Jump to content
C4 Forums | Control4

New Home Build


Six172

Recommended Posts

Hello Everyone,

 

I just got introduced to control4 a few weeks back over at a friends house, and I was pretty impressed with the a/v distribution setup and interface. My family and I are in the process of building a new home in the next six months and I am considering using C4 to help me automate stuff. This is a long winded post but I figured I would give you as much info as possible to help answer my questions. 

 

We are a pretty movie and tv based family, that's where we spend a lot of our time together. Besides myself there is my wife, 11 year old daughter, a little one on the way, and probably another one after that. So all total there will most likely be 5 of us in the house. The house will be a ranch house and have 5 bedrooms, three upstairs and 2 downstairs in a partially finished basement. All totaled we're looking at 2600 sqft finished and about 500 unfinished. Like I said, we mainly consume video content, although we do listen to music from time to time. My goals here are to get the house setup for ease of use for my wife and family and as time moves forward add pieces to the automation goals of the home.

 

First goal is to have the sources for the TV's centralized and be able to access them from any tv in the house. Second goal is simplicity of use we currently have a Logitech Harmony One remote control that I setup and the wife is just now understanding how to use it after a year or so of "training". I would like for it to be simple and intuitive for her to use. She has an iphone and iPad so interfaces for those might be helpful for her. Third goal would be to remove clutter from the house as far as boxes and wires laying around. The fourth goal would be expansion for later automation of portions of the house. Garage doors, lighting, HVAC, security cameras and whatever else I haven't thought of yet.

 

My current vision for the house is to have a TV in the master bedroom, living room, one bedroom downstairs, with the option to expand to the other bedrooms as time moves on. We are dedicating a room downstairs to a theater room with a projector, and I would like for it to have access to the sources as well. The sources in the house will be 2 directv boxes this will expand, Oppo blu-ray player, Western Digital TV Live Hub, and a Playstation3. I have a NAS server that I built, and run a Plex Media Server off of an older laptop in order to transcode for streaming devices like a Roku that my brother uses. I play most of my movies off of the Western Digital box and it streams the audio and video perfect with no transcoding necessary.

 

For me the video matrix is a must have but having a couple of audio zones setup wouldn't be bad either. One for the living room, the master bathroom, and one on the patio would be cool, but not a must have. I was honestly thinking that a sonos might be a cheaper and more flexible option for us for audio.  

 

With all of that being said, what would you folks suggest for me to look into as far as getting started and how would I make life easier on myself for expansion later on down the road and funds and such allow?  I have yet to speak to any dealers in my area but my electrician friend has a C4 dealer that he goes through, and that's who I will most likely go with. I have always heard that if you have to ask, you can't afford it. I am going to ask anyhow, if you guys could give me ballpark estimates on what you think this will cost me that will help as well.

 

Thanks for hanging in there on this long post. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


30k would be very conservative and match all of your want needs for this system. cant stress this enough run more wires than you think you will need. Run em to every wall in the room if you can. you never know what you may need later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoa, that's a lot more than I expected. I was looking for a solution somewhere in the 10K range. So I guess it's back to my original plan of Harmony Ultimates, Sonos, Phillips Hue and Ninja Blocks for the home automation portion.

 

I had originally thought about running a rg6 and 2 CAT6 cables to two wall jacks in each bedroom, then running it all to a home run in the basement. But when I saw the setup at my friends I thought that might be a way to go. I however did not want to trouble him for the price of all that.

 

I was looking at the Video Storm VTX100 product, is that something that would be in my price range for the video matrix portion?   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I meant to comment earlier but life has been getting in the way...  What did you mean by solution for $10k.  What part of the puzzle?

 

What do you mean by ballpark estimate of what this is all going to cost.  Do you want a dealer to do this ab ovo usque ad mala, or "soup to nuts".  Do you own all the equipment you detail BluRays, Projectors, TVs etc or is that something that is being sourced for this new home build?  AVleadtech mentions $30-130.  Well are you planning a $2k projector or a $20k projector.  What about the amps and speakers for this cinema, a ever changing piece of string.  I'm not going to talk anymore about the sources and destinations (TVs, speakers etc), you have ideas on both and likely have those somewhere in your budget (or ownership) already.  Dealers will be specifying TVs they can control by IP or Serial, not your BestBuy deal of the week.  They will also have some opinions of PQ etc.  So 4 TVs a Projector, Surround Amp, Speakers, Ceiling Speakers.  $20-$100k

 

What I will say is consider keeping the key sources for the cinema separate and direct into the AVR amp for the cinema.  Makes connectivity and getting the 5.1, 7.1 whatever sound signal processed properly all the easier.

 

So as Walt said, cable, you need cable, Cat 5e, Cat 6 depending on the destination and the task at hand.  If you want to buy all Cat 6 now to future proof the next decade that is great.  In wall rated full copper is $150 per 1000ft.  This is a 3000 sq ft house so you will get through a few of those.  Then termniating it also.

You may want to run RG6 to the TVs as well.  You will aslo be running 12/4 (or 14/4 or 16/4) to ceilings and points for home audio, cinema speakers etc.

So budget $1000-$5000 for the cable, interconnects etc.  Now who is running that?  You, or are you paying someone?  Do you know where all that cable needs to go, where to home run it, can review that plan to make sure you have not missed anything?  Want to pay someone for that expertiese?

 

That gets the plumbing part out the way.

 

Now onto Control.  Control for AV adds Controllers, Remotes and audio and video switches.

For a 2800sqft home you will want an HC800 to give a good strong zigbee mesh for the remotes etc to work.  You'll likely want a 250 for the theater room.

Then for each TV you would want a remote, say the SR250.

You also want a video matrix and likely an audio matrix and amps.  A dealer has to stand behind their install or you will be trash talking them and the crap they installed then they are out of business, certainly not getting new word of mouth business.  So they are not installing the monoprice $200 matrix.

Budget $10-20k for all these parts.

 

The parts need installing and programming.  Money for that.

 

The fourth goal would be expansion for later automation of portions of the house. Garage doors, lighting, HVAC, security cameras and whatever else I haven't thought of yet.  Cables, connectivity, programming - money for that.

 

Add some profit for the dealer, insurance costs, staff training etc.  $30-$130

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 3800SF house and started off small and built from there. I do agree with a centralized location which I didnt do.

I had my tv and AVR to start. I pulled CAT 6 and RGB to most locations, but not enough for what I want now.

I installed 7 zones of audio, since adding 2 more with speaker points (see comment above), ran into a C4 amp. I have a central PVR and media players are pretty cheap, so no need for video matrix. I passed on HVAC as it's never changed. I picked up 2 HC200's for local control and have 4 SR250's. I have my alarm integrated, a must have. I upgraded to a HC800. I've added lighting over the last 3 years. All told I'm probably into it for $20 to $25k incl $4500 for wiring (which included phone, cable etc)

If you start off with the right infrastructure and basics, you can have the framework to build from as you go. I started at $12k

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone for commenting here. 

 

To answer some of the questions about my setup. All of the theater equipment is already paid for so no need to purchase anything there. Wiring is already figured into the electrical bid. I told them I wanted 1 RG6 and 2 CAT6 cables run to two locations in each bedroom, and one to the living room. So that part is already included in my cost separate from the 10k budget for the matrix setup. 

 

I suppose that for starters perhaps just a matrix and a control4 setup for the living room, and the master bedroom for the TV's then run the theater off of a Harmony Remote using Phillips Hue for lighting. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ $12k. For cableing and automatIon hardware? hardware that was automated is not in that $12k?

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

House wired, tuner, amp, HC300, HC1000, programming, IT1000 for alarm and 2 SR250's got me started. Now have HC800, most switches, 4 SR250's, cameras, HC200's etc

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ $12k. For cableing and automatIon hardware? hardware that was automated is not in that $12k?

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

 

  

House wired, tuner, amp, HC300, HC1000, programming, IT1000 for alarm and 2 SR250's got me started. Now have HC800, most switches, 4 SR250's, cameras, HC200's etc

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks everyone for commenting here.

To answer some of the questions about my setup. All of the theater equipment is already paid for so no need to purchase anything there. Wiring is already figured into the electrical bid. I told them I wanted 1 RG6 and 2 CAT6 cables run to two locations in each bedroom, and one to the living room. So that part is already included in my cost separate from the 10k budget for the matrix setup.

I suppose that for starters perhaps just a matrix and a control4 setup for the living room, and the master bedroom for the TV's then run the theater off of a Harmony Remote using Phillips Hue for lighting.

 

I think you can see from above you can do the automation part for your $10k budget, but you will need to find a dealer on here (remotely) if you are handy at doing the plumbing.   Or locally to get the first round of setup done.

 

Philips Hue can be controlled by C4 but I would not recommend that to be your lighting approach.

 

Good Luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.