Pre-Wiring Advice?

[thepawnshop]

I am new to home automation, but after doing a good bit of research, I think I can ge the most "bang for my buck" with C4. I am building my personal home and I am having it professionally pre-wired for home automation by a reputable company, but how can I know what to prewire for? I know I want whole house sound and lighting control, CCTV, security, a media room and robust pc networking but I don't know what else to have them pre-wire for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can not afford to install everything at once, but I do want to at least pre-wire for just about anything that may come up in the future. Thank you in advance for any help you cab provide!

[danlevine]

The best recommendation I can give is contract a professional company to architect a prewire schematic. There are companies (like ours) that will take blueprints and design different wiring plans for you (for a design fee).

This is a very SMART investment because you only have one chance at the walls being exposed, if wired incorrectly or without any future visions of technologies emerging you will be kicking yourself in the years to come.

Dan

[rsmout]

In addition to the wiring you know you need (or someone tells you to put in) install some open conduit. Bare minimum install some between the basement/crawlspace and the attic. Anywhere you think you'll have equipment should have a conduit run between it and an access area (basement/crawlspace or attic.) That way you can run new/additional wire if your needs change after the drywall is up. I'd recommend 2" conduit if possible. (Run two to central distribution points.)

By all means run the speaker/cat5e/coax/video wire now but have conduit installed as secondary insurance.