Building a new home can be rewarding, fun, overwhelming and quite
the test of one’s will at times. All of
the choices you have collide with the realities of what things really
cost. In this article, we will shed some
light on how to have a tech ready house for a fraction of the cost of having an
Integrator wire up your home. This article will provide you with basic
information on doing your own “Pre-Wire” so your new home is ready for just
about any Audio/Video system.
We would like to note that this article will not address
wiring for lighting control, HVAC, Security, or super high end control systems
like Crestron, AMX, Savant or anything else that starts at $20k. Nor, do we
address any local laws involved in running wires through your walls. This is more for knowing what is required to
be there for multi-room audio, HD video distribution, home theater, phone/data and
control over those systems. We will lay
the foundation for you to choose from a wide variety of solutions that fit your
needs and your budget.
The Pre-Wire:
Most People will have an equipment room or closet to put
everything in. We call this area the “head end” and just
about everything will be wired back to this point.
Wiring
Volume Controls/Keypads, Local inputs and Speakers
From Head end to
keypad location:
·
(1) Cat5 Data Cable
·
(1) 16/4 Speaker Wire
o
Can also be (2) 16/2 speaker wires
·
(2) 16/2 Speaker wires
o
(1) to each speaker
Typically used to play local TV or iPod through room
speakers
·
(1) Cat5 back to keypad location in the same
room
Locate the Local Input Wall Plate behind a TV
location or in a place that would accommodate an iPod dock etc.
Data and Phone:
·
(2) cat5 from head end to data and phone wall
plate
Wiring Your Home Theater:
Speakers back to the
receiver/amp:
·
(1) Speaker wire to each speaker location
o
Can be 16/2, 14/2 or 12/2
o
Thicker wire can carry more current and your
speakers will sound better.
Subwoofer back to the
Receiver:
·
(1) RCA cable back to Receiver
o
Typically wired to an RCA wall plate
·
Use RG6 Coax cable for runs over 15ft – Coax
Cable rejects noise better that than RCA cable
Note: It’s doesn’t
hurt to wire multiple subwoofer locations.
You may decide to have two subs or you can choose the best sounding
location of the ones you wired.
Receiver to TV:
·
(1) HDMI and (2) Cat5 to TV from Receiver
o
The 2 Cat5 cables allow for future technology
Wiring TV Locations:
High Definition video distribution is not cheap but very
cool. This allows you to have your
DirecTV boxes, Blu-ray, Apple TV and anything else to hook into a central location
and be distributed to all TV locations throughout the house all in
high-def! This is the idea if all you
want to see is the TV on the wall and speakers in the ceiling. Then you can use a central control system to
choose what is playing in each room for audio and video.
Head End to TV’s:
·
(1) RG6 Coax from head end to TV’s
o
For cable and antenna
·
(3) Cat5 or Cat6 from head end to TV’s
o
Ethernet, IR and HDMI all can use Cat5. Much easier and less expensive…
Note: It would be
smart to Run (1) RG6 Coax to the attic or roof so you can later add an antenna. Antennas are cheap and needed when you least
expect it. Run this wire back to the head end to be
distributed from the single coax run to each TV.
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Now you can have….
This This Or
This
  
All you have to do is run the wires!
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