for surround at HT location, but otherwise eventually end up with something like Sonos for background/ambient music around the house.

Definitely thinking flush mount LED units rather than LED bulbs in traditional cans.  Have now stumbled upon Lutron Caseta as a way to smart control them.

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19 minutes ago, Tonesky said:

We will not skimp on cat6a cable.

 That was my thinking.  We likely wire for surround at HT location, but otherwise eventually end up with something like Sonos for background/ambient music around the house.

 Definitely thinking flush mount LED units rather than LED bulbs in traditional cans.  Have now stumbled upon Lutron Caseta as a way to smart control them.

Love the Lutron's, have them in every room that I can. Work great. 

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