Some questions on pre-wire for smart home preparations

paddyman

Hi all,

I am starting renovations on a retrofit for a bungalow and I am doing as much research as possible into what smart home automations I would like to add. I wont be able to do them all upfront but I want to get the wiring / infrastructure in place so I can add it later without damaging walls/ airtightness. I’m 99% sure of doing DIY with Home Assistant but I want to have all options available.

I have a lot of experience with data / comms, but on the electrical wiring itself I need advice (P.S I am not doing the wiring, the builders Electrician will). I haven’t spoken to him yet so don’t know how familiar he is with smart home tech etc.

Data / comms will be ran back to a central location, along with AV, speakers and I have a server rack waiting. CAT8, Fiber ran to each room for data, HDMI and CAT8 to each TV point back to rack. POE switch out to cameras, WIFI access points, door bell (this is fine).

I want to add smart home features in addition to local switch control. What’s the difference between centrally wired solutions such as Luxone, Velbus etc and setting up Home Assistant?.

If for example, I have 5 rooms. Each with 2 x electric window curtain, 2 x wall lights, 10 x ceiling lights and ground LED strips, smart sensor.

Does electrician pre-wire:

Electric curtains mains --> local room switch --> mains tail back to central location

10 x ceiling lights mains --> local room switches --> mains tail back to central location

LED strip driver --> light room switch, --> mains tail back to central location

PIR / lux / presence sensors etc gets 5V USB and communicate wirelessly, no tail needed.

Repeat this for 5 x rooms. Then you engage Luxone, Control 4 etc to connect their own switches and control boards into the central location and provide smart functionality?. Is this tail from the local switch back to the central location the only immediate difference from an electrical wiring point of view?. Or what is required (just high level)?.

Thanks,

Paddy

paddyman

Question 2: How are people powering USB devices on their walls?. I want to power wall tablets and Aqara presence sensors that will sit on the wall and require 5V USB. The electric curtains I want require mains but their control board also needs a separate 5V USB. What are people doing for this to keep wiring clean?. I am thinking of asking the electrician to wire in a standard 3 pin wall socket BEHIND the wall and plug a USB charger in it, then pop the USB head out through a hole and connect to the tablet, sensor, curtain control board etc. This should hide the wiring almost completely.

Is this allowed in regulations?, This seems a bit overkill but at least if the cable / charger breaks its simple enough to cut a small hole in plasterboard to replace it and reseal / repaint.

Many thanks guys. I may have more questions if you will indulge me.

Regards,

Paddy

WildCardDoW

For question 1 some discussion here previously, might help.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058271889/new-build-automation

One question 2 I would say talk to the electrician. There should be the possibility of a recessed socket (which would be safer) but depends on the wall, they're also pricey enough. For the Aqara sensors there are options that can be installed with higher voltage and run similarly to a lighting circuit, might be worth investigating.

Separately some reviews for Aqara FP2 suggest that it is quite bad at integrating over Zigbee and will cause issues with some existing devices as a result - just something to consider if that's the planned route.