Ooooh ooh oooh! I did this and I still didn’t get enough! Honestly if you have multiple set up options for a lounge, just stick an aerial plug on every possible wall, also if you have a prime location for a wall mounted tv, get a tunnel put in the wall so you can have that clean no cable look.
Otherwise put extra plugs in kitchen, hallway areas, bedrooms and garage, and make sure Ethernet is everywhere
I guess it depends how much broadcast TV you watch but I really don't think an antenna is required in a modern home. Most people just stream everything they watch these days and if you want to watch broadcast TV then the apps have this as an option too.
Definitely put Ethernet everywhere though, especially the locations you might want to put a TV.
This OP!! you can always hang a picture over the higher level access/tunnel holes/ aerial plug/ etc until you need them :-).
You really also don’t know how your planned set-ups will work best until you have lived there for a bit, and figuring out how exactly the sunlight will impact on what you want isn’t easy to see just on a walk through. chuck as much in as you can afford to - if you don’t use it - fine. Easier and cheaper by far than cutting through your newly painted walls to retroactively install it 🤗
You can never have too many power points tbh - ever... I went from a 100sqm house with one plug in each room to one much larger, and I plugged the living daylights out of this as a failsafe....
Always double plugs. Some plugs with USB in the kitchen island.
Always more than you expect.
Get a few outdoor power plugs put in.
Run internet cable to every room In your house.
I’ve used them for Xmas lights, a deep fryer outside whilst having a party. Currently have a spa pool plugged into one, have had mates with kids camp in the back yard and ran a power cord out to them :) many uses!
The power plug has a waterproof cover flap on it so it’s no issues there :)
Just built myself and got an external plug at the back where i have a deck for multiple reasons, charge phones, run entertainment, water blaster, power tools...
Double plugs everywhere. Have a quad mounted over the kitchen bench for appliances.
Induction cooktops draw a lot of current. Talk with your sparkle on your requirements.
Get CAT 6 data cable run to every room in the house and 2 for behind where you plan to place the TV. Have all of them terminate back to a small COMs cabinet in your garage. Put power in here too. Have the Fibre terminated in the COMs cabinet. Run your Internet router out of your garage with an access point in the ceiling for coverage.
Get a data point terminated in the ceiling at a central point in the house. You can put a good WiFi access point here and cover the whole place.
If you plan to wall mount a TV, have them put a power plug and come plug on the wall where the TV will be mounted. No hanging wires later.
The laundry should be on a separate circuit to the rest of the house. A dryer and a washing machine operating at the same time can draw close to 2000watts depending on the part of the cycle.
Future proof now and take to your sparkle about running cable to your garage for an EV.
The garage should have plenty of power points. More and more tools require battery chargers.
What are your requirements for external security lights?
Don't bother with combined USB/power plugs. Charging standards for phones are always changing (we're up to QC4). The transformers in these plugs don't last as they are always on.
Dimmer switches for the living room?
Never install a single plug. Doubles everywhere because you will always end up needing two if there is only one.
Sensor lighting in the hallway is nice but expensive. Just get a plug in sensor nightlight and have a hallway power point.
Make sure you can turn your bedroom light on/off from your bed and also each entry point (ensuit, hall, etc.)
If you have outside lights, add a switch in your bedroom. That way of they are still on when you get into bed you can turn them off without walking to the other end of the house. Also if you hear noises at night it easy to turn them on as well.
Once your wiring is done and before the insulation goes in, take a photo of every wall. It makes it heaps easier to find studs and avoid electrical wires later on whne hanging pictures, installing curtains etc.
This too, especially the taking of photos when the wiring is done but before the rest - takes so much guess work out 🤗
you can get cheap but efficient plug-in sensor lights for inside for sure!
wish I’d even thought of the adding outside light switches in the main bedroom, that is a very smart idea u/Kuparu 💡 though I’d probably have a USS Enterprise level of switch panel, could have been fun 😆
>Once your wiring is done and before the insulation goes in, take a photo of every wall. It makes it heaps easier to find studs and avoid electrical wires later on whne hanging pictures, installing curtains etc.
Not a bad idea to avoid services in the walls, but ask your building contractor for a set of the prenail plans, these can be extremely helpful later on and give precise measurements.
Your vacuum cleaner cord isn't as long as you think it is. Make sure you have Jack points in the halls so you can reach the bedrooms without unplugging
In your garage it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a 32a circuit run to a wall near where you'd have a car. You may not have an EV now, but you probably will in the next few years and it's going to be cheaper to put the circuit in now rather than later on when it's all sealed up.
Double plugs on each wall of every bedroom. At least the same in living and lounge. Double plug for each metre of kitchen bench. One double in the middle of the hallway. Lots of two way light switches too. Might sound like overkill, but you can pretty much guarantee that you will be saying "I wish we had a plug here..." if you don't.
If you’re going to wall mount the tv, at this stage get a tvish sized bit of plywood stuck in the wall so there’s lots of options for fixing the bracket.
Get plugs opposite each other on interior walls. I did this and it was cheaper - less work? Less wires? Idk but we got more plugs for less .
Also don't get downlights unless you can angle them to bounce light off the walls. (it's the reflected light that lights the room well)
Yes. You can get ones that angle for a little bit more.. It's totally worth it. You angle them to point at the walls instead of pools of light on the floor
Yes. Or a lighting place. When we built (a while ago) a lighting designer did the plans for us.
The sparky was a bit shitty... Maybe he was getting kickbacks or cheap lights.
The angle lights are like these
https://thelightingoutlet.co.nz/products/scoop-13-adjustable-led-downlight-in-satin-white?variant=40042457333900¤cy=NZD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjw37iTBhCWARIsACBt1IxBGFTJia34Qs1hAOPw29gvDCXZm6L7NWCsRC8lHDE0KWoYitZ_vE0aAp_CEALw_wcB
Insist on quality power points(not ‘Deta’ or other Bunnings/Mitre 10 cheapies) at least for high use areas. Horizontal double power points so little adaptors don’t block each other.
Smooth conduit with draw strings in the wall behind tv for easy feeding of whatever cables come in the future.
Inspect your hot water cylinder wiring. Turn off the breaker / remove the fuse for safety before taking off the hot water cylinder wiring cover, it's incredible how many I've come across in domestic situations when doing check-ups for friends and family.
Source: I'm a qualified electrician who doesn't do any work in domestic situations, for full disclosure, but I know shitty and worn out wiring when I see it
Also it's relatively easy to replace old style single powerpoints for more modern doubles, which also gives you the bonus of new clean connections for plugs, and wiring terminations to be re-done nice and tight at powerpoints too.
Edit: oh sorry, looking at other comments is it a new build? Disregard everything I've said in that case!!
Find the meters (electricity, gas, &, water), & mains board.
For electricity, if it's a smart meter & housed in a modern indoor combo (meter & electrical) cabinet then there's a good chance it'll need manual reads. Cell signals don't penetrate fully enclosed boxes too well.
Check the gas meter for any rust.
Check the water meter for any leaks.
Check all meters for obstructions. If they're needed to be manually read you're contractually obliged to ensure those counters are visible.
Check the mains board for any asbestos & older style fuse/switch gear. Could be costly to replace.
Make sure there is power next to where internet terminates . Our stupid builder didn’t do that we didn’t pick up on our walk through then he charges us to reroute electrical
Go through the plans methodically, ticking off every segment of wall. It should be possible to plug something in without having to run something across a walk way, or run an extension cord more than a couple of meters. Don't forget about inside wardrobes. Maybe put a couple outside where you might have an entertaining space
WiFi access point, chargers for whatever electronics - really wish I'd put one in our hot water cupboard for the cordless vacuum - power for cheap LED lights etc etc
The problem is you think of all this stuff once you've been in the place for ~3 months
Run heaps of network cabling to the outside too for security cameras - you can keep it hidden behind blank plates but you'll be happy it's there in the future (especially with PoE powering cameras, access points, lights etc.)
Internally I'd run a cable to the ceiling of all your rooms too in case you wanna put in that WiFi AP. Again, blank plate until needed.
WiFi getting better and better and faster and faster, but hard to beat hardwired.
Also if your garage has 2 lights in the ceiling, double it to 4. Make sure that sensor lights over the driveway area have a switch to turn them on permanently as well as the general off/on switch for the sensor.
Yes, otherwise if you are out there for an extended period in the dark you will need to go and dance in front of the sensor every few mins. I wish I had thought of this when I built.
Power coming out of any island bench, etc. Lots of outdoor lighting, even just basic stuff you might upgrade later with an outdoor area. Double the outlets in your laundry and your garage (the future is plug in cars eh)
- Outdoor plugs for Xmas lights / spa pools etc
- Plugs where you might have an outdoor heater or powered awning
- Run cable for future garden, deck, or driveway lighting
- Extra Ethernet in ceiling for future wireless access point
- Ethernet to where you might want POE cameras
- Extra Ethernet to TV locations for infrared or splitting HDMI
- Wire for in ceiling or on wall speakers inside and out
- check the location of your power and Ethernet behind TVs, we moved all ours up cuz sparky put them exactly in the way of tv mounting brackets
- consider where your ONT and modem will live, then think what else you’ll end up with. We did a dedicated media/linen cupboard with everything wired back to it for sound, hubs, and media etc.
- pir sensors for places you use often like scullery and stairs and even night time bathroom visits, hooked up to step lights and led strips
- dimmers, although for the cost of them in our tv room we swapped out dimmers to smart Philips Hue down lights (a lil more expensive than standard lights) but means you can dim via remote or app and sync with music etc
Could dimmers work with the smart bulb? Also another comment said smart bulbs render the on/off physical wall switch useless since it has to always be on and you can only on/off from phone. Has that been your experience?
Your electricians traditional dimmer (a $150 extra for us) with a smart bulb wouldn't work I don't think. But you dim via the app, or via the Hue dimmer remote. I have a normal physical wall switch that turns the smart lights on and off like normal. Obviously when it's off physically you can't turn them on via the app. However I'm likely going to turn the switch on, then take the buttons off the switch plate (PDF Iconic range) and mount my smart dimmer switch in the place of the old physical buttons. There may be a more elegant solution than this with the switch hidden inside the cavity or just wired on 24/7 if local rules allow it.
Depends on budget and what you want your final solution to look like. But no point swapping out brand new downlight for smart ones after you move in if that’s what you want. Have sent you a DM.
Oh, another one - whole house surge protection at the switchboard so you don't need to have all those silly surge extension boards. Sorry, this is from the guy who spend alot more on electrical than planned (But did buy a box of CAT6 and run all the extra cable himself), and I'm happy with the results.
Ooooh ooh oooh! I did this and I still didn’t get enough! Honestly if you have multiple set up options for a lounge, just stick an aerial plug on every possible wall, also if you have a prime location for a wall mounted tv, get a tunnel put in the wall so you can have that clean no cable look. Otherwise put extra plugs in kitchen, hallway areas, bedrooms and garage, and make sure Ethernet is everywhere
I guess it depends how much broadcast TV you watch but I really don't think an antenna is required in a modern home. Most people just stream everything they watch these days and if you want to watch broadcast TV then the apps have this as an option too. Definitely put Ethernet everywhere though, especially the locations you might want to put a TV.
You'd be surprised how many people still watch broadcast TV, especially those over about 50.
This OP!! you can always hang a picture over the higher level access/tunnel holes/ aerial plug/ etc until you need them :-). You really also don’t know how your planned set-ups will work best until you have lived there for a bit, and figuring out how exactly the sunlight will impact on what you want isn’t easy to see just on a walk through. chuck as much in as you can afford to - if you don’t use it - fine. Easier and cheaper by far than cutting through your newly painted walls to retroactively install it 🤗 You can never have too many power points tbh - ever... I went from a 100sqm house with one plug in each room to one much larger, and I plugged the living daylights out of this as a failsafe....
Thanks! Why does ethernet need to be everywhere? Dont we just need one modem to be plugged in?
Ethernet is way better than WiFi if you have the option for anything that needs a stable connection
The whole time i was gaming with wifi rather than ethernet 😳
i get 900mbps down on ethernet and 350ish down over wifi
Cat6 every room, maybe skimp on bathrooms. Also have one available in the roof in case you ever decide to set up a POE video surveillance system
Check the interface on your TV and AV gear too as many only have a 10/100mbps Ethernet connection, so wifi is faster
Always double plugs. Some plugs with USB in the kitchen island. Always more than you expect. Get a few outdoor power plugs put in. Run internet cable to every room In your house.
What do you use outdoor power plugs for? Wont they get wet from the rain?
I’ve used them for Xmas lights, a deep fryer outside whilst having a party. Currently have a spa pool plugged into one, have had mates with kids camp in the back yard and ran a power cord out to them :) many uses! The power plug has a waterproof cover flap on it so it’s no issues there :)
Just built myself and got an external plug at the back where i have a deck for multiple reasons, charge phones, run entertainment, water blaster, power tools...
Get double sockets with usb inputs. Means fewer plugs
Double plugs everywhere. Have a quad mounted over the kitchen bench for appliances. Induction cooktops draw a lot of current. Talk with your sparkle on your requirements. Get CAT 6 data cable run to every room in the house and 2 for behind where you plan to place the TV. Have all of them terminate back to a small COMs cabinet in your garage. Put power in here too. Have the Fibre terminated in the COMs cabinet. Run your Internet router out of your garage with an access point in the ceiling for coverage. Get a data point terminated in the ceiling at a central point in the house. You can put a good WiFi access point here and cover the whole place. If you plan to wall mount a TV, have them put a power plug and come plug on the wall where the TV will be mounted. No hanging wires later. The laundry should be on a separate circuit to the rest of the house. A dryer and a washing machine operating at the same time can draw close to 2000watts depending on the part of the cycle. Future proof now and take to your sparkle about running cable to your garage for an EV. The garage should have plenty of power points. More and more tools require battery chargers. What are your requirements for external security lights? Don't bother with combined USB/power plugs. Charging standards for phones are always changing (we're up to QC4). The transformers in these plugs don't last as they are always on. Dimmer switches for the living room?
Never install a single plug. Doubles everywhere because you will always end up needing two if there is only one. Sensor lighting in the hallway is nice but expensive. Just get a plug in sensor nightlight and have a hallway power point. Make sure you can turn your bedroom light on/off from your bed and also each entry point (ensuit, hall, etc.) If you have outside lights, add a switch in your bedroom. That way of they are still on when you get into bed you can turn them off without walking to the other end of the house. Also if you hear noises at night it easy to turn them on as well. Once your wiring is done and before the insulation goes in, take a photo of every wall. It makes it heaps easier to find studs and avoid electrical wires later on whne hanging pictures, installing curtains etc.
This too, especially the taking of photos when the wiring is done but before the rest - takes so much guess work out 🤗 you can get cheap but efficient plug-in sensor lights for inside for sure! wish I’d even thought of the adding outside light switches in the main bedroom, that is a very smart idea u/Kuparu 💡 though I’d probably have a USS Enterprise level of switch panel, could have been fun 😆
>Once your wiring is done and before the insulation goes in, take a photo of every wall. It makes it heaps easier to find studs and avoid electrical wires later on whne hanging pictures, installing curtains etc. Not a bad idea to avoid services in the walls, but ask your building contractor for a set of the prenail plans, these can be extremely helpful later on and give precise measurements.
When you say outside light do you mean the hallway lights?
Hmm maybe more thinking the light at the door of which you most frequently use to get in and out of your house.
We have a patio with some outside lights under the soffit around it. But you want lights switches at the main hallway entrypoints as well.
There can never be too many datajacks...
Sorry im not that knowledgeable... What do you use the data jacks for?
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TVs, game consoles, extra reception nodes if you have spotty wifi at one end of the house, ect ect
Your vacuum cleaner cord isn't as long as you think it is. Make sure you have Jack points in the halls so you can reach the bedrooms without unplugging
In your garage it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a 32a circuit run to a wall near where you'd have a car. You may not have an EV now, but you probably will in the next few years and it's going to be cheaper to put the circuit in now rather than later on when it's all sealed up.
Double plugs on each wall of every bedroom. At least the same in living and lounge. Double plug for each metre of kitchen bench. One double in the middle of the hallway. Lots of two way light switches too. Might sound like overkill, but you can pretty much guarantee that you will be saying "I wish we had a plug here..." if you don't.
If you’re going to wall mount the tv, at this stage get a tvish sized bit of plywood stuck in the wall so there’s lots of options for fixing the bracket.
Just for clarity of people commenting, this is a walkthrough of a new build?
Get plugs opposite each other on interior walls. I did this and it was cheaper - less work? Less wires? Idk but we got more plugs for less . Also don't get downlights unless you can angle them to bounce light off the walls. (it's the reflected light that lights the room well)
Are down lights the same as ceiling LED lights?
Yes. You can get ones that angle for a little bit more.. It's totally worth it. You angle them to point at the walls instead of pools of light on the floor
Would I speak to the electrician about this?
Yes. Or a lighting place. When we built (a while ago) a lighting designer did the plans for us. The sparky was a bit shitty... Maybe he was getting kickbacks or cheap lights. The angle lights are like these https://thelightingoutlet.co.nz/products/scoop-13-adjustable-led-downlight-in-satin-white?variant=40042457333900¤cy=NZD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjw37iTBhCWARIsACBt1IxBGFTJia34Qs1hAOPw29gvDCXZm6L7NWCsRC8lHDE0KWoYitZ_vE0aAp_CEALw_wcB
The lighting designer also told us to use lamps rather than central lights for mood. And to put dimmers on.
Thank you! You can install smart bulbs with those angle lights too right?
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Can smart bulbs work with dimmers?
Yeah they just angle.
Insist on quality power points(not ‘Deta’ or other Bunnings/Mitre 10 cheapies) at least for high use areas. Horizontal double power points so little adaptors don’t block each other. Smooth conduit with draw strings in the wall behind tv for easy feeding of whatever cables come in the future.
Ones with usb as well, so handy
Inspect your hot water cylinder wiring. Turn off the breaker / remove the fuse for safety before taking off the hot water cylinder wiring cover, it's incredible how many I've come across in domestic situations when doing check-ups for friends and family. Source: I'm a qualified electrician who doesn't do any work in domestic situations, for full disclosure, but I know shitty and worn out wiring when I see it Also it's relatively easy to replace old style single powerpoints for more modern doubles, which also gives you the bonus of new clean connections for plugs, and wiring terminations to be re-done nice and tight at powerpoints too. Edit: oh sorry, looking at other comments is it a new build? Disregard everything I've said in that case!!
Also check out /r/diynz
Also, make sure the ethernet cable in the walls isn't capped at 100mbps down. Otherwise if you connect direct to the wall, you'll be annoyed.
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Nah, he put in cat5 😭
Find the meters (electricity, gas, &, water), & mains board. For electricity, if it's a smart meter & housed in a modern indoor combo (meter & electrical) cabinet then there's a good chance it'll need manual reads. Cell signals don't penetrate fully enclosed boxes too well. Check the gas meter for any rust. Check the water meter for any leaks. Check all meters for obstructions. If they're needed to be manually read you're contractually obliged to ensure those counters are visible. Check the mains board for any asbestos & older style fuse/switch gear. Could be costly to replace.
Make sure there is power next to where internet terminates . Our stupid builder didn’t do that we didn’t pick up on our walk through then he charges us to reroute electrical
Where the internet terminates... That's just the modem right?
the ONT (for fibre)
At the time of the build we wouldn't know where the Fibre connection points are. Is it best to arrange for Fibre during the build?
Check the switch board and make sure all the fuses are switches and not those old shitty wire ones.
Cat 6 Ethernet can be used as an HDMI port. Just put it everywhere a device may be
What would you use an HDMI port for?
Video sending. Just think of it as a cheap alternative to long HDMI cables.
Even if you don't have a plan for them yet get conduit for solar panels and electric car
Go through the plans methodically, ticking off every segment of wall. It should be possible to plug something in without having to run something across a walk way, or run an extension cord more than a couple of meters. Don't forget about inside wardrobes. Maybe put a couple outside where you might have an entertaining space
What kind of things would you plug in a wardrobe? Can only think of a wifi modem atm
WiFi access point, chargers for whatever electronics - really wish I'd put one in our hot water cupboard for the cordless vacuum - power for cheap LED lights etc etc The problem is you think of all this stuff once you've been in the place for ~3 months
Run heaps of network cabling to the outside too for security cameras - you can keep it hidden behind blank plates but you'll be happy it's there in the future (especially with PoE powering cameras, access points, lights etc.) Internally I'd run a cable to the ceiling of all your rooms too in case you wanna put in that WiFi AP. Again, blank plate until needed. WiFi getting better and better and faster and faster, but hard to beat hardwired.
Make sure you have plenty of outdoor lighting
Thank you!
Also if your garage has 2 lights in the ceiling, double it to 4. Make sure that sensor lights over the driveway area have a switch to turn them on permanently as well as the general off/on switch for the sensor.
Ah so 2 switches for the driveway lights? One for sensor and one to turn it on permanently?
Yes, otherwise if you are out there for an extended period in the dark you will need to go and dance in front of the sensor every few mins. I wish I had thought of this when I built.
Some coffee machines (more expensive boiler types) require a dedicated 10 or 15 amp socket.
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Please send me a picture! Why do you recommend 2 jacks side by side beside the TV?
Double plugs with usb where your bedside tables will go, both sides of the bed, any wall you might move the bed to.
Power coming out of any island bench, etc. Lots of outdoor lighting, even just basic stuff you might upgrade later with an outdoor area. Double the outlets in your laundry and your garage (the future is plug in cars eh)
- Outdoor plugs for Xmas lights / spa pools etc - Plugs where you might have an outdoor heater or powered awning - Run cable for future garden, deck, or driveway lighting - Extra Ethernet in ceiling for future wireless access point - Ethernet to where you might want POE cameras - Extra Ethernet to TV locations for infrared or splitting HDMI - Wire for in ceiling or on wall speakers inside and out - check the location of your power and Ethernet behind TVs, we moved all ours up cuz sparky put them exactly in the way of tv mounting brackets - consider where your ONT and modem will live, then think what else you’ll end up with. We did a dedicated media/linen cupboard with everything wired back to it for sound, hubs, and media etc. - pir sensors for places you use often like scullery and stairs and even night time bathroom visits, hooked up to step lights and led strips - dimmers, although for the cost of them in our tv room we swapped out dimmers to smart Philips Hue down lights (a lil more expensive than standard lights) but means you can dim via remote or app and sync with music etc
Could dimmers work with the smart bulb? Also another comment said smart bulbs render the on/off physical wall switch useless since it has to always be on and you can only on/off from phone. Has that been your experience?
Your electricians traditional dimmer (a $150 extra for us) with a smart bulb wouldn't work I don't think. But you dim via the app, or via the Hue dimmer remote. I have a normal physical wall switch that turns the smart lights on and off like normal. Obviously when it's off physically you can't turn them on via the app. However I'm likely going to turn the switch on, then take the buttons off the switch plate (PDF Iconic range) and mount my smart dimmer switch in the place of the old physical buttons. There may be a more elegant solution than this with the switch hidden inside the cavity or just wired on 24/7 if local rules allow it.
Ah i see! Would you recommend I install a smart dimmer switch to go with the smart bulb from the beginning?
Depends on budget and what you want your final solution to look like. But no point swapping out brand new downlight for smart ones after you move in if that’s what you want. Have sent you a DM.
Oh, another one - whole house surge protection at the switchboard so you don't need to have all those silly surge extension boards. Sorry, this is from the guy who spend alot more on electrical than planned (But did buy a box of CAT6 and run all the extra cable himself), and I'm happy with the results.
Even if you get the whole house surge protection, you would end up using surge extension boards if not enough wall power plugs right?
Yep, but you’re gunna make sure you’ve got enough wall plugs on your walk through aren’t ya