What Are Your Smart Home's Wiring Needs?

New constructions include a lot of decisions, and we know it's easy to get overwhelmed. Home prewiring services with their technical jargon are usually at the bottom of the list. Even if owners know technology is important to them, they assume they can take care of it at a later time.

But wiring requirements have expanded beyond the traditional electric landscape. Now, homes need the necessary prewire for surveillance, lighting, climate control, entertainment and more. Although retrofits are possible down the line, prewiring for your smart home needs will result in a smoother, future-proof installation.

 

SEE MORE: The Integrated Home is North Carolina’s 1^st HTA Certified Smart Home Installer

 

The Importance of Prewiring

Not only will prewiring save you time and money, but it will make your smart home more reliable as well. Although many products are advertised as wireless, having a strong wiring framework will enhance their performance. Structured wiring will also boost your property value in the long run.

For the best results, you need a great low-voltage foundation that connects to your general AC powerline. Along with your extensive cabling, you should also include surge suppressors if you’re going to have a lot of smart home components to avoid costly damage and downtime. 

Include extensive conduit for all of your rooms, even if you don’t have plans for them at the moment. It’ll be easier to add components in the future without having to rip into your walls. Adding wires in the future can cost thousands of dollars and may not even be possible in some cases.

Having a professional prewire your home also has aesthetic benefits. During the planning phase, they’ll choose a dedicated AV closet to house all your components and expertly run cables through the ceiling and walls to each room. All wires remain hidden, significantly reducing your technology clutter.

 

Decide What You Want to Include

One of the first things you should do when working with an experienced pro integrator is to go over your specific needs. Ultimately the choice is always yours, but they’ll advise you on the various smart technology components that you could benefit from and the installation requirements for each. Below are just a few examples:  

• Audio: Audio prewiring lets you listen to music in every room of your house. If the cabling is already in place, it’s easy to add in-ceiling speakers in the future for ambiance music.
• Network: You're always going to need a wired framework, especially in a smart home with a lot of connected devices. Design your network early so you can place your router box and other components discreetly, but still near high-traffic areas like an office or entertainment center.
• Surround Sound: In rooms where you’ll be watching a lot of movies—like a dedicated theater or media room-you may need additional conduit for all of the speakers in your surround sound layout of choice.
• Security: Since you'll already have power running to your cameras, we recommend adding a video cable as well instead of going wireless. You'll get better image quality and higher reliability. You'll also need cabling for your door locks, smoke detectors, panels, and keypads.

 

Go With an Established Professional

Do you know what to look for in a low-voltage prewiring company? Look for integrators that are CEDIA-certified. They should also offer written specifications showing their full scope-of work including where all cables will go and the type of connections and jacks that will be available at each location.

Ask the professional you work with for examples of their past work. Make sure they’ve worked on projects like yours before and ask how they’ve handled these installations in the past. Do they neatly organize and label their cables? Where do they install their central racks? Are they hidden away but easy to access for ongoing maintenance?

Do you want to learn more about our home prewiring services and how they could benefit your next construction? Reach out to one of our certified technicians by calling (704) 412-4040 or filling out our online contact form.