[freddyuk]

I know this has been done to death but stupidly i have too many projects on so i am rushing this request..
I am off to Ireland where i am building (having built) an extension for bedroom/bath and roofed conservatory. As it will be a cathederal type ceiling in the conservatory i have to go over this weekend and sort out the first fix wiring. Now i know i want to run cabling for some automation AV etc so will be taking a roll of Cat5 and i have CT100 there already.As i will not have a ceiling void i need to plan the cable runs as empty conduit will not work.
I have decided where i want power points and tv points and was planning to run a pair of cat5 cables to each point around the room with a blanking box.
Forgot about speaker wire so will have to run this also probably to either end of the room.
I plan to run the cabling back to a central point elsewhere in the house where the computer should one day end up.
Do i need to run cat5 to the light switches?
Is that about as much as i can do without knowing exactly what i will need in the future. I plan to have Sky+, DVD player with the TV and a central audio system . Plus lighting options.
The remainder of the house is a standard bungalow so i can drop any cabling down from the attic space.
Is there an article which explains the obvious pitfalls doing this as i would hate to screw it up for lack of time to really research the essentials.
I am back Monday so time is not on my side.

Thanks for any quick feedback really appreciated.

[richardbarman]

if you are having some sort of connected lighting system across more that one room, then yes, CAt5 to light switches is a good idea. Also some lighting systems require the neutrals to be at the dimmer, which can be behind the switch, rather that in a central place. It all depends if you're having a central system or a bunch of wall-switch dimmers.

Is the Sky+ central, or in the lounge/tv room? Remember it needs 2 feeds, plus probably a return coax for the rf for the rest of the house.

With 2 cat5's around the room, you're fairly safe with AV stuff, as you can always use baluns to get signal around. Have you got some good cabling between plasma/tv/screen and the sources? 5-core video is always good.

If you need some real planning, I offer installation planning/consultancy to builders and architects about home technology.

Richard

Richard

[freddyuk]

I think i will have seperate dimmers around the place rather than a central control as i cant cope with such forward planning.
I note the issue with the coax and it Sky may be based in this room. Is it possible to daisy chain the coax from unused sockets around the room rather than drop every feed? I will only be using one source at any time so i assume this will work and save on cable?

Thanks very much

[richardbarman]

It isn't really possible to daisychain coax. You need sperate feeds to each socket to distribution amp(s). It might be possible in theory if you have the right kind of wallplates, but you would get into dificultis if you have more than one outlet used on a run. I don't see how it's going cut cable costs, as the cabling can just go into your ceiling void, and it's not going 3 floors up to a loft.

Richard

[freddyuk]

OK thanks.

[JohnDa]

It may be a bit late as you are probably now in Ireland but I use X10 for controlling lighting etc. The advantage is that it uses the mains wiring for sending the control signals so you don't need any additional wiring.
Have a look at www.letsautomate.co.uk/