Hello everyone,
I took Yvonne’s PDF and your comments on the socket topic to heart and tried to place the sockets and switches. Does this make sense? I mentally went through all the walking paths and thought about possible devices.
What concerns me a bit more are the doors... first, the patio doors in the kitchen leading outside, and second, the pocket sliding door between the living room and kitchen.
For the patio doors, especially which parts should be operable – or should it be a sliding door after all?
Regarding the door from the living room to the kitchen, I feel uncertain because I haven’t found a nice pocket double sliding door yet... A double hinged door would of course also work, but it takes up space. What do you think?
How is it generally? Is a door leaf usually left open? Or both? (This also relates somewhat to the door between the hallway and dining area. In our apartment, I think all doors are usually open...)
Thanks for your input. I hope everything is at least somewhat clear (legend is below the image).
L = Living room (2 switches)
B = Bedroom
U = Under the stairs
H = Upstairs hallway
E = Entrance hallway (ground floor)
C = Cloakroom
W = WC (in the bathroom 😉 )
K = Kitchen
D = Dining
O = Outside
S = Utility room
Ba = Bathroom (ground floor)
Green = Network
Orange = Sockets
Blue = Switches
Number = Quantity
I took Yvonne’s PDF and your comments on the socket topic to heart and tried to place the sockets and switches. Does this make sense? I mentally went through all the walking paths and thought about possible devices.
What concerns me a bit more are the doors... first, the patio doors in the kitchen leading outside, and second, the pocket sliding door between the living room and kitchen.
For the patio doors, especially which parts should be operable – or should it be a sliding door after all?
Regarding the door from the living room to the kitchen, I feel uncertain because I haven’t found a nice pocket double sliding door yet... A double hinged door would of course also work, but it takes up space. What do you think?
How is it generally? Is a door leaf usually left open? Or both? (This also relates somewhat to the door between the hallway and dining area. In our apartment, I think all doors are usually open...)
Thanks for your input. I hope everything is at least somewhat clear (legend is below the image).
L = Living room (2 switches)
B = Bedroom
U = Under the stairs
H = Upstairs hallway
E = Entrance hallway (ground floor)
C = Cloakroom
W = WC (in the bathroom 😉 )
K = Kitchen
D = Dining
O = Outside
S = Utility room
Ba = Bathroom (ground floor)
Green = Network
Orange = Sockets
Blue = Switches
Number = Quantity
Hello,
I would divide the French doors as follows:
Dining area: door fixed fixed
Living area: fixed fixed door door fixed door door
Why not use an internal sliding door? It allows for better furniture arrangement.
Regarding the door between the hallway and dining area, I would expect it to be a double door that can be opened from both sides.
To assess the electrical installation, it would be helpful to know the layout and appliances in use.
Olli
I would divide the French doors as follows:
Dining area: door fixed fixed
Living area: fixed fixed door door fixed door door
Why not use an internal sliding door? It allows for better furniture arrangement.
Regarding the door between the hallway and dining area, I would expect it to be a double door that can be opened from both sides.
To assess the electrical installation, it would be helpful to know the layout and appliances in use.
Olli
Hello,
just a few mixed thoughts based on what I noticed:
Are the sockets in the kitchen only for the countertop area or also for your built-in electrical appliances? If it’s the first case, I find that a bit excessive. If it’s the latter, of course, it depends on your kitchen layout.
I would also consider combining the hallway and wardrobe lighting on the ground floor. Otherwise, you have to switch on two switches every time you go to the guest toilet, which can be annoying. And the small amount of electricity used in case you don’t need the wardrobe light shouldn’t matter to you :-) Besides, too many switches don’t look very nice either (see further below).
We also have two circuits in the living room – I think that’s good.
The one network outlet in the hallway is probably for the telephone? Network outlets usually come as double sockets (2 ports). I would put double sockets everywhere.
Will your exterior lighting at the front door have a motion sensor? If desired, remember to consider the wiring for that as well.
Regarding the front door: will you have an intercom / doorbell? Also think about the cables for this. For example, ours is routed through the distribution box, so I can still change its position from there later on.
For the utility room, it depends on how you arrange things. We had our sockets all installed at a mid-level height (the same height as the light switches). If you’re not yet sure how the utility room will be set up, I would place the sockets centrally on the lower part of the wall. Possibly, double sockets will be sufficient there.
For outdoor lighting, you should also consider where each lamp will be installed.
Additionally, don’t forget the cable for the garden shed.
It was also important to us that the switches don’t look randomly placed and that the arrangement is reasonably symmetrical. In visible areas, we made sure that no more than 3 switches or sockets are grouped together (if more, we often placed the socket a bit lower). This might become tight in your living and dining room. Also, keep in mind the switches for the electric shutters.
So, just a first input for you ;-)
just a few mixed thoughts based on what I noticed:
Are the sockets in the kitchen only for the countertop area or also for your built-in electrical appliances? If it’s the first case, I find that a bit excessive. If it’s the latter, of course, it depends on your kitchen layout.
I would also consider combining the hallway and wardrobe lighting on the ground floor. Otherwise, you have to switch on two switches every time you go to the guest toilet, which can be annoying. And the small amount of electricity used in case you don’t need the wardrobe light shouldn’t matter to you :-) Besides, too many switches don’t look very nice either (see further below).
We also have two circuits in the living room – I think that’s good.
The one network outlet in the hallway is probably for the telephone? Network outlets usually come as double sockets (2 ports). I would put double sockets everywhere.
Will your exterior lighting at the front door have a motion sensor? If desired, remember to consider the wiring for that as well.
Regarding the front door: will you have an intercom / doorbell? Also think about the cables for this. For example, ours is routed through the distribution box, so I can still change its position from there later on.
For the utility room, it depends on how you arrange things. We had our sockets all installed at a mid-level height (the same height as the light switches). If you’re not yet sure how the utility room will be set up, I would place the sockets centrally on the lower part of the wall. Possibly, double sockets will be sufficient there.
For outdoor lighting, you should also consider where each lamp will be installed.
Additionally, don’t forget the cable for the garden shed.
It was also important to us that the switches don’t look randomly placed and that the arrangement is reasonably symmetrical. In visible areas, we made sure that no more than 3 switches or sockets are grouped together (if more, we often placed the socket a bit lower). This might become tight in your living and dining room. Also, keep in mind the switches for the electric shutters.
So, just a first input for you ;-)
Many thanks for the input. We will sit down again this evening to incorporate your comments.
My wife would like to have all the roller shutter switches installed directly on the windows – I’m not so keen on that...
@wrobel, where did you start counting in the living area then?
My wife would like to have all the roller shutter switches installed directly on the windows – I’m not so keen on that...
@wrobel, where did you start counting in the living area then?
S
Sebastian7917 Jun 2015 12:15I would consider whether the patio doors really need to be double-leaf with a mullion. We have this setup in our rental apartment, and apart from the fact that, due to the large door leaf dimensions (height), they are quite thick and not very stable – they also warp significantly during summer and winter.
We have practically never used the mullion function, and there isn’t really a practical situation where a 2-meter (6.5 feet) wide passage is needed. Of course, many want this (we did at first too), but rationally speaking, this is a feature that is seldom used, adds extra cost, and is not as stable or airtight as a true frame door.
That’s why we have twice decided against the mullion and combined a fixed pane with a single door each time – which is somewhat cheaper, although price was not the main factor.
We have practically never used the mullion function, and there isn’t really a practical situation where a 2-meter (6.5 feet) wide passage is needed. Of course, many want this (we did at first too), but rationally speaking, this is a feature that is seldom used, adds extra cost, and is not as stable or airtight as a true frame door.
That’s why we have twice decided against the mullion and combined a fixed pane with a single door each time – which is somewhat cheaper, although price was not the main factor.
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