Hello everyone,
In about three weeks, we are supposed to finalize our electrical planning on site. Unfortunately, our electrician is somewhat old-fashioned, which makes it difficult for me to collaboratively plan a future-proof electrical setup with him. Therefore, I am currently educating myself to ensure that the networking in our single-family home is fundamentally future-proof.
Basically, it’s about the LAN network... LAN wall outlets are relatively expensive, so proper planning is even more important.
About us:
- Mid to late 20s – couple without children. Planning for 2 children in the near future.
- Single-family house with a usable basement, 2 full floors, and fully equipped with concrete ceilings
- Utility room in the basement with air-to-water heat pump, ventilation system, photovoltaic system
- The router is planned to be located in the office on the ground floor
- The upper floor includes bathroom / bedroom / 2 children’s rooms
- No satellite dish or cable TV — we will use Internet TV exclusively!
Now, I am struggling to network our single-family home sensibly but as cost-effectively as possible.
I have the following questions:
1. Slightly off-topic: In the living room, I would like to have an in-wall conduit installed on the TV wall (the TV will be wall-mounted) so that no cables are visible. Is this sensible and affordable? I will get exact prices from my electrician if this makes sense at all. Would it also make sense to install power outlets at TV height? How do you plan the connections on your media wall reasonably? What should be considered?
Since we plan to use a Magenta TV box and thus IP-TV, a total of four LAN ports in the living room area would presumably be useful, right?
2. How many LAN outlets and especially where should LAN outlets be installed? Mainly: which cable? Is CAT6 sufficient?
→ Such a double LAN outlet certainly costs close to €200, so planning must be really sensible.
Is it really necessary to install 2 double LAN outlets in each children’s room? I always wonder: what is actually going to be plugged in there?
One port for the TV and one port for a multimedia device should be enough, right? So four connections would probably be overkill, correct?
The fact is: It will certainly take years or decades before our children actually use these outlets... Who knows what changes might happen by then? Therefore, could we not cost-effectively use empty conduits (empty pipes) instead?
Is it also possible to “branch off” from an existing double outlet afterward to add more ports for the room? What should be considered here? Or should we consider having an empty conduit prepared in another spot in the room so that a socket can be installed later?
3. How do you solve the “router problem”? Should the one router be placed in the office (ground floor) with LAN outlets in the existing bedrooms upstairs to ensure a stable LAN connection? Or is a router upstairs absolutely necessary?
4. How important are LAN outlets in the utility room? Should the router possibly even be located in the utility room? Because of the concrete ceiling between basement and ground floor, a second router would almost certainly be needed. How should this situation be handled with a basement?
5. What do you think about installing empty conduits for CAT cables in the kitchen / hallway etc. to enable later retrofitting? Is this relatively affordable in new builds?
I would appreciate any feedback so we can make the best possible plans 🙂
In about three weeks, we are supposed to finalize our electrical planning on site. Unfortunately, our electrician is somewhat old-fashioned, which makes it difficult for me to collaboratively plan a future-proof electrical setup with him. Therefore, I am currently educating myself to ensure that the networking in our single-family home is fundamentally future-proof.
Basically, it’s about the LAN network... LAN wall outlets are relatively expensive, so proper planning is even more important.
About us:
- Mid to late 20s – couple without children. Planning for 2 children in the near future.
- Single-family house with a usable basement, 2 full floors, and fully equipped with concrete ceilings
- Utility room in the basement with air-to-water heat pump, ventilation system, photovoltaic system
- The router is planned to be located in the office on the ground floor
- The upper floor includes bathroom / bedroom / 2 children’s rooms
- No satellite dish or cable TV — we will use Internet TV exclusively!
Now, I am struggling to network our single-family home sensibly but as cost-effectively as possible.
I have the following questions:
1. Slightly off-topic: In the living room, I would like to have an in-wall conduit installed on the TV wall (the TV will be wall-mounted) so that no cables are visible. Is this sensible and affordable? I will get exact prices from my electrician if this makes sense at all. Would it also make sense to install power outlets at TV height? How do you plan the connections on your media wall reasonably? What should be considered?
Since we plan to use a Magenta TV box and thus IP-TV, a total of four LAN ports in the living room area would presumably be useful, right?
2. How many LAN outlets and especially where should LAN outlets be installed? Mainly: which cable? Is CAT6 sufficient?
→ Such a double LAN outlet certainly costs close to €200, so planning must be really sensible.
Is it really necessary to install 2 double LAN outlets in each children’s room? I always wonder: what is actually going to be plugged in there?
One port for the TV and one port for a multimedia device should be enough, right? So four connections would probably be overkill, correct?
The fact is: It will certainly take years or decades before our children actually use these outlets... Who knows what changes might happen by then? Therefore, could we not cost-effectively use empty conduits (empty pipes) instead?
Is it also possible to “branch off” from an existing double outlet afterward to add more ports for the room? What should be considered here? Or should we consider having an empty conduit prepared in another spot in the room so that a socket can be installed later?
3. How do you solve the “router problem”? Should the one router be placed in the office (ground floor) with LAN outlets in the existing bedrooms upstairs to ensure a stable LAN connection? Or is a router upstairs absolutely necessary?
4. How important are LAN outlets in the utility room? Should the router possibly even be located in the utility room? Because of the concrete ceiling between basement and ground floor, a second router would almost certainly be needed. How should this situation be handled with a basement?
5. What do you think about installing empty conduits for CAT cables in the kitchen / hallway etc. to enable later retrofitting? Is this relatively affordable in new builds?
I would appreciate any feedback so we can make the best possible plans 🙂
R
RotorMotor18 Aug 2022 08:48FrankChief schrieb:
I wanted to ask how large the electrical cabinet should be.
We are building without a smart home system (so no KNX). Without a bus system, your electrical cabinet is actually not a control cabinet, but rather a meter cupboard, fuse box, and/or distribution board.
It should accommodate all the RCDs (residual current devices), circuit breakers, potentially AFDDs (arc fault detection devices), and meters that you need.
So far, I haven’t heard of any plans for future expansions involving additional RCDs or circuit breakers.
AFDDs are sometimes retrofitted, or combined RCDs with circuit breakers (RCBOs) are upgraded to types that include arc fault detection (AFDD).
Meters are occasionally added later for things like photovoltaic systems, electric vehicles, and so on.
F
FrankChief18 Aug 2022 09:11Thank you for your reply.
Ok, then this would be the meter cabinet for us 😀
Yes, photovoltaics will also be retrofitted later on for us,
as well as the ekey controller.
I think the standard distribution board should be sufficient and we probably don’t need a larger one, right?
The electrician said that in the standard distribution board, one row is still free (but I would double-check that).
A thick power cable will be run to the garage (5x6mm² (0.01 inches²) or 5x10mm² (0.02 inches²) – I’m not sure which is better for us, whether 5x6mm² is enough or if 5x10mm² would already be necessary). The electrician told me that 5x6mm² is enough for us, but our neighbors with the same requirements definitely need 5x10mm².
A sub-distribution board will then be installed in the garage to supply the following:
Wallbox 11 kW (22 kW must be approved and is probably overkill for a private household, right?),
garage door,
power outlets in the garage,
lighting in the garage,
power outlets in the garden.
Ok, then this would be the meter cabinet for us 😀
Yes, photovoltaics will also be retrofitted later on for us,
as well as the ekey controller.
I think the standard distribution board should be sufficient and we probably don’t need a larger one, right?
The electrician said that in the standard distribution board, one row is still free (but I would double-check that).
A thick power cable will be run to the garage (5x6mm² (0.01 inches²) or 5x10mm² (0.02 inches²) – I’m not sure which is better for us, whether 5x6mm² is enough or if 5x10mm² would already be necessary). The electrician told me that 5x6mm² is enough for us, but our neighbors with the same requirements definitely need 5x10mm².
A sub-distribution board will then be installed in the garage to supply the following:
Wallbox 11 kW (22 kW must be approved and is probably overkill for a private household, right?),
garage door,
power outlets in the garage,
lighting in the garage,
power outlets in the garden.
R
RotorMotor18 Aug 2022 09:57FrankChief schrieb:
I think the standard electrical cabinet should be sufficient, and we wouldn’t need a larger one, right? Since there is no fixed standard, this can’t really be answered.
Having only one free row is indeed very limited if you plan to add a controller, a smart meter, and photovoltaic later on.
FrankChief schrieb:
A thick power cable is being installed to the garage (5x6mm² (5x0.01 inch²) or 5x10mm² (5x0.016 inch²) – I don’t know which is better for us, whether 5x6 is enough or 5x10 would already be necessary). The electrician told me 5x6 is enough, but our neighbors with the same requirements definitely need 5x10. 6mm² (0.01 inch²) is already quite substantial. 10mm² (0.016 inch²) is often avoided because it’s very stiff.
Why are you so sure that the neighbors need 10mm² (0.016 inch²)?
Your requirements—just a few outlets, some lighting, and a small wall box—are not very demanding yet.
Ultimately, it depends on the length of the cable.
F
FrankChief18 Aug 2022 10:15The electrician recommended this to the neighbors. They don’t want to do much more than we do.
The neighbors might want to install an automatic irrigation system with pumps (but those shouldn’t need much electricity either).
For a home charging station, you should go with 11 kW; that should be more than enough, right?
I don’t have an electric car myself yet and have little experience, I just want to prepare the power cable for the charging station.
The cable length should be under 20 meters (65 feet), it’s only from the utility room up to the garage.
So you would say 5x6 mm² (5x10 AWG) is absolutely sufficient? 5x6 mm² (5x10 AWG) is already recommended for an 11 kW charging station alone (minimum 2.5 mm², but 5x6 mm² is recommended).
In the garden, we don’t have any large consumers.
Just a robotic lawn mower, lights, sockets, and possibly a socket and a light in the garden shed.
The neighbors might want to install an automatic irrigation system with pumps (but those shouldn’t need much electricity either).
For a home charging station, you should go with 11 kW; that should be more than enough, right?
I don’t have an electric car myself yet and have little experience, I just want to prepare the power cable for the charging station.
The cable length should be under 20 meters (65 feet), it’s only from the utility room up to the garage.
So you would say 5x6 mm² (5x10 AWG) is absolutely sufficient? 5x6 mm² (5x10 AWG) is already recommended for an 11 kW charging station alone (minimum 2.5 mm², but 5x6 mm² is recommended).
In the garden, we don’t have any large consumers.
Just a robotic lawn mower, lights, sockets, and possibly a socket and a light in the garden shed.
F
FrankChief20 Aug 2022 13:11I asked the electrician again.
The standard cabinet is a main distribution board with a 2-section panel.
As an alternative, he can offer us a main distribution board with a 3-section panel.
Can you better estimate what would be sufficient?
The standard cabinet is a main distribution board with a 2-section panel.
As an alternative, he can offer us a main distribution board with a 3-section panel.
Can you better estimate what would be sufficient?
R
RotorMotor20 Aug 2022 19:28That doesn't tell us anything.
What exactly should be included?
What exactly should be included?
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