What's the perfect pre-wire?

[IVB]

This question seems to come up a lot, although honestly much more so on AVSForum than anywhere else. Two days ago there were FIVE threads all on the first page, all asking the exact same question.

Perhaps we can all come up with our perspectives, and i can update this first post to have that master list (or options).

My answer is here on the CQC forums.:

 

[Neurorad]

Electronic House tried to address the same question, in the current issue.

http://ehouse-pwf.texterity.com/ehouse/200...controlled#pg56

I offered up some suggestions today, in a different forum.

Don't forget the garage (pedestrian door contact, doorbell, overhead doors, glass break, motion, slarm keypad

exterior motions

door access control

alarm contacts for telephone/cable exterior box tampers

wireless access point(s)

list all locations for water sensors - under frig, dishwasher, washing machine, under sinks, behind toilets, mechanical room and other basement locations

controllable electronic water main valve

Lighting Control - interior, exterior floods, landscape lighting

ceiling and bathroom fan control

LAN to kitchen island, refrigerator

Dedicated 60 amp subpanels for workshop, home theater, wiring closet

no time now to expand

 

[AceCannon]

The thread is an excellent idea.

My thoughts, FWIW:

10 - temperature monitoring - consider the attic, basement.

11, 12 - OTA antennas - depending on your location, you may be able to get away with an over-the-air antenna in the attic instead of on the roof

13 - DirecTv - just had mine installed. RG6 x 4 runs from the dish to the multiswitch. The newer multiswitches may need less, but I would def run 4 for now. I ran 5 (at my last house DirecTv mounted an OTA antenna directly on the dish)

14 - video locations - I agree with IVB. For my new house, I ran: RG59 mini-coax bundle (5 conductors, Ebay <$200 for 250feet) for component video without baluns. Regular RG6 is not good for this. You need a solid-copper center conductor. Also, cat5e x 4 runs. Some baluns use 2 runs (HDMI, especially). One for serial control of the TV (you mention later in your list) and one for IR (also mentioned later in your list). Many TV's are also now coming ethernet-equipped. So 5 runs of cat5e? Overkill? At any rate, I ran RG59 x 5, cat5e x 4 to each video location.

 

[sic0048]

Lighting controls? - obviously a cat5e wire to every switch and outlet would probably be overkill, but since you said money was no object.....

 

[electron]

Don't forget about the CocoonTech wiring guide :lol:

 

[Neurorad]

Don't forget about the CocoonTech wiring guide :lol:

I'll have to check that out...

 

[Neurorad]

Lighting controls? - obviously a cat5e wire to every switch and outlet would probably be overkill, but since you said money was no object.....

Lutron HomeWorks (currently) requires 2 pair conductor (18/2 + 18-22/2 STP, Class 2) to the switch.

(Lutron announcing new HomeWorks platform shortly, rumor has it. I also heard it won't be compatible with current HomeWorks devices. Don't know if the new platform will require different cable.)

Lighting keypads can replace multi-gang light switch boxes, if carefully planned. The 'wall power modules' (banks of switches) are then located in a nearby closet or pantry, or in the wiring closet. If considering Lutron HomeWorks, consult an authorized dealer for planning purposes.

IVB, don't forget shade/curtain/shutter control and power.

Tip - Conduit should be reserved for future wire runs - install them empty, run cable outside of the conduit. (HDMI 1.4 in the works, I read today)

Run power to some telephone jacks (e.g. kitchen), so the phone wall wart isn't located 5 feet away.

Cables to water softener, for reporting level.

What cables would be used for energy monitoring?

 

[signal15]

Don't forget wire for temp sensors in freezers/refrigerators. I have a freezer that's usually filled with 200+ pounds of meat for the dog. It's a commercial freezer made in 1972 and it sometimes flakes out. My temp sensors have saved me twice so far, and they've only been in a couple of months.

 

[IVB]

thanks for some of those reminders, i'll update the first post shortly.

Don't forget about the CocoonTech wiring guide :lol:

Well, wiring guide 103 has some overlap with this thread, but it's on a per-room basis and you have to look through all the sections to decide what you want to do.

For me personally, its easier to think of what capabilities are you interested in (HVAC, irrigation, CCTV, etc), and only then decide what rooms you want to put it in.

 

[roussell]

I have a freezer that's usually filled with 200+ pounds of meat for the dog.

DAMN, what kind of dog do you have? I can just imagine our Boston Terrier standing in front of 200 pounds of meat thinking "What in the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

Terry

 

[Steve]

thanks for some of those reminders, i'll update the first post shortly.

Don't forget about the CocoonTech wiring guide :lol:

Well, wiring guide 103 has some overlap with this thread, but it's on a per-room basis and you have to look through all the sections to decide what you want to do.

For me personally, its easier to think of what capabilities are you interested in (HVAC, irrigation, CCTV, etc), and only then decide what rooms you want to put it in.

Well, 102 does have it broken down by function? The whole idea of the wiring guide was to have all the info in one place and not have a bunch of threads to look in. That said, it may not be a bad idea to have something like a wiring guide review thread where the guide is discussed for improvements, additions, etc and everything discussed in that thread then gets moved to the guide.

 

[Steve]

I have a freezer that's usually filled with 200+ pounds of meat for the dog.

DAMN, what kind of dog do you have? I can just imagine our Boston Terrier standing in front of 200 pounds of meat thinking "What in the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

Terry

I was thinking the same thing. Sounds more like a domesticated wolf than a typical pet.

 

[IVB]

thanks for some of those reminders, i'll update the first post shortly.

Don't forget about the CocoonTech wiring guide :lol:

Well, wiring guide 103 has some overlap with this thread, but it's on a per-room basis and you have to look through all the sections to decide what you want to do.

For me personally, its easier to think of what capabilities are you interested in (HVAC, irrigation, CCTV, etc), and only then decide what rooms you want to put it in.

Well, 102 does have it broken down by function? The whole idea of the wiring guide was to have all the info in one place and not have a bunch of threads to look in. That said, it may not be a bad idea to have something like a wiring guide review thread where the guide is discussed for improvements, additions, etc and everything discussed in that thread then gets moved to the guide.

don't nobody take this the wrong way, but 102 isn't really that 'consumable' - its 26 pages long with tons of detail that isn't needed when a newbie is just trying to wrap their minds around the possibilities. Plus at 26 pages, it doesn't even have everything that's already in the first post.

What we need more of is a checklist of capabilities you could pursue, and if you want to learn more, go look in the detailed wiring guide. Plus, that's a copyrighted guide, I just want a sticky thread with a long list of options that I can cut+paste in various forums, some avsforum folks just won't click & read a 26 page guide on another forum when they can just create a new thread instead.

 

[signal15]

I have a freezer that's usually filled with 200+ pounds of meat for the dog.

DAMN, what kind of dog do you have? I can just imagine our Boston Terrier standing in front of 200 pounds of meat thinking "What in the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

Terry

This one:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/570271.html :lol:

I feed him raw because it's cheaper than buying high quality kibble and I can modify his diet as needed. Some of the meat I'm getting is only about 17 cents a pound. PM me if your interested in raw feeding and I can point you in the right direction. It's a bit off topic here.

 

[PaulD]

These list are great and very useful to trigger design plans but they will never cover 100% of the situations you will run into. I just moved into a new house that I thought I had well covered (over wired). After moving in, it did not take long to discover a number of "I should have..." situations. My biggest problem is discovering new or unplanned applications that need wire in places I never expected like placement of a security camera on the other side of a 20 ft wide concrete alley with no power or other wiring in place. I am able to deal with some situations via wireless but not all.

For your list, don't forget to run power and Cat5 to each toilet so you can have a heated seat and monitor toilet seat position....yes, they exist.