First Fix electric

Mcorriga

Hi all,

About to start first fix electric and would like to run part of plan passed some of ye to comment. Mainly as this is my first and hopefully only time ever to do this!!!

Firstly have a central point in my attic where everything runs to and from.

Coaxial cable (TV points)

Run 5 from the roof. Reason: the sky dish now being installed have a quad LMB even if only two are used. So guessing there may be a plan to use these. The 5th is for the just in case scenario.

These 5 cables run to my central location where I will then route them to different locations within the house.

4 TV point in main room. 2 for SKY+ functions, 1 for free to air box and other to route back out of my sky box back to central room incase I want to route this to another room( example Magic Eye).

Then in other possible viewing rooms( 3 in total) have 2 TV point in case I do get multiroom sky where I want the sky + functions.

This actually means I will need 15 TV points in the central room!!

CAT6
Most rooms to have a CAT6 cable run to it and then all run back to central location. Central location to have phone point where internet will come in and then through a router routed to all CAT6 points. At central location have a multimedia hard drive where all music and films will be stored. At TV points will have Cat6 also there so I can either stream content from the internet or from my multimedia hard drive.

I am wondering if I mad to be routing Cat6 to every room especially when I could just wirelessly connect to the central room. But I am afraid that in a well insulated house and with a concrete first floor the wireless may not work. So I could just route the Cat 6 to TV point locations and to the printer location.



Speakers
Ceiling mounted speakers that will all come from the one source. The source can be one of two options. Will have a switch in the kitchen which will either connect my multimedia hard drive mentioned above or a hifi system in the kitchen. The output of the hifi system will be wired up to central location in attic it if it is switched in it will go through a amplifier to all speakers. If the multimedia hard drive is switched in it will go through the same amp to all the speakers. All speakers will have a volume controls in the rooms they are in where I can obviously adjust the volume or turn them off.


Let me know what ye think…am I leaving anything out, or do I have too much in!!! Would greatly appreciate any feedback….

M cebee

the cat 6 is better than wireless
you have it right

2011

+1 on the CAT6

Ceiling speakers never provide as good sound quality as wall mounted, but are good enough for something like radio in the kitchen. I would not use them for my main TV though.

Ronnie Raygun

Make sure you use decent quality coaxial cable: "100" type, such as Webro WF100, Triax TX100 etc.

Mcorriga

Thanks all for your feedback. Was worried I was going a bit overboaerd.

Attached is a list of full electric plan....Plumbing spec canbe ignored for now...still working on it...

would be good if people could take a quick glance over to see if im missing anything major!!

dg647

Just had a look at the spec there, you should have a fire alarm up stairs, as far as I know you must have one upstairs and one downstairs with a mains supply. Also, why no tv points in bedrooms 3&4 or in the kitchen?

Mcorriga

dg647 wrote: »

Just had a look at the spec there, you should have a fire alarm up stairs, as far as I know you must have one upstairs and one downstairs with a mains supply. Also, why no tv points in bedrooms 3&4 or in the kitchen?

Ok thanks for that I meant to actually put a fire alarm in upstairs hall. good spot.

Reason for no TV points is beacuse I dont want "Future" Kids having TV points in their room...Personal choise...they were in there and I took them out.....


Also None in Kitchenas I have an open plan kitchen/snug and have TV point in the SNUG

meercat

dg647 wrote: »

Just had a look at the spec there, you should have a fire alarm up stairs, as far as I know you must have one upstairs and one downstairs with a mains supply. Also, why no tv points in bedrooms 3&4 or in the kitchen?

minimum 4 is required now

hall
landing
main living area
kitchen(heat detector)

this is a minimum,some house layouts require more


if you can fit in-line extractor fans (as they tend to be quieter )depending on layout

dg647

meercat wrote: »

minimum 4 is required now

hall
landing
main living area
kitchen(heat detector)

this is a minimum,some house layouts require more


if you can fit in-line extractor fans (as they tend to be quieter )depending on layout

You learn something new every day, thanks for that.

OP, best of luck with it.

M cebee

are you putting nas, router etc in attic?

2011

meercat wrote: »

minimum 4 is required now

4 smoke and/or heat detectors ?

Interesting.
I never heard that.
Is it a building regulation or where does this appear?

M cebee

mimimum 4 detectors total for 3 bed semi
dwelling
Building regs afaik

2011

M cebee wrote: »

mimimum 4 detectors total for 3 bed semi
dwelling
Building regs afaik

I never heard that, thanks.
I thought it was a minimum of 2

EDIT: Found it here

Mcorriga

2011 wrote: »

I never heard that, thanks.
I thought it was a minimum of 2

EDIT: Found it here

Met electrician last night he also told me I need 4 smoke alarms and a heat detector!!! Also my fuse box has to be at a certain height, cant remeber the actual level but means I cant hide it up over a door. God damn Regs!!

Mcorriga

M cebee wrote: »

are you putting nas, router etc in attic?

At some stage in the future I hope to yes...

M cebee

Mcorriga wrote: »

At some stage in the future I hope to yes...

ive always wired back to an office room and cabinet for anything substantial
maybe attic will do

run a separate circuit anyhow for equipment

Mcorriga

M cebee wrote: »

ive always wired back to an office room and cabinet for anything substantial
maybe attic will do

run a separate circuit anyhow for equipment

that was the orginal plan...but with I have a massive attach space that will be floored and not very much office space so decided to go with that....

thanks again

meercat

Mcorriga wrote: »

2011 wrote: »

I never heard that, thanks.
I thought it was a minimum of 2

EDIT: Found it here

Met electrician last night he also told me I need 4 smoke alarms and a heat detector!!! Also my fuse box has to be at a certain height, cant remeber the actual level but means I cant hide it up over a door. God damn Regs!!

Ask him to fit a flush 3 row board with door
Really neat job

Make sure he has allowed for smoke in attic room too

M cebee

meercat wrote: »

Ask him to fit a flush 3 row board with door
Really neat job

Make sure he has allowed for smoke in attic room too

isnt there an issue with false alarms in general?
maybe its floored+insulated here

think i saw mentioned on EI site not to fit them in general

meercat

M cebee wrote: »

isnt there an issue with false alarms in general?
maybe its floored+insulated here

think i saw mentioned on EI site not to fit them in general

If it's an attic room I would definitely fit one
One on each level (landing)

M cebee

no problem if temp doesn't drop low anyhow
i wasnt clear if its just floored or converted for use

This could be a bit over-kill but I remember a few lads that worked with me a few years back fitting maintained emergency spots (matched the standard spots) in their new houses. One man fitted them near all entrances/exits to the house, hall, landing and one near the DB. I didn't think it was a bad idea at the time.

M cebee

i would have emergency lighting on the spec

Mcorriga

Hi Guys,

thaks for your help...two more questions

What type cable would ye run for the Speakers

and why would you need emergency lighting in a residential home!!

2011

Mcorriga wrote: »

What type cable would ye run for the Speakers

Depends on your budget and the quality of your sound system.
Generally 43 strand.

why would you need emergency lighting in a residential home!!

To escape if it went on fire.
3 hour stand alone emergency lights start at about €25

It just might save a life

2011

2011 wrote: »

Depends on your budget and the quality of your sound system.
Generally 43 strand.


To escape if it went on fire.
3 hour stand alone emergency lights start at about €25

It just might save a life

Exactly! And if you ever get a blackout in the evening its no harm to have a bit of light around the place (especially going up and down the stairs. I fell over my dog once during a power cut at night )or if you had to call out a sparks if the house was in total darkness. Nothing worse than working in the dark!

+1 on the maintained emergency lighting.or is that non-maintained!
never remember
the latter I think

Fitted a few in a parents long dark hallway and it is a potential lifesaver.

M cebee

i would just fit some recessed non maintained bulkheads

all the spark has to do is leave t+e loops where needed

M cebee

M cebee wrote: »

i would just fit some recessed non maintained bulkheads

all the spark has to do is leave t+e loops where needed

I can remember fitting these in a leisure center in Kilkenny some years ago. Very neat things altogether and they give off great light

meercat

M cebee wrote: »

i would just fit some recessed non maintained bulkheads

an emergency 2d fitting near the board(if its in a utility room)

or something like this if you are fitting downlights
http://www.simplyled.co.uk/3w-LED-Maintained-Emergency-Downlight-Kit_AYJG7.aspx

agree with the posters who recommended emergency lights(one near the board should be standard)

Stoner

its a building reg,

100% on the top of the stairs hall and kitchen, plus another in the main living area, this could be the living room, the master bedroom or both but usually as you guys have said its the living room, all council house rewires will have a minimum of 4 in these locations.

I think an emergency light on the landing is a good idea too. I dont have one but I've put them into a couple of houses and people have remarked on how handy they were, especially for the kids at night if there is a power outage, I though it was a waste of time but people like them and they seem to work.

Also the fire alarm on the intruder alarm system is a good idea in my opinion, more chance of it being maintained and you can have it monitored and set up to call the emergency services. No harm in adding an intruder alarm cable to each detection point it will cost very little. Also make sure to bring a CAT6 to your intruder alarm position, it may not like going through a switch and may need direct connection to your ISP device.

I'd also wire for a wifi extender downstairs. I have CAT6 cabling around the place, but its not always an option, i.e smartphones, tables etc some devices will need wifi so I ended up with a socket and wifi point in the attic and in the hall.

Finally, if i was wiring my place again I'd have the permanent live cables at the ceiling rose position of the lights and loop down to the light switch for switching. There are a lot of budget light switching units out there that need power, so looping the feeds from the light switches can be somewhat limiting and can cost more, there are work around but it would be better to loop the feeds at the light fittings.

M cebee

the mains interconnected smoke alarms can also be linked to intruder alarm via a relay base and send a text message

manufan16

I am just starting second fix on my own build and for the TV points I would ensure a minimum of 3 cat6 runs from your central location to each tv point for HD TV distribution, 2 for the HD signal and 1 for TV to get on your home network.

Mcorriga

manufan16 wrote: »

I am just starting second fix on my own build and for the TV points I would ensure a minimum of 3 cat6 runs from your central location to each tv point for HD TV distribution, 2 for the HD signal and 1 for TV to get on your home network.

Hi Manufan, why do you need 2 Cat6 for a HD signal.....also most TV's only have one CAT6 input so dont know how you can combine these...

can you explain your setup to me..

Thanks

2011

Mcorriga wrote: »

Hi Manufan, why do you need 2 Cat6 for a HD signal.....also most TV's only have one CAT6 input so dont know how you can combine these...

can you explain your setup to me..

Thanks

You can effectively make a very long HMDI cable by using 2 CAT6 cables.
This is handy if you want to send HD TV around your home.

manufan16

Mcorriga wrote: »

Hi Manufan, why do you need 2 Cat6 for a HD signal.....also most TV's only have one CAT6 input so dont know how you can combine these...

can you explain your setup to me..

Thanks

I have some long runs in my house from central location understairs to tv points and after some research a HDMI Matrix seems to be the best solution to carry the HD signal throughout house without risk of losing quality.

I will be buying a HDMI matrix - something similar to this http://www.tmfsolutions.co.uk/Octava_HDMX44CAT.htm
sky box , xbox , media player etc under stairs will plug into this matrix which will send the HD signal with IR control over the cat6 runs to my tv points where there will be another small receiver that then feeds the signal to the tv.

manufan16

This site has different types of matrix to suit different set ups with connection diagrams to see how they connect.
Iv no connection to either links posted.
http://www.hdconnectivity.com/matrix.html