New Build - Needs Energy Efficient Lighting, Cat 5/6 and Home Cinema Wiring

Loobz

Hi,

We are building a new bungalow through direct labour. The blockwork has just started and We need to think ahead to our electrics. Here are our requirements;

1) Energy Efficient Lighting.
Is it possible to completely wire a house to use LED lights only? Would any qualified Electrician be capable of doing the job compared to the conventional way? I presume it will be much more expensive compared to conventional lighting.

2) Cat5/6
I would like Cat5/6 in some of the rooms. However with a decent wireless router, is there a need? Home appliances are becoming more 'smart' these days, and in not to distant future will have ethernet integrated.

3) Home Cinema Wiring
We do want to have a decent home cinema setup, most likely in the sitting room.
Ceiling mounted projector (with cables running back to a breakout box)
100" motorised projector screen.
5.1 hard wired to the wall (returning to a central point)
I also plan on using my PC with this projector, however I would prefer not to have my PC in the sitting room.
Sky in sitting room, dining room and maybe the bedrooms.

Where should I source my cabling, wallplates for audio/video?
I have bought alot of matching single/double dimmer switches and power sockets a while back and they are in storage.

All help much appreciated

Stoner

Ok-- Remember all IMHO

1) Yes it all can be done in LEDs, but I think a mixture of CFLs and LEDS etc would be better, outside security lights will be an issue for CFL and LED
yes it will cost more

2) Yes run at least Cat6 if not Cat 6e around the house, its fast solid etc and will be better then wireless for file transfer, get yourself a 10/100/1000 switch to speed up the network

3) Cable, it depends on your system, but www.cpc.co.uk have a huge range, the more strands and the higher the CSA of the cable the better, however I'd leave it at a max of 2x2.5sq as it can be hard to terminate anything bigger.

Faceplates etc, whole salers, or CPC , TBH it all depends on the finish on the accessories, if you are going for fancy sockets ans switches be very careful to make sure that they cover the range you want when you want it. MK are usually good for this.

I have MK edge in my house and for the speaker connections I just got a one gang face place with a balnk insert, I drilled a perfect hole for the cable and connected the speakers via connectors, but there are better options, this just worked for me

MickLimk

Loobz wrote: »

Hi,

2) Cat5/6
I would like Cat5/6 in some of the rooms. However with a decent wireless router, is there a need? Home appliances are becoming more 'smart' these days, and in not to distant future will have ethernet integrated.

3) Home Cinema Wiring
We do want to have a decent home cinema setup, most likely in the sitting room.
Ceiling mounted projector (with cables running back to a breakout box)
100" motorised projector screen.
5.1 hard wired to the wall (returning to a central point)
I also plan on using my PC with this projector, however I would prefer not to have my PC in the sitting room.
Sky in sitting room, dining room and maybe the bedrooms.

Where should I source my cabling, wallplates for audio/video?
I have bought alot of matching single/double dimmer switches and power sockets a while back and they are in storage.

All help much appreciated

Have a look or post over in the Tech->Home Entertainment section. There are a few guys over there who have put in serious systems and will be able to give you a few pointers as to the best way to go with your install.

When you are at this stage and wiring in cables permanently, make sure you're doing it right and covering your bases for a full High Definition system in the future. If you're spending decent money on a system, better get what connects it together right as this will be the hardest thing to change once your plasterer has finished!

Immediately, http://www.bluejeanscable.co.uk are the best (non-US) cable supplier that comes to mind. These supply excellent quality cables at a good price. I can't remember the face plates site off the top of my head but if you can't get a quick reply over in HE, let me know and I'll dig it up for you. They supply faceplaces for every AV and networking function.

As to network cabling, Cat5e runs gigabit networking for me fine. May not work for you depending on the length of your runs. Agree with Stoner, if I were doing a rewire, I'd certainly go with Cat6. I have wireless in the house too but wired is really incomparable even with Pre-N. No interference, higher speeds, better security, etc. When putting in the network cabling runs, make sure that you run every single cable back to one single point where you can terminate, switch and distribute everything.

Don't forget your TV cables. Ireland is supposed to be switching to a completely digital TV transmission system in a couple of years (EU Regs) which may cause problems for a lot of people who put in long runs of the cheaper RG6 'satellite-quality' cables. Personally, I wouldn't touch the RG6 stuff, well worth the extra going for CT-100 or WF-100.

I'm in the middle of doing an upgrade on my entertainment system that's in my living room. I've bought an extender that will connect to my TV and stream all my high definition stuff from a networked hard-drive or my PC that's in a different room. This media extender/PC combo also acts as like a Sky+ box that allows me to watch and record live TV. With the right tuner card in the PC, I can also watch & record BBC-HD legally which is free to air and doesn't require any Sky subscription. You can connect multiple extenders to a network (single PC) and distribute your TV/Videos/Music to whatever rooms you want. PM me if you want more details.

MODS: Lots of non-mains electrical related content in here so feel free to edit, and/or recommend a PM conversation, move to a different forum if considered too far off topic. Personally I think that it's in a good sparks interest to be aware of the needs of proper cabling requirements for High-Definition Home Entertainment! Convincing a client may be very different on the other hand!!

Stoner

MickLimk wrote: »

MODS: Lots of non-mains electrical related content in here so feel free to edit, and/or recommend a PM conversation, move to a different forum if considered too far off topic. Personally I think that it's in a good sparks interest to be aware of the needs of proper cabling requirements for High-Definition Home Entertainment! Convincing a client may be very different on the other hand!!

I agree the more aware installers are the better (not just electricians but also the guys working for AV guys who are not electricians)

This forum here is not limited to Mains Electrical content, MV, LV and ELV are all here,

I think the OP could do with splitting the post TBH as the HE forum has some good info there, if he can get the thread to strike.