ᐅ Smart ideas that make everyday life easier incorporated into the home
Created on: 20 Nov 2015 23:36
S
Slintrebla
Hello everyone,
We are currently in the construction phase of our single-family home. We are actively gathering ideas to make daily life in the new house easier.
So far, we have:
- A laundry chute from the bathroom on the upper floor to the washing machine in the basement
- A platform for the washing machine to allow easy loading and unloading
- Pantry shelving with rotating trays
We have also considered:
- Building a small utility room behind the living room cabinet (sideboard) to house all the TV equipment (satellite box, DVD player, receiver, hard drive, etc.) out of sight
To illustrate, I’m attaching three photos.
Maybe some of you have a nice REALISTIC idea that could be implemented.
Thank you in advance for your ideas!
Best regards,
Slintrebla
We are currently in the construction phase of our single-family home. We are actively gathering ideas to make daily life in the new house easier.
So far, we have:
- A laundry chute from the bathroom on the upper floor to the washing machine in the basement
- A platform for the washing machine to allow easy loading and unloading
- Pantry shelving with rotating trays
We have also considered:
- Building a small utility room behind the living room cabinet (sideboard) to house all the TV equipment (satellite box, DVD player, receiver, hard drive, etc.) out of sight
To illustrate, I’m attaching three photos.
Maybe some of you have a nice REALISTIC idea that could be implemented.
Thank you in advance for your ideas!
Best regards,
Slintrebla
T21150 schrieb:
Regarding point 3.
3. Occupancy sensors in all hallway areas/bathrooms/kitchen/laundry room so you don’t need light switches (we partly didn’t even plan or install switches)
How can I retrofit this?It’s not a built-in occupancy sensor, but you can find simple battery-powered lights with motion sensors at hardware stores for a low price and low energy consumption (the batteries last a long time). Just place one somewhere (e.g., at mid-height in the laundry room) and the light will turn on when you briefly pass through or need to grab something. At least it saves you from turning on the ceiling light for a few seconds or keeps your hands free.
What currently makes life easier for me in the house:
* an additional central switch that allows me to raise or lower all five roller shutters in the open living/dining/kitchen area at once.
* a large garage accessible through the utility room, where the trash bins and other items can be reached without getting wet.
* a large utility room behind the garage that houses the heating system, tools, workbench, sports equipment, and currently also the garden furniture.
* an additional central switch that allows me to raise or lower all five roller shutters in the open living/dining/kitchen area at once.
* a large garage accessible through the utility room, where the trash bins and other items can be reached without getting wet.
* a large utility room behind the garage that houses the heating system, tools, workbench, sports equipment, and currently also the garden furniture.
By the way, I can find my way from the bed to the door and back completely in the dark... with a 40cm (15.7 inch) clearance next to the bed... without hurting myself... Don’t worry, we’re still planning at least 80cm (31.5 inches) clearance on each side in the new build.
I also find voice control a bit silly, but ten years ago no one knew we would all become “smartphone zombies.” My wife is a special case, able to chat on Facebook on the tablet while texting on the smartphone at the same time... :-/ So maybe that is the future after all.
KNX/Smart Home systems are still quite a novelty at the moment. As far as I know, less than 1 percent of all new builds are equipped with them. A friend of mine, an electrician very familiar with the technology, did all the electrical work himself on his house and didn’t install any Smart Home system at all. Electric roller shutters operated normally with a switch, plenty of sockets, lighting, satellite/LAN/phone connections, etc., but no KNX or other Smart Home technology.
I think we have slowly drifted away from the original topic, which was clever everyday ideas for little money. A few quick thoughts that come to mind:
- Pull-out trash bins under the countertop or something similar, meaning pull out the drawer, sweep in peelings and waste, then push it back in
- Raised dishwasher ( / raised oven... well, that’s common knowledge anyway...)
- From the start, consider how to use (or not use) the space under the stairs
- Don’t forget to plan the lighting (dining area, diffuse lighting, stair spotlights next to the stairs)
- Proper roof overhang for passive building protection
- Attic: if it’s cold and uninsulated, mold could form in winter when warm air rises through the attic hatch; in my opinion, better to insulate (paneling can be done later) and install lighting, electrical wiring, network, windows and ventilation at the same time... if the size justifies it... Otherwise, opening up the entire first floor up to the attic creates a great sense of space
- If you do open it all the way to the top and want to install a roof window, don’t choose one that’s too small, otherwise it looks like a loophole. The roof insulation is usually very thick and the roof window sits completely on the outside, unlike a wall window which is typically centered within the wall structure
- If you have a basement or space in the utility room: put the freezer there for long-term storage so you don’t waste space in the kitchen’s usually small freezer compartment
- Plan the shower large enough
I also find voice control a bit silly, but ten years ago no one knew we would all become “smartphone zombies.” My wife is a special case, able to chat on Facebook on the tablet while texting on the smartphone at the same time... :-/ So maybe that is the future after all.
KNX/Smart Home systems are still quite a novelty at the moment. As far as I know, less than 1 percent of all new builds are equipped with them. A friend of mine, an electrician very familiar with the technology, did all the electrical work himself on his house and didn’t install any Smart Home system at all. Electric roller shutters operated normally with a switch, plenty of sockets, lighting, satellite/LAN/phone connections, etc., but no KNX or other Smart Home technology.
I think we have slowly drifted away from the original topic, which was clever everyday ideas for little money. A few quick thoughts that come to mind:
- Pull-out trash bins under the countertop or something similar, meaning pull out the drawer, sweep in peelings and waste, then push it back in
- Raised dishwasher ( / raised oven... well, that’s common knowledge anyway...)
- From the start, consider how to use (or not use) the space under the stairs
- Don’t forget to plan the lighting (dining area, diffuse lighting, stair spotlights next to the stairs)
- Proper roof overhang for passive building protection
- Attic: if it’s cold and uninsulated, mold could form in winter when warm air rises through the attic hatch; in my opinion, better to insulate (paneling can be done later) and install lighting, electrical wiring, network, windows and ventilation at the same time... if the size justifies it... Otherwise, opening up the entire first floor up to the attic creates a great sense of space
- If you do open it all the way to the top and want to install a roof window, don’t choose one that’s too small, otherwise it looks like a loophole. The roof insulation is usually very thick and the roof window sits completely on the outside, unlike a wall window which is typically centered within the wall structure
- If you have a basement or space in the utility room: put the freezer there for long-term storage so you don’t waste space in the kitchen’s usually small freezer compartment
- Plan the shower large enough
Hello,
I’ve been following your discussion with great interest, and I have to admit that many things are new to me.
We don’t have KNX or home automation, we weren’t even aware of it. However, what I would like to retrofit now are time switches for the roller shutters, so I don’t have to operate each one individually every morning and evening. Does anyone have experience with this and can tell me what I need for it? So far, we have the usual up-and-down switches from Busch-Jäger in the Reflex SI series. Can I simply replace them with time-switch controllers?
Otherwise, we have relatively few “extras” since we were largely satisfied with the standard. We previously lived in a rundown place without any comfort at all, so we already see our new house as a total luxury. However, some things have proven to be very practical:
- Storage room under the concrete staircase (this cost us the same as an open wooden staircase and offers a lot of space)
- Large and well-organized utility room, where we also installed clotheslines to easily dry, for example, large bed linens
- Wall-mounted soap dispensers and toilet brush holders (otherwise they just get in the way during cleaning)
- A shoe scraper grate set into the ground at the front door and side entrance, so you can scrape your shoes before entering the house
- Switch for motion sensors or constant light for outdoor lighting
- Central ventilation system
I’ve been following your discussion with great interest, and I have to admit that many things are new to me.
We don’t have KNX or home automation, we weren’t even aware of it. However, what I would like to retrofit now are time switches for the roller shutters, so I don’t have to operate each one individually every morning and evening. Does anyone have experience with this and can tell me what I need for it? So far, we have the usual up-and-down switches from Busch-Jäger in the Reflex SI series. Can I simply replace them with time-switch controllers?
Otherwise, we have relatively few “extras” since we were largely satisfied with the standard. We previously lived in a rundown place without any comfort at all, so we already see our new house as a total luxury. However, some things have proven to be very practical:
- Storage room under the concrete staircase (this cost us the same as an open wooden staircase and offers a lot of space)
- Large and well-organized utility room, where we also installed clotheslines to easily dry, for example, large bed linens
- Wall-mounted soap dispensers and toilet brush holders (otherwise they just get in the way during cleaning)
- A shoe scraper grate set into the ground at the front door and side entrance, so you can scrape your shoes before entering the house
- Switch for motion sensors or constant light for outdoor lighting
- Central ventilation system
Teyla schrieb:
- Central ventilation system This is one of the best decisions you could make when building a house... but to answer your question... there are different ways to control the roller shutters... either individual timers or a central control system...
The simplest solution for you would probably be to replace the simple switches with basic timers... then the shutters will automatically open and close daily. Unfortunately, basic timers can be somewhat inflexible, but often the roller shutter timers also include an astro function, meaning the shutters operate not only according to time but also based on sunrise and sunset.