Dan's HA Wiring

Last revision: Sunday, December 10, 2000

High Voltage

• Run a neutral to every wall switch location
  • Depending on how each lighting circuit is wired, it may not have a neutral wire in the wall switch box. Many X-10 wall switches require a neutral. I had my electrician wire each circuit so a neutral was present in each wall switch box. He did not charge me extra for this.
• Put in an extra gang box at each wall switch location. This was so I could add a Leviton 6400 at each wall switch location after I moved in. The extra gang location was filled with a decora switch that was not connected to anything in order to pass inspection. My electrician charged me a couple of dollars extra for each box with an extra gang. Also, since he knew about this early on, he was able to order switch plates with 1 large Decora opening (for the 6400), which can be hard to find for 3 and 4 gang boxes.
• Install an X-10 signal coupler at the breaker box
• Install a whole-house surge protector at the breaker box

Low Voltage

• Cable TV outlet in every room. Each of these consists of 2 RG6 coax cables and 1 category 5 cable.
• Network outlet in every room. This uses a category 5 cable homerun to my control center.
• Phone outlet in every room. This uses a category 5 cable homerun to my control center.
• Motion detector in every room.
• Alarm keypads at several locations.
• Alarm contacts on all doors and windows.
• Camera at front and back doors. A double gang box was installed at each location. The wiring to each location consists of 1 RG59 coax and a 1 pair, 16 gauge wire for power. I should have run a category 5 cable to each location too, but didn't.
• Door phone at front and back doors. A single gang box was installed at each location. The wiring to each location consists of a category 5 cable.
• Outdoor speakers in the back of the house.
• Outdoor motion detectors at various locations around the house. These are el-cheapo outdoor floodlights that I removed the floodlights from and then easily modified the motion detector to run on 24 volts DC.
• A 3-gang audio control box in various rooms used to control the whole-house audio system. The 3 gangs are used for volume, A/B switch and IR receiver. I ran 2 4-16 cables to each location. These are connected to the A/B switch so that each room can select between 1 of 2 sources. The output of the A/B switch then feeds the volume control. The left and right channels from the volume control then go to single gang boxes that house speaker connectors. A 7 conductor shielded cable was run for the IR. All speaker wiring is 16 gauge. I also installed one of these 3-gang boxes outside by my back door with the same wiring. However, I could not find a 3-gang weather proof cover, so I had to improvise with a 2-gang cover.

The following items are not really home automation related, but I have included them so that other people building a house may also consider adding them.

• Rough-in a ceiling fan for most rooms
• Install outside flood lights
• Install lighting under the kitchen cabinets
• Install the air conditioner unit on the side of the house instead of the back so that it is not near the patio or deck or whatever we end up putting in.
• Add additional electrical outlets in the basement and garage.

danh@danshouse.com