ᐅ What would you do differently in your next house build?

blaupuma schrieb:
Sorry for the silly question.

What exactly is lighting design and why is it necessary?
(Oh, and I’m not an IT tech expert—I just need 1-2 spots in the shower and don’t want anything automatic. Just classic, old-fashioned lighting without gimmicks.)

Lighting can do a lot in terms of creating atmosphere, comfort, and good working light for kitchens, offices, etc., but it can also cause problems if not well planned. A common mistake is having only recessed ceiling spots in the kitchen, so when you stand at the workspace, you cast shadows on yourself.

Especially in areas with closely spaced buildings, a well-designed outdoor lighting plan can provide privacy from outside views without having to keep the blinds closed all the time, which I personally find claustrophobic.

There’s also the typical living room lighting: often, a single ceiling light is planned in the center, but I honestly don’t know anyone who lights their living room with just that. Instead, people usually have indirect lighting from several lamps placed around the room. This is something you can plan right from the start.

We will definitely hire a lighting designer. Compared to the total construction costs, this expense is significant but not excessive (around €3500).

In return, I get good lighting for all situations and a complete wiring diagram for the house—including communication technology and building services.

86bibo schrieb:

- Install wired LAN in every single room (including kitchen, bathroom, and storage room)

Since we are currently planning this, the question is: what are the arguments in favor? So, even planning something like that in the storage room...?

You can easily hide an access point there, for example.

Climbee schrieb:
Often also the onion lighting: there is a lamp planned in the middle, and I really don’t know ANYONE

then you know one now

Matthew03 schrieb:
Since we are currently planning this, or rather asking which arguments speak in favor?
So planning something like this even in the storage room...?

Storage room might be a bit exaggerated, but you have more freedom with the technology, no need for Wi-Fi modules, interference-free transmission rates, whatever the purpose.

In our case, the network is installed with the antenna sockets, I think that doesn’t cause much extra effort.

Since we are already on the topic of lighting design, does anyone know the “Paulmann Corner Profile” for indirect lighting, the kind that you stick to the ceiling? Is there a more affordable alternative available?

Matthew03 schrieb:
Since we are currently planning this, the question is what arguments speak in favor?
Is it really worth planning something like this even in the storage room...?

This might be a bit exaggerated, and I’m probably not the “average user” when it comes to electronics, since I really enjoy playing with them and prefer to network as many devices as possible. For example, I use many TV clients (tablets, PCs, etc.) so I can watch TV in the bathtub or on the terrace. Sometimes, however, Wi-Fi bandwidth can be borderline for HD programs. Plus, nowadays almost all electronic devices have internet connectivity. It starts with the robotic lawn mower and vacuum cleaner and will eventually include the dishwasher, oven, and refrigerator. Whether you’ll ever need that for a freezer in the storage room, I don’t know yet, but over my life (parents’ house, many rental apartments, and my own home) I have repeatedly been annoyed by missing power outlets or Ethernet ports. Since setting up and wiring Ethernet sockets is fairly straightforward to do yourself, I would be more uncompromising today: at least one double socket in every room.

If necessary, you can, as mentioned, connect the Wi-Fi access points to those sockets anyway, which you still need for mobile devices. Wi-Fi is great, but once you have a certain number of devices, bandwidth gets tight and proper traffic prioritization across multiple access points becomes very challenging. Wired connections are also significantly more reliable. My heating system in the basement occasionally loses Wi-Fi connectivity. That’s inconvenient if you have alarms linked to it, for example. Unfortunately, it did not come with a LAN connection option.