In this one video, you have perfectly summarized EVERYTHING that I've been wanting to know for my upcoming new-home prewire. Before I found this video, I had to watch 30-40 different RUclips videos just to even get a basic overview of all the different things I need to consider for the prewire. Thank you so much for this. I'm definitely subscribing to your channel, because you have a clear gift for being able to simply explain complex subjects like prewiring a new home!
You are a great professional in your field!! I'm so glad i ran into your presentation! My electrician for a new construction has given me the job of low voltage, and you hit everything! 💪💪 Thank you 🙏
man, house move/renovation/build is so stressful and you all ways end up forgetting something or making a silly mistake. this really helps plan things out. Thanks
Great video and super helpful! We are in the design stages for a new build and I took a ton of notes to incorporate these ideas into our plans. Thanks for all of the help - if we were in OK, we'd definitely be giving you a call.
Fantastic video. You did a great job of answering so many of my questions. Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge with us!!! Building a new house and doing all this stuff myself so this will help a ton!
You keep mentioning Cat6 cable. I am currently remodeling the first floor of my house and have Cat5 in most of the rooms already. Should I be changing it out to Cat 6? If so, what does the Cat6 offer over the Cat5? Outstanding video! I truly appreciate the time you put into this.
We primarily use Lutron and Screen Innovations for motorized shades. They both have there own power supply that will do a single shade or a power supply that will do up to 8 shades.
Well done sir, that was very comprehensive, and agreed the network is almost always over looked in residential, as an IT guy it makes me cringe usually how poor even new construction is at this typically, lol.
Thank you!! We are blown away on how many custom builders we have around us that don't pay any attention to what there AV guys/ Security company is even running in the home and why! We all know that streaming everything is getting more and more common as the main source for entertainment in homes today. Not sure why people who build houses overlook this! Lol
Perfect video, just subscribed. If all the video sources are all back at the video matrix location, how do the remote controls work at the TV location?
If we are doing a video matrix, then we typically use a control system to control all the sources from the TV locations. We use ELAN, but you could actually also do it with an IR/RF remote system from URC.
If you didn't know what type of motorized shades you will get in the future, what type of wire would you run and where? I was thinking about cat6 or 16/2 to the right hand side of the top of the window (avoiding the window header). Coiling it up in the wall or something, won't use for a few years most likely.
If you don't know the brand of shades you are doing, you may want to run 16/2 & a cat6 cable to each shade location. We pretty much use the same companies for shades, so we just run cat6 to the shade location. At least now, there are a few really good companies that make great wireless shades just in case. Lutron, Screen Innovations and Somfy.
One of the most informative videos I have seen for pre-wire for new construction!! Question - when you say "keypad" instead of volume controls, are you talking about like an iPad used on Savant systems? I am installing Savant at my house, and Ubiquity network. My main display in my living room will be a 10" iPad wall mounted for aesthetics. Are there different keypads to use that are not so expensive for the other rooms?
If you are using Savant, I’m not sure. If you were using a house wide music system, it would be a keypad from companies like Russound with there 6 & 8 zone systems. We use ELAN control systems and they have a custom configured keypad that is 5 buttons. It’s ran with a single cat6 cable for data and power. ELAN also has 8” touch panels that would be a “keypad” as well. There are also on-wall chargers for iPads from iPort ran with a Cat6 as well. They did make flush mounted in wall versions, but discontinued them. I’m guessing you are using Savant for house-wide music as well? If so, I’m not sure what they offer for keypads or touch panels. Are you doing Lurton lighting? If so, they have some keypads that you can program music favorites with lighting and motorized shades. Hope this helps!
We will use one panel for low voltage RG6 & phone lines. The electrician will have his panels and the security panel will be in another panel. We like to bring in all the wire for the Audio, Video, Network, & cameras into the rack. If we do motorized shades, we will bring those into the rack as well depending on the brand of shades we are doing.
Super helpful - doing a new build and was getting intimidated by all the terminology/what to expect. One question: we’re doing a TV over the fireplace in the living room and you mentioned a center channel is a challenge - is there any configuration you would recommend to achieve surround sound. This will be the main TV area so hoping to solve for it. Thank you!
You do still have a few options. You could go with a slim soundbar style center channel that wouldn't raise the TV too much. You could put the center in the ceiling if the ceiling isn't too high. If you went this route, there are several companies that make a flush mounted speaker, but with adjustable drivers and tweeters to aim down to the listener. You could always custom install your center channel in the mantle depending on the speaker and how your mantle was made. If you look at James Loudspeaker in the gallery, you'll see a few examples of this using there soundbar style speaker as a center channel or a left, center right soundbar.
Typically the rack is at least 20-24" deep by 21" wide with side panels. The height depends on how much equipment and spacing you do with the rack layout.
Great video, simple and super informative. Going to try the video matrix. Do you recommend any specific brands? What’s important? Looking to connect 2 IPTV’s and 2 Apple TVs
Sounds like you maybe doing a 4x4 matrix. Make sure you run Cat6 from TV location to the equipment location. We like to use Wyrestorm mostly for video distribution. The next thing to consider is how far the runs are from the TV to the equipment and what are the sources that's going through the system. If your trying to get high quality 4k to pass through, pay special attention to all the different HDMI receivers specs. Different baluns ( receivers ) have different specs based on distance for 4k. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
Great video! We are just starting to build a new home. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Wondering if there's an online service that can help design a prewire, as well as help specs for equipment. There is a big box store that has a "greek" squad, but not sure that I trust them. Have had issues with them on other projects.
@@GreatChoiceAudioVideo great. Building a custom home in Waxahachie. If I emailed you the Construction Documents could you give me a price on the pre-wire? I want everything you just went over. We plan to do a pool in the future a few years down the line and would like to plan for that ahead of time with pre-wire.
Regarding question #8, what do you do if you want to run wire for shades but don't want to install right away? We won't know which brand it'll be, so we won't know to run Cat 6 or 14/2 wire. If we don't install right away, where does the wire go? The same question sorta goes for extra Cat 6 for cameras, which aren't going to be installed right away, where does the extra cable go?
For the shades and camera drops with the Cat6 cable, we typically do a small loop and zip tie it for future. Unfortunately for the cables you run for the shades, those will just stick down until you do the shades. You would also loop those and zip tie them. We typically come in from the top of the window. If you don’t want the wire sticking out at the window locations, you could also do the wireless version of SI shades or Lutron shades if that would bother you until you put the shades in.
We prewire for shades and either stuff them behind the sheetrock above the window trim and measure carefully and record using video and pictures of exactly where the wires are located. Also we have used 3/4" security prewire caps that are flush with the window top (if you are doing an inside mounted shade). Also, dont run just a 14/2 to your shades, its not usually enough conductors. Run at least 1 Cat6 to each window, but even better, run what the manufacturer will certify. For example Lutron and Crestron have their own special shade wire which is a 18/2 pair for power, and a 22/2 pair for a databus for their shades. There are also 3rd party wire manufacturers that are cheaper than using Lutron or Crestrons branded wire and its still up to spec. Shades are expensive, dont screw up and use something cheap or the wrong amount of conductors. Also, when you prewire for shades notate on which side of the window the wire is, so that when you order the shades, the motor will need to be located on that side for neater, cleaner wiring.
Probably the best, informative, comprehensive video I have found on youtube for this topic. Thanks for posting!
Thank you!! Let us know if there are any other questions we may have missed and we'll address in another video!
In this one video, you have perfectly summarized EVERYTHING that I've been wanting to know for my upcoming new-home prewire. Before I found this video, I had to watch 30-40 different RUclips videos just to even get a basic overview of all the different things I need to consider for the prewire. Thank you so much for this. I'm definitely subscribing to your channel, because you have a clear gift for being able to simply explain complex subjects like prewiring a new home!
Thank you!! If you have any other questions we didn’t hit, feel free to ask. Thanks for watching!!
Now i dont need tonwatch anything else lol
You are a great professional in your field!! I'm so glad i ran into your presentation! My electrician for a new construction has given me the job of low voltage, and you hit everything! 💪💪
Thank you 🙏
That's awesome! Let us know if you have any other questions.
man, house move/renovation/build is so stressful and you all ways end up forgetting something or making a silly mistake. this really helps plan things out. Thanks
Awesome! Let us know if you have any specific questions. Thanks
thank you for the great video
Thank you so much!
Wow! Excellent summary of everything in one place. Thank you!
Thank you!!
this was an excellent video. having the drawing really helped understand.
Thank you!!
Great video and super helpful! We are in the design stages for a new build and I took a ton of notes to incorporate these ideas into our plans. Thanks for all of the help - if we were in OK, we'd definitely be giving you a call.
Thank you! If you have any other design questions, feel free to ask! Thanks for watching
Fantastic video. You did a great job of answering so many of my questions. Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge with us!!! Building a new house and doing all this stuff myself so this will help a ton!
That's awesome! If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out. Thanks!
Thankyou, this has been very useful. Blessings.
Awesome!
You keep mentioning Cat6 cable. I am currently remodeling the first floor of my house and have Cat5 in most of the rooms already. Should I be changing it out to Cat 6? If so, what does the Cat6 offer over the Cat5?
Outstanding video! I truly appreciate the time you put into this.
Yes. Go Cat 6 as it uses thicker wires making it safer if you run PoE over them. Cat 6 cables will support 10g speeds up to 55 meters.
This is a really good video. Thanks man. Keep them coming!
Thank you!! Hopefully we'll have some other good stuff posting soon!
I agree with the previous comment...Great Job Explaining! Can you do a video explaining how to incorporate voice commands into a smart home.
Sure. We have a few video’s using Josh.ai for voice control. We even have a few of Alexa voice control through a Elan control system.
This is amazing. Thanks!
Thank you!!
Excellent video!!!
Thank you!
Amazing video. Subscribed!!
Thank you!! We really appreciate it. We hope to have new content each and every week. Thanks again!
Had to like this video.
Thank you!!
Steve, Great Video!
What types of power supply do you use for your motorized shades? Any suggestions on some of the models you use. Thanks!
We primarily use Lutron and Screen Innovations for motorized shades. They both have there own power supply that will do a single shade or a power supply that will do up to 8 shades.
Do you have to install the audio keypads on the wall to control the individual zones and the volume in each zone? Or can you just control from an app?
Well done sir, that was very comprehensive, and agreed the network is almost always over looked in residential, as an IT guy it makes me cringe usually how poor even new construction is at this typically, lol.
Thank you!! We are blown away on how many custom builders we have around us that don't pay any attention to what there AV guys/ Security company is even running in the home and why! We all know that streaming everything is getting more and more common as the main source for entertainment in homes today. Not sure why people who build houses overlook this! Lol
Enjoyed this content so much, it's really helpful! How did you start into this business?
Thank you! Just the love of AV and tech. 14 years ago I decided this is the field I wanted to be in and literally just got started. Lol
Perfect video, just subscribed.
If all the video sources are all back at the video matrix location, how do the remote controls work at the TV location?
If we are doing a video matrix, then we typically use a control system to control all the sources from the TV locations. We use ELAN, but you could actually also do it with an IR/RF remote system from URC.
If you didn't know what type of motorized shades you will get in the future, what type of wire would you run and where?
I was thinking about cat6 or 16/2 to the right hand side of the top of the window (avoiding the window header). Coiling it up in the wall or something, won't use for a few years most likely.
If you don't know the brand of shades you are doing, you may want to run 16/2 & a cat6 cable to each shade location. We pretty much use the same companies for shades, so we just run cat6 to the shade location. At least now, there are a few really good companies that make great wireless shades just in case. Lutron, Screen Innovations and Somfy.
One of the most informative videos I have seen for pre-wire for new construction!! Question - when you say "keypad" instead of volume controls, are you talking about like an iPad used on Savant systems? I am installing Savant at my house, and Ubiquity network. My main display in my living room will be a 10" iPad wall mounted for aesthetics. Are there different keypads to use that are not so expensive for the other rooms?
If you are using Savant, I’m not sure. If you were using a house wide music system, it would be a keypad from companies like Russound with there 6 & 8 zone systems. We use ELAN control systems and they have a custom configured keypad that is 5 buttons. It’s ran with a single cat6 cable for data and power. ELAN also has 8” touch panels that would be a “keypad” as well. There are also on-wall chargers for iPads from iPort ran with a Cat6 as well. They did make flush mounted in wall versions, but discontinued them. I’m guessing you are using Savant for house-wide music as well? If so, I’m not sure what they offer for keypads or touch panels. Are you doing Lurton lighting? If so, they have some keypads that you can program music favorites with lighting and motorized shades. Hope this helps!
How are you going to run your cables,For socket out let, switches and network cables in one distribution panel or different panels?
We will use one panel for low voltage RG6 & phone lines. The electrician will have his panels and the security panel will be in another panel. We like to bring in all the wire for the Audio, Video, Network, & cameras into the rack. If we do motorized shades, we will bring those into the rack as well depending on the brand of shades we are doing.
Super helpful - doing a new build and was getting intimidated by all the terminology/what to expect. One question: we’re doing a TV over the fireplace in the living room and you mentioned a center channel is a challenge - is there any configuration you would recommend to achieve surround sound. This will be the main TV area so hoping to solve for it. Thank you!
You do still have a few options. You could go with a slim soundbar style center channel that wouldn't raise the TV too much. You could put the center in the ceiling if the ceiling isn't too high. If you went this route, there are several companies that make a flush mounted speaker, but with adjustable drivers and tweeters to aim down to the listener. You could always custom install your center channel in the mantle depending on the speaker and how your mantle was made. If you look at James Loudspeaker in the gallery, you'll see a few examples of this using there soundbar style speaker as a center channel or a left, center right soundbar.
What would an usual size for the control rack?
I am planning if it would fit inside a linen cupboard or wardrobe
Typically the rack is at least 20-24" deep by 21" wide with side panels. The height depends on how much equipment and spacing you do with the rack layout.
Great video, simple and super informative. Going to try the video matrix. Do you recommend any specific brands? What’s important? Looking to connect 2 IPTV’s and 2 Apple TVs
Sounds like you maybe doing a 4x4 matrix. Make sure you run Cat6 from TV location to the equipment location. We like to use Wyrestorm mostly for video distribution. The next thing to consider is how far the runs are from the TV to the equipment and what are the sources that's going through the system. If your trying to get high quality 4k to pass through, pay special attention to all the different HDMI receivers specs. Different baluns ( receivers ) have different specs based on distance for 4k. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
@@GreatChoiceAudioVideo thanks!
Do you provide design service
Great video! We are just starting to build a new home. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Wondering if there's an online service that can help design a prewire, as well as help specs for equipment. There is a big box store that has a "greek" squad, but not sure that I trust them. Have had issues with them on other projects.
Where are you building? What’s the sq ft of the home? Do you have an idea of what you want to wire for or how you want to control everything?
Great video! Do you guys travel to Dallas, TX?
Yes we do!
@@GreatChoiceAudioVideo great. Building a custom home in Waxahachie. If I emailed you the Construction Documents could you give me a price on the pre-wire? I want everything you just went over. We plan to do a pool in the future a few years down the line and would like to plan for that ahead of time with pre-wire.
What type is the 14 and 16 gauge wire?
Its a speaker wire that’s made to run inside of walls.
Regarding question #8, what do you do if you want to run wire for shades but don't want to install right away? We won't know which brand it'll be, so we won't know to run Cat 6 or 14/2 wire. If we don't install right away, where does the wire go?
The same question sorta goes for extra Cat 6 for cameras, which aren't going to be installed right away, where does the extra cable go?
For the shades and camera drops with the Cat6 cable, we typically do a small loop and zip tie it for future. Unfortunately for the cables you run for the shades, those will just stick down until you do the shades. You would also loop those and zip tie them. We typically come in from the top of the window. If you don’t want the wire sticking out at the window locations, you could also do the wireless version of SI shades or Lutron shades if that would bother you until you put the shades in.
We prewire for shades and either stuff them behind the sheetrock above the window trim and measure carefully and record using video and pictures of exactly where the wires are located. Also we have used 3/4" security prewire caps that are flush with the window top (if you are doing an inside mounted shade). Also, dont run just a 14/2 to your shades, its not usually enough conductors. Run at least 1 Cat6 to each window, but even better, run what the manufacturer will certify. For example Lutron and Crestron have their own special shade wire which is a 18/2 pair for power, and a 22/2 pair for a databus for their shades. There are also 3rd party wire manufacturers that are cheaper than using Lutron or Crestrons branded wire and its still up to spec. Shades are expensive, dont screw up and use something cheap or the wrong amount of conductors. Also, when you prewire for shades notate on which side of the window the wire is, so that when you order the shades, the motor will need to be located on that side for neater, cleaner wiring.
How much do you charge? Around about?
For what? Lol. That's kind of an open question.