Recent content by anisbet

I think you just reassured me to do the cat5 wiring ;) Assuming I get pre-approved for our loan (w/in the next day or so I guess) I'm gonna order a box or two of cat5e! yeah I registered at home and such but I can't access the site from work, lol... I guess I need to download a bunch and...

why does it seem like such a few number of people use ALC or another hardwire (are there others?) scheme for HA? It would seem like going UPB/Z-wave would provide more options/info since more people use it... I'm building a new house soon and I'd rather not run cat5 to all my switches if I'm...

an electrician would know exactly what this means right? I mean I do, but I don't think I should have to explain this... (since the sales agent was clueless of course...) any reason why they might charge extra?

Are those the white mounting boxes I see people use? Where would I find one? That reminds me of something I left off from the blueprint. The short hallway leading to the office and nursery has the attic pulldown ladder in it. So I think if I did use the office closet as Monk suggested it...

Would the garage be a bad choice due to lack of temperature/humidity control? This IS Houston we're talking about... 100+ degrees in the summer with 99% humidity almost year round ;) edit: I forgot to add in the above post that the builder has a sheet of instructions for prewire that basically...

To clear up some confusions: This is a developer/builder in a community, but they give quite a bit of leeway in the layout/construction/options for your house (but not quite to the "custom home" level). The picture I included is actually a close up snapshot of the entire lot (.46 acres) and...

Yeah no basement as I'm south of Houston (only ~15'-18' above sea level!). I'll have an attic but I'm pretty sure it would get way too hot for HA components. In the office I'm afraid it'd be too unsightly, especially if we convert it to a bedroom and/or sell the house. How much space would...

Eventually, I'd like to do it all. Timeline here is probably a year or two for everything. Top priorities being lighting and security - which sorta ties in CCTV. HVAC (programmable keypad) and Security come standard in the house and I'm not sure how easy it will be to integrate into an...

Having a new house built over the next several months (haven't gone into contract yet and it'd be a March start when we do, so I've got some time) and I'm trying to pre-plan for some HA when it's easier to wire. I've read over the "Wiring your new House 101" a couple times, but it's pretty...