RE: Re: Newbie confusion - wiring guide and product selection

["Andrew Walker" <andrew.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If you want to wire now for the future then here a few subjects to
consider, not wired for most of this myself though

Cat5 to smoke alarms for interfacing to Ligting system
Cat5/power for blind/curtain control
Cat5 for room temperature sensing
Cat5 to control neon backligting on AV gear
Cat5 to radiator valves for zoned control
Cat5 for hi-def signal distribution - 2 x required
Power for possible fan control on ceiling lights
Cat5 for infra-red detection back to node 0
Cat5 for infra-red blasting to AV gear
Cat5 to gas/electric/water meter for utility monitoring
Controlled power to outdoor area for Garden/XMAS lighting
Cat5 to alarm PIR sensors / patio door vibration sensors / door open
sensors
Cat5 to locations of possible wall touch screens
Microphone coax cable for possible future voice automation
Wiring for central vacuum system

As you said "I won't be able to do it again!"

Maybe 2 CAT5 per room is not quite enough


-----Original Message-----
From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of rclhome
Sent: 25 February 2009 10:19
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Newbie confusion - wiring guide and product
selection

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses. They were very useful and certainly
highlighted a few more products that I wasn't aware of.

I'm a little concerned about using wireless as it's an old house and a
lot of the walls are solid stone about 1ft thick. I'd also like to get
as much wire in there as practical because as David points out, I won't
be able to do it again!

I think I'm okay with the data LAN - I was planning on running at least
2 cats5 to each room and maybe adding local wireless acess to a few,
such as the lounge and dining room.

I was going to run a couple of coax cables to each room too, and it
sounds like it would still be worth my while to do this - even if I
eventually choose something else for video distribution.

I'll have a look in more depth at the HA side - it's the part that's
causing the poblems for me, partly because I'm not aware of everything
out ther and the pros and cons of each.

Thanks for the help!
Dave

>
> Hi All,
> Aplogies if this is too common a  question, but I've searched the
> archives and can't really find what I'm looking for.
>
> I've recently purchased a house that needs a lot of renovation and
> would like to add some automation. I'd originally planned on using
> X10, as I'd read quite a bit about it and that was all I was aware of.
> I armed myself with "Smarthomes for Dummies" and the
"Automated Home"
> wiring guide and was ready to add all the wiring I need.
>
> However, on further investigation I'm now confused what to do. I hear
> X10 can be unreliable and have come across things like Idratek, xPL,
> xAp etc. I don't want to make a mistake at this stage and end up with
> something in the walls that may not be too much use later! It now
> seems there are hundred different ways of achieving what I want and I
> don't know how to select the best options for me.
>
> My rough requirements are: I'd like to end up with a system that will
> allow me to have a data LAN, control the lights, connect phones (was
> originally planning on using Asterisk), connect into the security
> system and have a (simple) audio/video distribution. I don't mind
> paying/using something proprietry, but would like to be able to
> manipulate things myself later and would be quite happy to write
> code/scripts to do so if required.
>
> I'm hoping someone has a few pointers to help me to move forward with
> this, such as are there any suggested "best practices"? Do I
have to
> select the products first then wire to suit? Is "Smarthomes for
> dummies" out of date now? Should I move to proprietry products?
>
> Thanks for any help. Dave
>




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