House construction: What smart features do have and wish to have?
House Construction: What Smart Features Do You Have or Wish to Have?
bluespider on 01/04/2023 - 17:36
Last edited 04/04/2023 - 23:20 by 1 other user
Last edited 04/04/2023 - 23:20 by 1 other user
Comments
@A-mak: I'm more than happy to have them moved later for the sake of aesthetics of the house for 30+ years
@iDroid: It's a Larry David thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ7zqNTBSzY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipn4sKBcOV0@iDroid: If you put a table up against a wall, I guess you can plug things in that sit on the table?
Curious on this one too. Makes sense in a bathroom and maybe a garage/workshop, but not sure why you'd do it elsewhere? I don't really want to see all the cords hanging down a wall
Lol not even nursing homes / aged care have them this high. Most would be 500mm or similar (not sure exactly). Why not also install the supersized switches & gpos for when you are old as well
Man I'd love those supersize switches.
bidet
Yes, with the little joystick that lets you target specific areas of your hole with warm water jet.
Also a hand that slaps around a fist full of gum tree leaves like they do in Finland
target specific areas of your hole
How big is your hole that you need a bidet to do this?
About 1234
With a camera for precision aiming?
If you want the hot water models, put a power point nearby so you can plug it in.
If your water connection comes from recycled water (for flushing) you can't connect this to a bidet.
Cables for cameras.
Other than that, not much automation it’s just more to go wrong IMO. TBH what I’d really like is windows that can open and close with weather. Plus possibly central locking for the doors - but not with a phone app, just with a keypad or something not connected to the internet.
When you think you’ve got enough powerpoints, you need more!!!
I'd prefer it if they were spaced out more. The problem with all powerpoints are those bulky power supplies/adaptors that effectively take up two ports. Even worse are those ones that are oriented sideways.
Our new build - each bedroom has 6 double powerpoints.
I think there's a limit - don't want to end up like this house: https://www.domain.com.au/news/why-so-many-sockets-2-42-mill…
not enough mate!!
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Decent door locks, not shitty piss poor C4 profile keys. Decent door hardware and not that cheap Gainsborough shit.
Break-in happens through breaking glasses not by picking locks lol
Nothing, go 1950’s and be happy.
How about lots and lots of display units, strategically and aesthetically placed in your house to control ACs, TVs, sound systems, monitor temperature/moisture levels, check news, make outbound calls, intercoms between rooms and check camera feeds etc?
Light strips, everywhere and anywhere imaginable e.g. under bathroom mirror to dimly light at night, same with steps of stairs, pantries etc. Also for that all important mood lighting.
Smart showers like Moen.
https://www.moen.com/smart-home/smart-showerSmart toilets like Vitra V-Care Prime.
https://www.vitra.co.uk/explore/shower-toilets/v-care/Smart bathtubs like Kohler Stillness Bath.
https://www.studiokohler.com/en-us/products/bathroom-us/bath…Or for the whole bathroom kit and caboodle: Kohler Connect
https://www.kohler.com/en/products/smart-homeSmart ceiling fans like Haiku ceiling fans.
https://bigassfans.com/au/haiku/Magnetic door locks like Ubiquiti's Access Lock Magnetic.
https://store.ui.com/products/ua-lock-magneticDiscreet internal cameras e.g. Ubiquiti Camera AI Theta.
https://eu.store.ui.com/collections/unifi-protect-cameras/pr…For a kitchen that cooks your meals, get the Moley Robotic Kitchen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvxrM0-qhlQWant your freshest herbs available at hand for your cooking needs? Get a Natufia Smart Garden.
https://meccinteriors.com/designbites/automated-kitchen-gard…Want to complement or replace solar power generation? Could always get the Aeromine Rooftop Wind Turbine.
https://www.aerominetechnologies.com/For your gaming needs, make sure your planning can accomodate a gaming setup e.g. Orb X.
https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/immersive/station/orb-x…For your bedrooms, you might need to do some planning to accomodate your smart bed e.g. HiCan.
https://www.hi-interiors.com/hi-canWant a walk-in closet but can't have built in closets? Then get an Ori Pocket Closet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rDdk0lKro0Want each bedroom to be its own studio? Then get an Ori Pocket Studio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lqwN60rzqYWant a balcony but planning doesn't allow for one? Then Bloomframe may be your solution:
https://www.hofmandujardin.nl/bloomframe-window/Have pets? Could always install a Petvation to allow your pets outside or inside through your pet door:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petvation/petvation-the…Not necessarily a house related construction purchase but you could get Amazon Astro to patrol for a cool USD$1600 (selling point is the beer collecting feature FTW lol).
https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Amazon-Astro/dp/B078NSDFS…EV charger for your EV. But if you don't want a built in one, could always get Ziggy to do it for you:
https://evsafecharge.com/ziggy/And since you're building a house, you could get the upgraded Hadrian X to do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGFR95rflEYeah I know a lot of the suggestions may not be "smart features" but they're cool head turners.
legend :)
Please tell me this post is satire.
Are you the CNET bot?
hey google, make chicken soup.
loud sound from the shower:"arrrrrgggggggg"Mother of all home automation wish list. Thank you for posting.
Get an intercom system installed.
Neutral wires in all electrical outlets.
Sonoff 2 or 3 gang switches.
Cat 6 or Cat 6e Ethernet cables being used in whole house. At least 2 ethernet outlets.
Have a under cabinet LED strip lighting.
Hue/samsung or even basic Tuya etc. branded motion sensors.
A ceiling box to put your router, and other smart hubs. so they cast signal directly down, instead of being stuck at a side of a room.
A ceiling box to put your router, and other smart hubs. so they cast signal directly down, instead of being stuck at a side of a room.
If you're already installing CAT6 cable, may as well just run PoE APs into the ceiling.
Neutral wires in all electrical outlets.
And switches. Probably the best advice so far in this thread :)
I am not sure what is the purpose of having neutral wires in all outlets and switches?
Without neutral, an in wall electronically operated switch can’t switch
For example, if you decide to replace all your mechanical light switches with push buttons and smart switches, you’ll need neutral for the smart switch to do its thing.
A lot of old houses, like one I am in rn, have no neutral in light switches (which technically can be operated without neutral wire. But it is now a pain in @$$ to install like any sort of electrical 3 gang switch here (like sonoff one that i bought to install but found out later I dont have neutral wire, so I cannot use that smart swtich.)
to now get those smart switches installed I would need to get neutral from other parts, like ceiling etc., routed to each outlet I need neutral in.
Its just that old people never really thought of future proofing, or builders Look at cost saving, so, Why route a neutral wire to a light switch which doesnt need neutral, instead save cost of home building. - Stupid idea, it costs a lot more to route neutral wires after house is built.
You mean to say run Neutral to all SWITCHES, ie looped at the switch method. Most new smart switches don’t require a neutral, though I would still run one just incase.
Also, I think you mean Cat6A. I would recommend min Cat6, or 6A if you can afford.
My sonoff 3 gang switch has this kinda diagram https://i.imgur.com/RXsSSjv.png
You know of a cheap multi gang smart switch which doesn't require neutral ??
I think kev98 is thinking of dimmers ;)
@2025: May be but the one I have is a smart switch, I think it needs neutral to power itself, and then pass through any current through the wires.
Although My plan was actually to just have it there only to connect 1 power line to light switch, other two powerlines for other lighting integrations (like smartthings or hue or LIFX etc) but the dam thing just doesn't work because it needs three wires,
1 Neutral in
1 Live in
1 Live out
2x Smart buttons.But my wall only has two wires (assuming that is Live in and Live out, thus missing neutral).
Hence is the reason why I suggest having neutral in all places when building house.
@USER DC: Yup. It’s just the way it is unfortunately.
Some claim to be switches but afaik they are simply dimmers that reduce the output to almost zero.
once they are installed you can do all sorts of cool stuff - without involving millions of vendor’s versions of a stupid “cloud”
Eg monitor your dumb washing machines power usage - if >100w for 10 min then <10w 5 min - washing done, send a text.
If fridge usage <10w over 12 hours, it’s dead, constant running for 12 hours, door is open.
If solar export capped, turn on the reverse cycle because, well, why not…
One of my fav automations I’ve setup - the door texts me which of my kids unlocked it, and if they haven’t unlocked it by a certain time in the arvo, peace of mind getting home from school etc :)
@2025: There do seem to be smart switches around that don’t require neutrals (from googling), but as I said, to be safe would run a neutral just in case.
Any recommendations for smart switches? I haven't been able to find any decent ones and was initially thinking about installing Shelly's everywhere but now I think I'm just going to go with all Hue lights.
Power outlets with USB A and C ports built in for bedrooms
I'm pretty sure those are going to date, badly.
USB-A has been around nearly 30 years, USB C nearly 10 years so far. I am sure I can afford the $100-$150 in another 10-20 years for whatever comes next on the handfull of outlets in the house that I have with this function.
Got these for our build a few years, so glad I got these. Frustratingly though, only USBA, didn't even think of usbc. But no real biggie in my mind. It still charges all my devices efficiently.
A usba-usbc cable solves the problem anyway.
Unless I'm missing something I don't think it's that big of an issue.
What wattage do you get out of the USB-A ports?
15w total
These were prohibitively expensive with our builder, but they seem inexpensive to do afterwards.
Irrigation system for your garden, rain sensor to skip watering if it has rained recently. Water tank connected to irrigation system so you use rainwater first, then tap water.
Get a controller that can be turn on heating at set times. Wifi is a bonus.
Sensors for lights in the garage and pathways in the house, esp at night.
Zero smart features. Interested but not a priority.
What's mm?
AI 1650mm
A builder who follows the australian standards and building code
"I smell……non-complaint work"
Where can I get free copies of the australian and building standards?
I take it aus standards = building standards
There are no conflicting statements, 1 is formulated from the other?
when it comes to building there are LOTS of standards and rules, from local, state, federal. Not sure what happens if they conflict though from what I have seen local and state ones tend to be more restrictive rather than conflict.
Before you think about anything I would start with a 24v transformer. You can legally run 24v supplies through your roof and cavities without an electrician and this voltage should be used by most non-battery powered smart equipment. You could even have a think about how you would setup/use POE.
Wish I knew about this last week before my plaster went in. Only did like 8 POE points 😐
How do you get the 24V from the wall to the devices? Is there are standard connector of some sort and how do you step down to 12V (or other voltages) which seems the most common input?
On the face of it, sounds intriguing. Avoiding wall warts or even PC power supplies could be convenient.
The practically part I am unsure how it would work.
A lot of smart equipment tends to run on up to 30V (doorbells tend to be 24VAC for example), 5V can be common too. But you can buy transformers with 12V and 24V outputs so if you wanted you could run both, otherwise step downs are pretty common. It would be easier to run a 24VAC transformer at the power box and distribute to a local step down or AC-DC converter. I don't buy any smart devices and tend to make my own because my job is effectively industrial automation. So I can tell you that it's quite simple to work around stepping down 24VAC. I'm just about to do a bunch of 24VAC runs through my roof.
Is there are standard connector of some sort
Not really but there's nothing stopping you from standardising your house
I'm wondering if there's already a standardised and published way of going about it, rather than having to design from scratch.
Someone designing from scratch would have to do thinks like search out wall sockets, connector types, where to position other converters, etc.
If your job isn't industrial automation, then there's a whole new bunch of planning to do- the only AC to DC, or DC to DC, boards I've messed with would be a bit of a faff to install in walls, but I've only looked at this a couple of times and have no training.
(I'll be looking at a house sometime, this idea of DC everywhere is intriguing, but if I had to design from scratch I'd probably just screw it up somehow and end up wishing I'd done it differently)
Automated sensor lighting in hallways, front door, walk-ins, garage.
We were just handed over our house (original plans and contract was signed in 2021) and we put in a few USB-A powerpoints but wish we had made them USB-C. Don't even remember being offered USB-C.
I think Clipsal’s charging station is only available in USB-A.
I believe you can buy a single USB-C mech and incorporate it into GPO with additional switch mech though.
-1 Solar. >=6.6kw. Get the inverter installed in the garage if possible.
-2 Three phase because getting it done later is near impossible
-3 Ethernet at least from modem to where the TV and home office is expected.I had a wifi controller (AirTouch4) for my ducted aircon retrofitted a couple years ago and it's been the best thing ever. A bit expensive but has been worth it.
House construction: What smart features do have and wish to have in mm
You want everything measured in mm otherwise you'll run into issues where people assume units that differ.
Haul extra Cat6 ethernet cable to every key area in the house.
That way you can make these decisions later and when you change to AI doorbells in 12months no one has to get back in the roof!
What's an AI doorbell and does it run on cat6 alone?
Because you will have the house for many years I was making an example of a product that doesn't exist yet.
The idea is to run cabling you might need in the future, because that is the hardest part.Ethernet (Cat5/6 etc.) can run both power and data with a POE network switch so for many smart devices is all you need.
What provisions are most people putting in for a doorbell just a power source? A lot run on batteries too
whole house UPS
we just built
the one thing we missed: power in the floor next to or under couches and dining table
Explain power under the dining table?
To power your hotpot/Korean bbq
PowerPoint near every potential toilet. Your future bidet loving self will appreciate the installation.
More cat6 cables to most major rooms.
Mm
New house build, must have's that I have included in the spec that are non standard I guess.
Cat 6e/7 throughout with 2 ports every room except Office which has 6 and Entertainment/TV room which has 4.
Patch Panel under stairs in storage room.
Sound insulation in ALL internal and external walls.this is cheap when done while building and massively expensive to retrofit.
power points… and more power points everywhere. I nearly tripled what they considered the standard amount they offered with the build.
all lights and Air con connected to smart home management system (still deciding on system for this).
Integrated Cameras and door bell etc to the patch panel. again cheap to do while building
fully zoned sprinkler system for the garden front and back.
integrated sparkling/boiling water on tap.
Contemplating a small Rack in the storage room for NAS etc, but almost at the point where NAS isn't necessary anymore. will delay that decision till house finished.why cat 6e over normal cat 6? and why 7 ?
The e was a typo, But reality is whatever is cheapest at time of purchase. Cat 6 is more than Adequate, however when priced Cat 7 spools were on special cheaper than 6.
Why 6/4 ethernet for office/entertainment. Why not run one to each room and then use a cheap $30 8 port gigabit switch. I use all 8 in my TV entertainment for example, adds up pretty quick with different devices, which normally are only being used 1 or maybe 2 (Foxtel recording for example) at a time. Saves on cable, install, face plate costs and generally 4 isn't enough so you'd end up buying a switch when you run out anyway.
I work in IT, I have a NAS as well as a multiple servers and a crap ton of devices. Adding extra ports during installation is cheap and a 1000 times cleaner and faster than a crappy switch with a limited bandwidth backplane and even with 6 ports in office I will need to run an 8 port switch for the non bandwidth intensive devices. So basically 4 ports reserved exclusively for servers and NAS, other 2 for desktops, printers, laptops etc.
cost of cable is almost nothing, e.g. those 6 runs of cat6 is about $100 or so worth of cable so doing more during build makes sense as adding extra later is bloody expensive. Entertainment area 4 is easily enough for me, I stream everything from my NAS, basically a port for the TV and settop box and 2 spare for the rare occasion I need to plug something else in there.
yeah ok, convinced on the office side of things, but I think a crappy switch for entertainment would suffice. Cheers for the reply
@whorishmouth: Sure. But i dont see the value in saving $50 and then having to have another switch and more cables. Would rather nice clean install.
what is Mm?
I'm building a house at the moment and I've decided on the following:
- No wifi
- No TV antenna (who watches free to air?)
- No internet enabled devices with microphones (i.e., nest, smart TV, smart fridge, alexa, siri hey google etc…)
- I've probably got 24 ethernet connections installed for a multitude of devices:
- These include Servers, security cameras doorbrid intercom, POE environmental sensors (Meteo, VOC, CO/CO2, rainfall and wind, hell, i'd get radiological if I could), ethernet linked garage door opener.
- These will all connect to a Ubiquiti UDM pro and a 24 port POE switchI would liked to have run the lights on a network if they all weren't wifi. For a ballpark figure I was quoted $20k to install wifi controlled lights in my house. My 'want's' would be power, water and gas monitoring, smart switches so I can turn things off like pool pumps remotely and ethernet controlled irrigation systems.
No internet enabled devices with microphones
I honestly agree but given we all walk around with an internet enabled device with a microphone, it feels like a lost cause to me.
Wish I was mentally strong enough to go back to a brick phone..
You can just use grapheneos with a google pixel phone. Unless you're worried about a 3/4 letter agency, you're all set with that.
are your external cameras running on cat6 alone?
If they've got a UDM pro, they're likely running Unifi cameras that just need a CAT6 cable.
The cable has POE (power over ethernet) so doesn't need a separate power cable.
Electric indoor and outdoor blinds
We have these and they are brilliant!
If I do a KDR, I might POE all the lights… risky choice. Still thinking.
If you are looking to add Ceiling fans go for DC ones.
Gas point in your al fresco for heating and cooking.
Light switches outside the bath/shower door, personal choice.
If possible go for a bidet functionality in the toilet.
Bump up your earthwool insulation and sound proof your Bedroom and home office.
Provision for Video doorbell and security cameras.
Hire an interior designer to consult during gallery selection, It is an initial cost, but will pay back, with color scheme selection, hints and tips.
Cut yourself some slack, you can never think of everything. Future proof if you can't build it initially.Ethernet everywhere. Conduit with pull chords pre-installed (and labeled) everywhere. Pictures of inside the walls for whenever you need to punch new holes/install new things. Ethernet to ceiling mounted wifi access points. Ethernet to the shed, front door & mailbox/front gate for doorbells/cameras. Ethernet out to eves for cameras.
Most wizo gismo shit will be out of date before you know it, which is why 3phase power and adequate ethernet points are the main things for me. I'd also want easy access to typical plumbing and wiring hot spots. And a pull down ladder to the roof cavity like in those american movies. Oh and a basement.
@iDroid: Long-term preparation for when you can't easily bend down/get back up.