Still trying to decide what all to do while the walls are open, and didn't see anything in the wiring guide about this...
One of the things I'm doing is making sure that all boxes containing a switch have a neutral wire. I had wired quite a few switches using just switch legs 25 years ago, so I'm "fixing" that issue.
I really don't foresee ever using a type of HA solution that requires control cables to be located at each switch, but while the walls are open, it would be really easy/cheap/fast to at least run a cat6 wire from each switch to the nearest point that is easily accessible in the attic. However, I don't know squat about the systems that use this type of wiring, so...
1. Does the line voltage wiring require special wiring techniques, e.g., home running all the switches? I don't want to redo a lot of the house's wiring for this.
2. Is there any benefit to running control cables to outlet boxes or light/fan fixture boxes?
3. What type of electrical box is typically used in this scenario, and can it be used without looking different than the normal box when the control cable is not being used?
4. Can the control wire be run thru the same holes as the line voltage cable (all Romex, in my home)?
5. Can cat6 be used for this purpose? If not, what should be used?
6. Would you (or did you) run these cables even though you had no current plans to use them?
Thanks,
Ira
One of the things I'm doing is making sure that all boxes containing a switch have a neutral wire. I had wired quite a few switches using just switch legs 25 years ago, so I'm "fixing" that issue.
I really don't foresee ever using a type of HA solution that requires control cables to be located at each switch, but while the walls are open, it would be really easy/cheap/fast to at least run a cat6 wire from each switch to the nearest point that is easily accessible in the attic. However, I don't know squat about the systems that use this type of wiring, so...
1. Does the line voltage wiring require special wiring techniques, e.g., home running all the switches? I don't want to redo a lot of the house's wiring for this.
2. Is there any benefit to running control cables to outlet boxes or light/fan fixture boxes?
3. What type of electrical box is typically used in this scenario, and can it be used without looking different than the normal box when the control cable is not being used?
4. Can the control wire be run thru the same holes as the line voltage cable (all Romex, in my home)?
5. Can cat6 be used for this purpose? If not, what should be used?
6. Would you (or did you) run these cables even though you had no current plans to use them?
Thanks,
Ira