ᐅ Conduits on the Property – Any Ideas? – It’s Not Too Late Yet :)
Created on: 24 Apr 2019 13:15
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EdStark
Hello house building enthusiasts,
My civil engineer is starting the groundwork now (gravel slab for the house and garage). Since he is making the gravel slab up to the property boundary, I’m concerned it might be tight for running electrical cable to the front and back gardens. Additionally, I’m planning an irrigation system, and the water hoses will need to be routed accordingly.
Would it make sense to have the civil engineer install conduits directly, so I can later lay underground electrical cables and PE water pipes without having to dig again? I’m thinking especially about areas without topsoil cover, like the garage and driveway.
Do you have any other tips on what I could implement at this stage?
The house is built without a basement, and the garage has strip foundations without a slab.
Thank you all.
My civil engineer is starting the groundwork now (gravel slab for the house and garage). Since he is making the gravel slab up to the property boundary, I’m concerned it might be tight for running electrical cable to the front and back gardens. Additionally, I’m planning an irrigation system, and the water hoses will need to be routed accordingly.
Would it make sense to have the civil engineer install conduits directly, so I can later lay underground electrical cables and PE water pipes without having to dig again? I’m thinking especially about areas without topsoil cover, like the garage and driveway.
Do you have any other tips on what I could implement at this stage?
The house is built without a basement, and the garage has strip foundations without a slab.
Thank you all.
H
hampshire24 Apr 2019 22:34The question is more about what you want to have at the property boundary regarding connections. Everything is accessible from the house. Crossing the garage or driveway would only serve the neighboring property.
hampshire schrieb:
The question is more about what you want to do with connections at the property boundary. From the house, everything is accessible. Crossing the garage or driveway would only supply the neighboring property. I was rather thinking of an empty conduit running from north to south...
H
hampshire24 Apr 2019 22:38You can of course do that – I would have installed these more frost-protected inside or beneath the house.
I would plan with two distribution boxes (with compressed air connection), one at the back and one at the front.
Controlling via KNX has two disadvantages: 1. Programming effort, and 2. usually higher cost (different valves or additional transformer, actuators). However, it gives you more flexibility. But since you are supplying from the water main, the biggest advantage—running several zones simultaneously—is not useful to you, as irrigation controllers cannot do this.
What size is your water meter (15mm (0.6 inches), 20mm (0.8 inches), or 25mm (1 inch))? How large is the supply line connecting to the valve boxes? Usually, you won’t get more than 2 cubic meters per hour (about 70 cubic feet per hour) through the water line. If you also have long distances around the house, you can only connect few and small sprinklers.
On the line leading to the boxes, install a drain valve. Then in autumn, you blow out the entire system with a compressor, zone by zone.
Hunter rotors with pressure-compensating housings are the top choice here. Even the mp3000 with 360° coverage consumes 0.84 cubic meters per hour (about 30 cubic feet per hour), so a maximum of two per zone. Given your property size, the MP2000 are probably sufficient. It is important that the sprinklers overlap each other’s spray.
Due to the limited water volume, make all irrigation pipes DN25 (about 1 inch). This size is easier to install than larger diameters and also more cost-effective.
We have several properties with automatic irrigation systems. Just today, I planned the system for my sister’s 3000 m3 (about 105,900 ft³) property, so I have some experience.
For our new house, we will also use KNX. But our pump delivers 30 cubic meters per hour (about 1060 cubic feet per hour) from the cistern (90 m3 (about 3200 ft³)), so we can run zones in parallel.
For electricity and water, I would lay a conduit under the garage or house. This way, you avoid running lines around the entire house. Everything else remains accessible later.
Controlling via KNX has two disadvantages: 1. Programming effort, and 2. usually higher cost (different valves or additional transformer, actuators). However, it gives you more flexibility. But since you are supplying from the water main, the biggest advantage—running several zones simultaneously—is not useful to you, as irrigation controllers cannot do this.
What size is your water meter (15mm (0.6 inches), 20mm (0.8 inches), or 25mm (1 inch))? How large is the supply line connecting to the valve boxes? Usually, you won’t get more than 2 cubic meters per hour (about 70 cubic feet per hour) through the water line. If you also have long distances around the house, you can only connect few and small sprinklers.
On the line leading to the boxes, install a drain valve. Then in autumn, you blow out the entire system with a compressor, zone by zone.
Hunter rotors with pressure-compensating housings are the top choice here. Even the mp3000 with 360° coverage consumes 0.84 cubic meters per hour (about 30 cubic feet per hour), so a maximum of two per zone. Given your property size, the MP2000 are probably sufficient. It is important that the sprinklers overlap each other’s spray.
Due to the limited water volume, make all irrigation pipes DN25 (about 1 inch). This size is easier to install than larger diameters and also more cost-effective.
We have several properties with automatic irrigation systems. Just today, I planned the system for my sister’s 3000 m3 (about 105,900 ft³) property, so I have some experience.
For our new house, we will also use KNX. But our pump delivers 30 cubic meters per hour (about 1060 cubic feet per hour) from the cistern (90 m3 (about 3200 ft³)), so we can run zones in parallel.
For electricity and water, I would lay a conduit under the garage or house. This way, you avoid running lines around the entire house. Everything else remains accessible later.
hampshire schrieb:
You can do that of course – I would have installed them frost-protected inside or under the house. I considered that at first, but the additional opening needed to route the water line in the multi-service duct would have cost $750, which was too expensive for me. Especially since I also need electricity and KNX/LAN, and those can’t all fit in one opening. Yes, it would be frost-proof, but somewhere you have to go back up to the valve box, and that’s where the frost risk comes in again, meaning you still have to blow it out in autumn.
rick2018 schrieb:
I would plan with two distribution boxes (with compressed air connection). One at the back and one at the front.Do you have a specific model in mind? Where do you source your Hunter products? It’s a bit more complicated than Gardena, which you can get at almost any hardware store.My plot is 660 sqm (7,100 sq ft) in size. The area shown in the picture is about half. The other half faces south. How would you lay out the irrigation zones here? Starting from the garage, 1-2 zones to the north and 4 zones (including shrubs and trees) towards the garden? I heard that Gardena offers better solutions for shrubs and trees, is that correct? The rotors will definitely be from Hunter.
Controlling via KNX has two drawbacks: 1. Programming effort, and 2. usually more expensive (different valves or additional power supply, actuators). But you gain more flexibility. Since you are feeding from the water supply line, the greatest advantage doesn’t apply -> running several zones simultaneously. Because irrigation controllers can’t do that.Well, I already have KNX anyway, so that’s hardly any extra effort. If I need a computer later, I can add it afterwards.What size water meter do you have (15mm, 20mm, or 25mm)? How large is the pipe connected to the valve boxes? Usually, you can’t get more than 2 m³/h (88 gal/min) through the water supply line.I don’t have one yet; which size would you recommend? 25mm?If you have long distances around the house, you can only connect a few and small sprinklers.My plot measures 22m x 31m (72 ft x 102 ft).