Pre-wiring in New Home

[mitchjav]

All,

Have the opportunity to pre-wire a new home and looking for suggestions.

The only thing I'm sure of is where I want cable outlets for the TV and that I want to pre-wire the Great Room TV so the wiring to the cable box and Bluray player is behind the wall the TV is mounted on. Don't think I need to the same for any of the other TVs.

The other option being offered is the ability to hardwire Ethernet connections - don't know if this is necessary. In our current home, everything is Wifi (computers, TVs) and the Cable Modem acts as a Wifi router. We stream content from the smart TVs and it works fine - we don't stream content from our computers to our TV very often (only if we occasionally use a streaming service that's not offered via the smart TV or cable company). Wondering if hardwiring any of the TV's or computers will provide real advantages in terms of speed, stability or features

Last, what about phone connections? Don't think we need any - we use the cable company service now and have a Panasonic phone that connects directly to the modem with extra handsets around the house. We might do the same or abandon land-line altogether. Thoughts?

 

[HI Bill]

If you plan to ever have a home theater, in-wall, or in-ceiling speakers, I'd 'home-run' speaker wire from the potential AV rack location (or AVR) to each speaker location. I'd also run a conduit from the AVR to the rear of the TV location that's large enough to pass an HDMI cable connector. HDMI cables (along with ethernet cables) change standards quickly, and after a few years, your HDMI cables may no longer function. Wouldn't do any phone connections. I'd add a few coaxial locations just in case you want/need additional routers, although with mesh routers, this is becoming less necessary. Your wifi streamed content may work fine now, but I'd worry that when you want to stream 4K or 8K content, you may want to use a hardwired connection. I just installed my cable modem and router above my AVR, and ran Cat8 ethernet cables to the AVR, BluRay player, and NVidea Shield streaming console. I don't want to take any chances on dropping my video signal.

The photo below shows the cable modem, router, and a large Epson 5050UBe projector on a 59-inch wide shelf located 7 feet above the floor. The HDMI and ethernet cables are running down the inside of the wall behind the projector to the AVR.

 

[Aerides]

I forget who said it, but one poster here mentioned to place the lower outlets about 6 inches higher than standard. Your back will thank you in 10 years.

Oh, and sconce level boxes, particularly in things like hallways, dining rooms, corners. A nice corner sconce light is far preferable to a tall stand-alone lamp.

Also, do think about outdoor outlets. I wish I had more. Not just for Christmas lights, but for better access if I ever want to do more landscape lighting.

If you are building new, it might be well worth bringing in a designer to help, or perusing how designers use lighting to really make a room look lovely. Can't have a light where you don't have the wiring.

 

[RunningBum]

Streaming replaced the need for cable outlets for me, but I could definitely see the desire to keep them, and it sounds like you are still on cable now. If you will have cable internet, don't forget to have a good place for your modem. You might want it to be in a central location for better wifi throughout the house, or you might want to have it where you might hardwire a device, such as a video server.

Ethernet. If you get fiber, they might be limited to where they bring it into your house. Having ethernet runs would give you flexibility on where to put your router.

My son is an online gamer. He says hardwiring his PC gives him quicker response, so if you have any current or future online gamers, you might want to run ethernet at least to where you'd expect to set up a PC.

There may be other future uses for ethernet. Or not. Used to be that wifi was so much faster than your broadband. The gap has closed, especially if you have gigabit broadband.

The very best thing would be to run conduit between the floors, and have access points in the walls if possible. I asked for conduit. I got a pipe from my basement utility room to the attic, but I have no way to get to it on other floors. I'd have to run it inside the walls and then make an access outlet. Maybe that's not as big of a deal as I think, at least for inside walls, but I wish they had made it easier for me. If I was doing it now I'd have access in every room. Make sure they drop some twine string so you can use it to pull wires.

Phone lines. I'd probably still run a line to the kitchen and master bedroom. You may find you want one for 911, especially if you'd ever have a babysitter or guests without you being there who might not be able to come up with your address in an emergency. If not you, maybe the next buyer.

Final advice: shoot video of all the wiring of all types before they sheet rock the walls. That way you know what's where if you even have to punch holes in walls or access wiring or whatever.

 

[Kwirk]

Recently bought a new (to us) home.

There are lots of cable connections. We don't use any of them. Everything is streamed.

We do use use the ethernet (cat 5e) connections. Direct connections to various stationary electronics reduces the load on the wireless. We also use ethernet to run wireless access points in a number of places, taking wireless load off any one access point and improving signal strength. It doesn't matter for now but I wish we had cat 6 for future use.

The TV connections are hidden behind the wall (and bend around a couple of corners) but they were installed in 2006 and don't include HDMI. The power outlet is handy but I wish it had an HDMI connection. Of course, an HDMI connection from 2006 would be just about useless for 4K.

The lesson, for me, is to plan for flexibility. If I were building a house today I'd try to include channels to easily install whatever wiring needs may come along. Of course, everything may go wireless and the channels would be useless.

 

[OldShooter]

I wouldn't run wires at all. I would run PVC conduit from wherever I might want wires straight down into the basement. The stuff is cheap and very easy to fish wires through. Once the wire is in the basement you can take it wherever you like.

Also run a larger PVC conduit straight from the basement to the attic. This is useful especially for antenna wires. I also have a PVC run that's horizontal from near the attic access door out through the attached garage wall. You can also install horizontal runs from, say, one end of a great room to the other. This might allow stereo or video equipment to be installed in the back and wire easily run for speaker or video cable.

Make sure to avoid sharp corners on all runs or you will have trouble fishing and pulling. You can buy lubricant to slop on the wires you're running to make them easier to pull but its really messy stuff.

With the PVC conduit approach you don't have to guess what kind of wire you'll need and you aren't stuck with whatever you pre-installed. Add box cover plates with modular jacks and plugs for a very neat and tidy look. RJ-11 telephone, RJ-45 ethernet, RG-6 coax, RCA jacks for speaker wiring, even binding posts or other stuff you can install yourself in modular blanking plates.

Edit: No basement? Run all the PVC to the attic.

 

[Hermit]

I just finished running all the low voltage wires for the upstairs portion of the house I am building. Security wiring to all windows and outside doors, cable and eithernet (cat 6) to the corners of all eves for cameras, eithernet to front door for PoE camera, regular door bell wiring, more security wires at all water sources for leak detection, one ethernet to the office wall for main desktop computer, power and control lines for automatic blinds to each window, HDMI from media closet and coax from TV antenna to TV location in upstairs great room. I am not doing any phone jacks although I pre wired for phone up to the house. The wired phone service is really lousy here in the mountains. Much more to come as I wire the lower level including the home theater. I am trying to minimize wireless somewhat although piped house music will be via wifi or bluetooth.

 

[Ronstar]

I planned out my wiring needs when we built our house 26 years ago. Installed Phone and tv jacks in every room. Speaker wire to most rooms.

Although I planned out and installed everything ok for 1995, there was no way I could envision what 2020 would bring.

Today I only use 1 tv jack and no phone jacks that I installed in 1995. I didn’t know back then that I would need power and/or Ethernet for security cameras. I didn’t know cabling requirements for 2020 wifi.

Luckily I have a utility chase from basement to attic. Whenever I need to upgrade wiring for something, I can easily do it because of this utility chase.

So my advice would be to plan just as much for future revisions as you do for current technologies. Be flexible. Identify an area where you will house core technological equipment, and provide means for getting wire from rooms to the core area.

No matter how much you plan today, you will have to reconstruct something in the future to meet future technology.

 

[davebarnes]

I would hire an expert firm to advise/install.
You have:
Ethernet
Audio
Video
Alarm

Conduit is good advice.

Our house is only 9 years old and we need wiring changes and do not have conduit. Bummer.

Make sure you have fiber from the phone company NI box to the “electronics” closet inside the house.

 

[Bamaman]

Lots of good thoughts here.

I would go ahead and run individual large empty conduits from the crawl space (in our case) to 1st & 2nd floors. And I'd run one to the attic too. You never know where future wiring needs to go.

My deep freezer is in the garage, but it's hooked to a 7 plug circuit. I would put a dedicated circuit/plug to anything like a freezer or 2nd refrigerator.

And a 220 circuit would be placed into the garage to handle a stand up air compressor and/or a MIG Welder.

 

[Ronstar]

Another thing. Try to plan your electrical panel close to the kitchen if you have electric stove and oven. I put mine on the opposite end of the house and spent a fortune on wire and countless hours of labor running electrical wire from the panel to the kitchen.

 

[Ready]

If the house is large or spread out I would install a few ethernet drops around the house. We have a mesh WIFI network in our house but we still plug each node into an ethernet port that runs up to a switch in our attic. Otherwise we would have some really weak areas in parts of the house that have thick walls or concrete.

And if you plan on having cable TV, make sure you have both ethernet and coax next to each other in case you plan on using a DVR or streaming device.

 

[CRLLS]

DS1 bought a new to them home a few years back. Wires going everywhere. Some were dead headed. The only ones he uses is the outdoor speakers.

DS2 bought a new to them home this year. They have Cable with streaming capability. Every TV (4) are smart TV's and they stream on 3 of them.

I think pre-wiring is an outdated concept in today's world.

 

[Ready]

We installed speakers in every room 20 years ago. We used them in the early years but now they are just too old to bother with. Sonos makes a great wifi based sound system that is completely free of wires. I'd go that route if I was starting from scratch.

 

[Music Lover]

A lot of good information so far. My suggestions:

Run wire for soffit lights...they look great and it's hard to do later. If you'll have a deck/patio run speaker wires for soffit speakers. Also add a couple extra outside plugs on the house and garage.

 

[Koogie]

Final advice: shoot video of all the wiring of all types before they sheet rock the walls. That way you know what's where if you even have to punch holes in walls or access wiring or whatever.

This. A thousand times this. Especially in bathrooms. Knowing where the wiring and plumbing lines are in tiled walls and even where the studs are could save you or the next owner a massive headache. Take stills and print them out even since it is cheap.

And I second the conduit ideas and adding a plethora of outdoor plugs.

 

[Midpack]

Streaming replaced the need for cable outlets for me, but I could definitely see the desire to keep them, and it sounds like you are still on cable now. If you will have cable internet, don't forget to have a good place for your modem. You might want it to be in a central location for better wifi throughout the house, or you might want to have it where you might hardwire a device, such as a video server.

Ethernet. If you get fiber, they might be limited to where they bring it into your house. Having ethernet runs would give you flexibility on where to put your router.

My son is an online gamer. He says hardwiring his PC gives him quicker response, so if you have any current or future online gamers, you might want to run ethernet at least to where you'd expect to set up a PC.

There may be other future uses for ethernet. Or not. Used to be that wifi was so much faster than your broadband. The gap has closed, especially if you have gigabit broadband.

The very best thing would be to run conduit between the floors, and have access points in the walls if possible. I asked for conduit. I got a pipe from my basement utility room to the attic, but I have no way to get to it on other floors. I'd have to run it inside the walls and then make an access outlet. Maybe that's not as big of a deal as I think, at least for inside walls, but I wish they had made it easier for me. If I was doing it now I'd have access in every room. Make sure they drop some twine string so you can use it to pull wires.

Phone lines. I'd probably still run a line to the kitchen and master bedroom. You may find you want one for 911, especially if you'd ever have a babysitter or guests without you being there who might not be able to come up with your address in an emergency. If not you, maybe the next buyer.

Final advice: shoot video of all the wiring of all types before they sheet rock the walls. That way you know what's where if you even have to punch holes in walls or access wiring or whatever.

I wouldn't run wires at all. I would run PVC conduit from wherever I might want wires straight down into the basement. The stuff is cheap and very easy to fish wires through. Once the wire is in the basement you can take it wherever you like.

Also run a larger PVC conduit straight from the basement to the attic. This is useful especially for antenna wires. I also have a PVC run that's horizontal from near the attic access door out through the attached garage wall. You can also install horizontal runs from, say, one end of a great room to the other. This might allow stereo or video equipment to be installed in the back and wire easily run for speaker or video cable.

Make sure to avoid sharp corners on all runs or you will have trouble fishing and pulling. You can buy lubricant to slop on the wires you're running to make them easier to pull but its really messy stuff.

With the PVC conduit approach you don't have to guess what kind of wire you'll need and you aren't stuck with whatever you pre-installed. Add box cover plates with modular jacks and plugs for a very neat and tidy look. RJ-11 telephone, RJ-45 ethernet, RG-6 coax, RCA jacks for speaker wiring, even binding posts or other stuff you can install yourself in modular blanking plates.

Edit: No basement? Run all the PVC to the attic.

+1. You need electrical outlets, lighting and a few fans but otherwise where wiring/cabling was important in the past, with everything going wireless it won’t be one day. The answer above sounds like a good way to bridge to wireless with/out smart features.

Our house was built in 2016, and the only wiring I use is one Ethernet port. No use for cable/coax, phone jacks or other old school connections. YMMV

 

[Brat]

My experience with pre-wiring cable is that requirements change. Place them in conduit so that you can change the wire in the future.

 

[davebarnes]

Our house was built in 2016, and the only wiring I use is one Ethernet port.

How does the Ethernet get into the house?

 

[mpeirce]

Another thing. Try to plan your electrical panel close to the kitchen if you have electric stove and oven. I put mine on the opposite end of the house and spent a fortune on wire and countless hours of labor running electrical wire from the panel to the kitchen.

A similar option is to have a second electrical panel.

We just did this. The main box is located adjacent to where the power enters the house. The kitchen is on the other side of the house so the electrician put in another box behind the kitchen in the laundry.

 

[Masquernom]

If you're running coax cable for TV, also run ethernet to all the same locations. I'd run ethernet to every room in the house, except maybe bathrooms. Even the master bath if it's large.

You can't have too many electrical outlets. Living room especially.

As everyone says, if you have access, conduits so you can change wires in the future is a good idea.

 

[mpeirce]

If you're running coax cable for TV, also run ethernet to all the same locations. I'd run ethernet to every room in the house, except maybe bathrooms. Even the master bath if it's large.

You can't have too many electrical outlets. Living room especially.

As everyone says, if you have access, conduits so you can change wires in the future is a good idea.

I did this 20 years ago and it served us well - coax for cable and ethernet to every room. And conduit from a utility room to the office just in case.

For the new house we simplified: Coax just comes into the house for internet for us, so it only goes to the wiring closet. From there we have just two ethernet runs to two TVs.

Everything else will be using WiFi. Modern WiFi has gotten much better than in the early days. It's fine for watching TV/Video on tablets and phones. That's plenty good for our guest rooms and watching the news with dinner sometimes.

 

[OldShooter]

In post #6 I mentioned modular faceplates. Here's a video that illustrates the concept.

 

[CaptTom]

Lots of good advice above. But I gotta share this...

During renovation, I pre-wired a ton of cable TV outlets, in just about every room.

Then, the specs on the cable changed, and we don't even have cable anymore.

I pre-wired Ethernet cable, too.

Then, Cat5 came along. Then Cat5e. Then wireless.

It's hard to plan ahead for technology. Conduit is probably the best bet, but even that may never be used.

 

[Brat]

Yup. Put wiring in conduit.