Home Automation

Conduit to every room if desired, and honestly, I would pull fiber if I did it again.

Power delivery USB C that supports 100w minimum to every room. PoE cable to every room. Switches with energy monitoring.

Make sure you have a conduit going from the entry point to your main IT closet, and from there to the attic and the crawl/basement, and a centrally located closet on each level.

Use CAT6 or even 6A. CAT8 is the latest standard, but it's probably too expensive?

Also consider running fiber optic between floors as a backhaul since 10G fiber switches are cheaper than cooper ones.

Cameras are fine on 5E, but may as well CAT6.

Run multiple random ceiling drops for APs and other home automation devices / sensors.

1. I added a wall outlet & network drop for a portrait mount 32” tv in the kitchen. We have that connected to a DAKBoard and it’s easily the most used/commented on item in the house. It holds Family calendar, weather and the like.

2. Ceiling mount Sonos speakers in the kitchen, dining, master bath and master closet connected to Sonos amps. Rock solid and sound great

3. Lutron switches and shades. It’s been over three years and not one problem

4. Cat 6 to every tv location, exterior camera and AP

Edit: have everything terminate in the basement with at least 12 outlets on its own breaker and have the cable coax or whatever your isp connection is terminate there as well.

Prepare for electric car changing station and heat pumps.

Put a dual Ethernet at each end of a room. You might think you’ll not need them but you probably will.

Not necessarily related to home automation but outlets behind every toilet if you ever plan on installing bidets

Why CAT5e? Go CAT6. You don't need CAT6 now, but you may in the future. The cost difference is not that bad.

You also may want outlets on the eaves of the roof for Christmas lights.

While you'll have speaker wire, might as well run wire for an Dobly Atmos setup. You might now use it, but you may in the future. Make sure to run good quality and proper gauge wire a well. Might as well run the wire for a dual subwoofer setup. Again, you'll probably won't use it, but maybe in the future.

Make sure to have an outlet where the CAT5 panel runs into a well. I had to hire an electrician to install one. That said, my house did not come with a panel and did all the work afterwards.

Smurftube in each corner and center of the ceiling of each room. As well as next to at least one outlet box on each wall.

Cat6E on the roof peaks and edges of the roof for cameras.

Neutral wires in all the light switch boxes.

Don't forget the garage or attic.

Run conduit. That way it standards change you can run new cabling through it with minimal effort. That's the most valuable thing you can do.

Conduits with at least two pull wires all home run to a central, well ventilated and well powered battery backed up closet or equipment room.

If I had it to do over again, I'd get a nice equipment room at the end of those conduits. That's my biggest gripe now. I have everything a rack that lives in the top of a small closet. No room to work on it if something gets an upgrade, and no room for non racked items. I had to run a line to another part of the house for that, and it's a hassle.

Get a nice 19" rack system to bolt everything down that's rack mounted. Double points if it's on a swivel (so you can work on the back side) or has a swing door. You can get rack mount UPS, but they're pricier that what you get for a stand alone UPS. I'd also put a mounting wall (usually a peg board) and some shelving in there, too.

Whatever you put in there will be obsolete before you finish hooking it up, so make room for upgrades.

As for what to do now, I like the idea of double ethernet + doable coax to location. Also, I like having built into the wall speakers, so I agree with your idea there, too. If you're going to do a mesh system, then consider getting another line to terminate in each corner of the house, in the ceiling. You can POE a mesh unit on the ceilings, getting you some really good coverage.

I'm about to start building and I listed out all 128 runs of cable -- highlights:

• I'm not doing speaker runs. Maybe I'll regret this, but voice assistants and whole-home audio just isn't my family's jam.
• Every place I put an outlet, pull two runs
• Just about every wall has a jack, minimum two per room
• Dual runs for security cameras to at least all four corners of the house; I also have several interior cameras as well
• Smurf tube
• Sensors for windows & doors, even interior doors
• Runs for access points
• Runs for hardwired sensors
• Runs to utilities (water shut off, power monitoring, water heater, even behind the washing machine)
• Runs for water leak detection
• A lot of the locations I'm pull cat to are NOT for ethernet, not at the outset anyway. My philosophy is that maybe someday down the line there would be some novel reason to have an ESP32 at the end of the run for a door sensor -- until that time, though, wire is wire and I can just use the ethernet cord for a dumb reed switch loop, no big deal.

And here it is in a visual drops location format

Run Ethernet to your doorbell

Cat6 to every room, network closet on each floor, well planned wi-fi APs and the rack in the basement. Beyond that....low voltage (12 to 24) to each window and door, maybe even an extension of the Cat6 to keep things unified, POE has come a long way. Ultimately my goal is to hard-wire as much as possible to reduce the wireless load. Security cameras are all hardwired POE types etc.

I'd go nuts with conduit.

I would run Cat6A not cat 5E. At least 5 runs to each room. I would run the largest reasonable gauge cable and have each rooms receiver in a closet along with the networking gear. I’d future proof running 2 fiber runs to each room.

Don't skimp on ethernet. Even if not needed for data transmission, it can also be used to power low voltage devices via POE. (Example, wall mounted LCD panels for smart house).

KNX wiring

Are there any solutions that are more like running a bus around every room, as opposed to wiring a ton of circuits? I certainly would love to have all the wiring people are suggesting. But at some point it seems like guessing what you'll need and installing 2x and then covering it with drywall is backwards.

Removable wainscotting? NNN-conductor bands that run a loop around the floor and ceiling of every room? How can I make my walls into breadboards while also looking acceptable and meeting code?

My list:

• cat 6 to every room, preferably 2 per box, 4 per room
• conduit, I like the idea of a corner box and conduit to the attic
• wire contacts for every window and door for alarm. ( Do each contact homerun so they are sperate and can run as separate zones)
• speaker wire from either a wall patch or back to a central location.
• empty conduits to your.uility pads outside to a closet or garage for connectivity. I pulled fiber to minor for a bit of.lightening isolation.
• decide on wap locations and camera before build
• my favorite out outlets outside and in the soffits for Christmas/ holiday lights on their own GFCI breaker and run them to a switch in the garage. On ra 2 I have holiday mode that I turn on and bang Christmas lights are timed.

Couple suggestions

1. Skip the cat5e and use 6 min not enough price saving
2. For your windows just wire assuming motorized shades
3. Consider wiring for or installing a house wide generator during your build, I retrod mine and it wasn't horrible but if your going to do it anyhow nail it while it's open.
4. Don't be afraid of dedicated power circuits. My panel is huge, my office has a separate circuit for one wall, vs the rest of the room vs the lights. All my lights are separate from the outlets in a room and all rooms are on their own. 20 amp outlets in the garage for tools. Anything pops it doesn't take out half the house.

Oversize any in slab conduits for the future. Same if your feeder comes underground.

3/4 plywood under drywall where tv is going, media box with outlet, 2" Smurf tube from behind TV to couple locations where your AV gear might end up over the years to boxes with brush plates

Conduit or pipe between basement and attic for any future expansion.

Outlets in outside soffits for Christmas lights

Pre wire for smart doorbell

price was not an object

With that condition, I would install 1/2 in. to 2 in. EMT conduits everywhere because no amount of planning is enough so it's better to have readily available ways to run extra wires and cables. Cat6 is future proof unless you want to host a datacentre out of your home. I would start my cable schematic from the home server room and deck it out instead of whipping something up. The earlier you start planning your homelab (and think about all the different security scenarios), the earlier you can learn from your mistakes.

I would also run a pvc pipe conduit from attic to basement.

I ran power for blinds and that’s been incredible. I also wired up all the doors (edit: with door sensors like these), inside and out (didn’t do all the interior doors, wish I did now).

Wish I had ran wiring to corners of rooms to put mmWave sensors in.

Did data everywhere, wish I had done more to my desk in the office and more to the outside soffit corners of the house to put multiple cameras in. Also wish I had ran one to the doorbell.

If I could have figured out window sensors that would have been sweet. I love that almost everything is hardwired, the smart locks are battery powered and it feels like I’m changing batteries all the time.

These are great responses so I'll answer in a different way.

found I can do a lot with wifi. My biggest limiter in my few houses has all been power. I would put power in stupid places. Inside cabinets to charge things. Inside closets for things like steam wands. Next to toliets for heated seats/bidets. Under eaves of both stories for holiday lights or future jellyfish. Trenched power in the backyard for an amazing experience. On top of the fireplace mantel. Dedicated 20amp circuit for a home rack. In a dedicated kitchen appliance cubby for your blender/kitchenaid. On the wall where a TV will go. In the perfect spot for a robot vacuum.

Cat6a is reasonably priced. But you can run 10Gb on cat5e if needed in future.

I’d probably run some internal fibre for networking servers etc.

Probably hardwire zigbee into all light switches and see if there is a way to have energy monitoring (normally WiFi) on ALL power sockets!

Consider running additional cable for the lights to allow for 0-10V dimming. This will provide superior dimming performance. Ra2 Select can support 0-10V dimming.

I'd do 14/2 instead of 18 personally. Don't skimp on the conduit!

You should talk to Cyberdyne Systems. I hear they have a great T unit.

Build a dedicated "server room" with its own circuit (s).

Wire CAT6 to patch panels, not directly to the switch.

Most comments are legit. I would do at least 16/2 for the speakers, just in case you wanna push some higher power.

Honestly, for a house, you will be fine with cat5e, gigabit+ all day even passing through interference. I can push 10gb through cat5e at 15 feet. Ethernet cable is, generally, incredible!

Cat5e is a bit cheaper but also easier to pull and handle than LEGIT cat6, don’t even bother with cat6A. Cat8 is mainly data center stuff so it would be plain retarded to run that in a house, same with fiber (unless any of your runs are going to be above 300+ ft). Cat7 doesn’t exist.

I would also pull a network cable for a Wi-Fi in every other bedroom, or even every bedroom, and definitely one or two for the TV. I would say at least two if you’re going to centralize video transmission. That way all you have on the wall is a TV and HDMI gets passed through an ethernet cable (cable length, type, and the technology used here is important) but then the TV can also get network for local smart apps.

If your house is ever going to be used as a workplace or a recording or production studio, then I would definitely look at cat6 or even cat6a. Cat6 can push 10gb about 200 feet or less, cat6a is rated for 10gb all the way through. Still I would do Cat6 for data and cat5e for cameras, intercom, and other low bandwidth controls.

18/2 for the shades is great, 22ga for alarm contacts is also great, 18ga for electronic door locks is great. Consider running control wires to wherever you’re planning on having automation, or at least ethernet wires, those can be fantastic control wires. Wherever you have an ethernet cable, you can pop in a switch and add some sort of ethernet relay for future use. Don’t forget ethernet for the pool!

If the Wi-Fi is properly designed, most of your smart stuff will have no problem functioning anywhere it is.

Just think ahead.

https://preview.redd.it/7wtgkvbev44c1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f7998b807751f57a786c5ccfeddbf20e8be1e9e

Do at least 16/2 to the speakers.. .cat6 to ceilings for WAPs

Cat7 and LC fiber. If all the runs are under 30m you can use cat8. I wouldn't bother with 5e on a new build.

If you are considering a pool, most automation controller have Ethernet port; so I would plan a run where equipment pad would go. Good time to plan outlets for your landscape transformers on smart switches too.

Doorbell nowadays can be hardwired with POE; so plan for Ethernet wire instead of traditional 2 wire.

Not wire specific but now is also a good time for a central vacuum with tubing that feed back into the wall (chameleon or hide-a-hose).

Our place is only 2200sq ft on one level. The only thing I’m struggling with is speakers for the lounge / kitchen as it’s vaulted. But here’s my list which is the same as everyone else’s:

• cat6a to each room, specific rooms have more.
• 24U rack in mechanical room for patch panel, switch, fibre modem, NVR, etc.
• Cat6 drops to each location of security cameras
• 3 cat6 drops for APs including one at the back of the house/back yard for external
• Lutron Caseta switches
• Cat6 to front door for doorbell
• all exterior lighting switch on wife’s side of bed
• flush outlets on backsplash
• 200A panel in house, 200A in garage.
• conduit from mechanical room to front and rear property lines for electrical and cat6. Think Christmas lights around the yard etc.
• soffit receptacles even tho below
• soffit LEDs programmable
• 14/4 to windows for alarm
• 14/2 to windows for blinds

Do you have a multi room speaker setup already, maybe wireless through sonos, homepods or similar? If you do and never use the multiroom feature, then wiring up for speakers in each room will be similarly unused IMO.

I have found that many homes wired to code fail to have outlets, etc. located where they are most useful. It used to be that you had to have an outlet within 3 feet of a door and every 10 feet after that. Too many outlets end up behind the middle of the couch or bed and not in the best place for access after furniture is in place. Do your best to envision furniture and countertops and their placement and use. Both ends of the couch, both sides of a bed, etc.. Also, don't put too many outlets on an single circuit in a kitchen or shop area.

More outlets than you think you'll need. 25 to 50 percent more.

At least on 4 plug outlet in any room that holds a TV or office.

Large outlet in the garage for welder/RV. Or, even better, a sub panel.

I just did speaker and cat 6 all over. Cat 6 to ever corner of house, every room has four outlet, and every corner of the house has two runs.

Ev chargers

I ran HDMI and CAT for TVs. Don't forget access points.. Cat

fiber optic hdmi 2.1 cables. You can have one pc/console or whatever connected to all your tvs.

can you run cat5/low power to exterior for security cameras?

flood/motion lights outside?

EV charging - run 6/3 to a box in your garage - omit the outlet if you like, or put a NEMA 14-50 in there. Then, regardless of what EV you pick it would work. (Although there's a 99% chance NACS will win).

Run wiring for generator / Power wall before drywall goes in.

Is your kitchen propane or induction? need 240v here.

Run 240v/120v to basement for second washer/dryer set. (We put our old ones in basement, and wash dirty/muddy/clothes/dog beds/etc.). Then the other set is on 2nd floor.

you can NEVER have enough outlets in kitchen/office areas. Bedrooms too. Wife ran a space heater and iron, and pop goes the breaker. Run multiple home runs.

120v in wall heaters in bathrooms are P I M P.

In floor heating wiring?

If I was building new. I'd have a minisplit cassette style in every bedroom - set any temp you want! or close off rooms not in use.

home theater rooms - speaker wire runs.

Fancy lighting power runs.

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man all this adds up fast $$ good luck!

400 amp service for sure! twin 200 amp panels.