[IT]

Originally Posted by notorious

Thanks for insulation writeup Ian.

I've accomplished a project of comparable scale once in my life, but not in the UK. Took 1.5 years.

Very impressed with wiring photograph. Are these Ethernet cables? Looks like data center room.

I bought this house in 1999, first thing I did was to rip up floorboards and install 4 x Cat5 sockets in every room.

My 2010 rebuild needed a bit more than that. So every wire and pipe was ripped out, I mean everything.

The main component in the wiring spaghetti is power cables. Every power socket in the house is wired individually.

I'll say that again, as I know I'm prone to typos.

Every single plug socket in the house, is wired individually.

My concept is simple. Every socket in the house ought to be able to be mains powered, ups powered, or off.

UPS powered for devices which are important to keep running, eg computing, security etc, (but maybe bedside alarm clock, or comfort features such as TV if you're in the middle of watching something. Lighting will be UPS run, but will dimm automatically to reduce power draw and increase runtime)

Off - For devices which dont need to be on, and thus power can be saved. This also integrated with the solar PV panels. So, turn on the battery charges for the kids toys when its sunny.... Turn them off again, when its not.

For example, the system we've designed (but I add, not fully implemented yet) doesnt have light switches, it has smart switches.

So, every light point in the house doesnt have a 1mm or 1.5mm twin and earth, it has a cat 5 lead.

At the moment, all light switches are regualar mains light switches, but connected with Cat5 wires feeding back to a central point.

In time, they will be replaced with momentary up/down switches (MK do some, but they're a bit hard for the kids to press).

So, imagine. 1 switch at the front door.

Up - Light on in the hallway
Down - Light off in the hallway
Hold it down for 5 seconds, turns off hallway light, every light in the house and every non-essential appliance that its plugged into a socket deemed unimportant, and sets the house alarm for you to exit.
Up for 5 secs - something else
up twice quickly - something else again

The key is to make it 100% useable for average joe bloggs visitor, but for me and my wife to have extra functionality that we know about. Most home automation systems are too complication for visitors and friends....

Also very energy efficient, as we will turn off all the stuff kids leave on at a press of a button

The main room has over 70 lights. Each wired seperately. Each will dim and fade seperately. Only the lights you *need* on, need be on.

The outside security lights - All seperately wired, and will be dimmable. Who needs 500w of Halogen? normally, 100w is plenty to see your way to the door. 500w is when you drop your keys or lose something.

Of course, every room has Cat 6 too. Most sockets are arranged in a 2 x 2 pattern, 3 mains sockets, and 1 double Cat 6 outlet - In every corner of every room.

A normal house has maybe 1, or 2 distribution boards for the mains.

I have 9. Triples. Thats 27 distribution boards. (!)

But fundamentally, everything is wired back to just 1 place, so everything can be intelligently controlled from there. Its a big big dream, but becoming reality. The important thing is that I 1st fixed all of this lot before the plaster went on, so now I get to finish it at my leisure.....