Big smart home plans ahead
As I've mentioned in other posts, my wife and I are currently building a house. We've been talking about buying a house for 5 years, and have been saving specifically for the downpayment since 2018 (after paying off our car and taking care of some out-of-pocket medical stuff). It's currently still a plot of dirt with some boards laying out the foundation, but that hasn't stopped me from nerding-out with tech plans. After a lot of research and thinking, I've come up with some (reasonably) solid plans for the network, distributed audio, home theater and smart home functions.
Backstory: We attend our local parade of homes whenever we can. In our area, the parade of homes is essentially a showcase for local home builders. These homes are often well out of our budget (aka 2x, 3x and sometimes 4x what we're spending on our home), but, rather than feeling poor, we take it as an opportunity to look at what sort of features we can bring into our own home. Being a home automation enthusiast and professional tech nerd, the tech in these homes sticks out to me. Most of the time, the builders just put in some Ethernet drops and run them back to an SMC (Structured Media Center), which is a great start. Sometimes, the builder will stage the home with some AV equipment (5.1 AVR, and a TV), RGB lighting in the master-bath and kitchen, throw in some basic smart-home tech from Best Buy, etc. Whenever I see this, all I can think about is how I can easily do a more cohesive implementation of technology in our home and without breaking the bank.
The 4 things that I want to build into our house are
The home theater setup can be broken up into two parts; Audio and Video.
For audio, the living room will be wired for a 5.1.2 Atmos setup. My plan is to use a 9.2ch AVR (giving me room to expand to a 7.2.2 configuration), in-wall and in-ceiling speakers (with potentially a normal sits-on-something center-channel speaker (video setup pending)), and a good single sub. Aesthetically, the speakers will blend into the space well and I can "hide" the sub under an end-table. Source devices can be hidden away and managed via an IR repeater system.
For video, I've got a 15' W by 9' H wall so I'd like to go as big as I can. Ultimately, I like the thought of going with a projector and Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen (since it is in a living room and painting the walls black isn't a viable option), but my backup is simply buying the biggest and highest-quality TV I can afford.
Also known as Whole Home Audio, for this I am planning a hybrid Sonos/AppleTV setup, utilizing AirPlay2 since we are a mostly Apple household (the wife's laptop and my aged gaming PC notwithstanding). I already utilize AirPlay and AirPlay2 for streaming media and I was already planning on using ATV4ks in the bedrooms and the living room anyway (all wired into the network) so I might as well use them for AP2 streaming. However, there are other rooms/areas where we want audio but don't want to put a TV. For this reason, the garage, master bathroom, dining room, and patio will be wired for stereo audio. The wiring for these speakers goes back to the SMC in my office closet with the rack, where I plan on connecting them to AP2-compatible stereo amps wired into the network. Since the builder's rates for running cable isn't particularly cheap and neither are the amps, I'm going with bookshelf speakers for the laundry room and kitchen, on top of the wall cabinets. A stereo pair in the kitchen, and a single speaker for the laundry room. If you're counting, that makes for a total of 11 independently-controllable audio zones, all utilizing Apple's AirPlay2 streaming protocol. This is one reason why building out the network right is important. While all but one of the audio end-points will have wired network connections, the source devices (iPhones & iPads, mostly) will be WiFi only.
For volume control, I usually stream music from my iPhone and use my Apple Watch for volume and transport control. In the Sonos zones, I can pair Lutron Pico Remotes for Audio and wall-mount them for in-wall volume/transport control.
Backstory: We attend our local parade of homes whenever we can. In our area, the parade of homes is essentially a showcase for local home builders. These homes are often well out of our budget (aka 2x, 3x and sometimes 4x what we're spending on our home), but, rather than feeling poor, we take it as an opportunity to look at what sort of features we can bring into our own home. Being a home automation enthusiast and professional tech nerd, the tech in these homes sticks out to me. Most of the time, the builders just put in some Ethernet drops and run them back to an SMC (Structured Media Center), which is a great start. Sometimes, the builder will stage the home with some AV equipment (5.1 AVR, and a TV), RGB lighting in the master-bath and kitchen, throw in some basic smart-home tech from Best Buy, etc. Whenever I see this, all I can think about is how I can easily do a more cohesive implementation of technology in our home and without breaking the bank.
The 4 things that I want to build into our house are
- A super-fast, reliable network: I've lived with unreliable internet in the past and WiFi in an apartment setting is absolutely awful. I'll wire as much as I can, but a lot of smart-home devices only use Wifi in most cases (though my setup will feature Zigbee and RF devices too). For a whole-home audio setup, even though amps or speakers may be wired, a source device like a smartphone or tablet will need reliable WiFi. Regardless, the network becomes the foundation for many tech aspects of the home.
- Automated Lighting & Cooling: Lighting and HVAC control (AKA, thermostats) are smart home / home automation low-hanging fruit. While turning on a light, ceiling fan, or adjusting the temperature isn't hard, I'd like to automate as many of those little things as possible.
- Whole-Home Audio: I like to listen to music. Whether I'm doing the dishes, folding the laundry, cleaning a larger swath of rooms, working in the garage, or just relaxing, I love to fire up iTunes and AirPlay stream stuff to a couple of AppleTVs and play from my computer. I want to do that all over the house but easier.
- The best home theater I can afford/fit: My wife and I love watching TV and movies. We also enjoy having friends and family over for football games. While building a dedicated theater would be amazing, our home won't have a room well suited for that, so I'm going to make the living room work as best I can with a stealthy theater-experience.
The house isn't HUGE, but it's not tiny either. It's a 4bd/3.5bth almost-2200sq/ft 2-story home. The Kitchen and Living room are open-concept, but our plan features a dedicated dining room. 2 of the bedrooms make up the bulk of a partial second story (2 story in the front of the house, single level everywhere else). Here are my ideas:
NOTE on network/audio cabling: Admittedly, my wife convinced me to have the builder run our extra low-voltage cabling. The builder charges $75 per run and did none of the termination. Due to the cost, I opted to run fewer cables. I modified the design around this for some things (book shelf speakers rather than in-ceilings in a couple areas), and may try run a couple more cables on my own in others (future PoE cams). I bring this up in case the number of Ethernet and speaker cable runs looks low to you. We all have our use cases, which is why planning is SO important and why I didn't utilize the conventional internet advice of essentially "run cables everywhere just in case!".
NOTE on network/audio cabling: Admittedly, my wife convinced me to have the builder run our extra low-voltage cabling. The builder charges $75 per run and did none of the termination. Due to the cost, I opted to run fewer cables. I modified the design around this for some things (book shelf speakers rather than in-ceilings in a couple areas), and may try run a couple more cables on my own in others (future PoE cams). I bring this up in case the number of Ethernet and speaker cable runs looks low to you. We all have our use cases, which is why planning is SO important and why I didn't utilize the conventional internet advice of essentially "run cables everywhere just in case!".
Home Network
Both wired & wireless, the network is the back-bone of the tech in the home. Sure, the home theater stuff could stand on it's own, but even it is a zone of the whole-home audio setup. I've included 11 Cat6 drops through out the house. 3 for PoE cameras, 2 for Access Points, and 6 wall-ports around the home. 2 of the cameras are external (basically 1 in front, and 1 in back), while the 3rd is hanging out in the kitchen, overlooking the kitchen/living area and patio door. For APs, 1 is downstairs near the kitchen (one of the more central areas of the main floor) and the 2nd is in the upstairs hall. The 6 wall ports are 1 in each bedroom, 1 for the living room, and 1 above the upper cabinets in the kitchen (for smart-home hubs that communicate wirelessly and I don't want to put in a metal equipment rack). I'll use a 24-port PoE switch to power the cameras, APs, and smaller down-stream switches, as well as connect nearby network devices in the wall-mount equipment rack.
Home Theater
The home theater setup can be broken up into two parts; Audio and Video.
For audio, the living room will be wired for a 5.1.2 Atmos setup. My plan is to use a 9.2ch AVR (giving me room to expand to a 7.2.2 configuration), in-wall and in-ceiling speakers (with potentially a normal sits-on-something center-channel speaker (video setup pending)), and a good single sub. Aesthetically, the speakers will blend into the space well and I can "hide" the sub under an end-table. Source devices can be hidden away and managed via an IR repeater system.
For video, I've got a 15' W by 9' H wall so I'd like to go as big as I can. Ultimately, I like the thought of going with a projector and Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen (since it is in a living room and painting the walls black isn't a viable option), but my backup is simply buying the biggest and highest-quality TV I can afford.
Distributed Audio
Also known as Whole Home Audio, for this I am planning a hybrid Sonos/AppleTV setup, utilizing AirPlay2 since we are a mostly Apple household (the wife's laptop and my aged gaming PC notwithstanding). I already utilize AirPlay and AirPlay2 for streaming media and I was already planning on using ATV4ks in the bedrooms and the living room anyway (all wired into the network) so I might as well use them for AP2 streaming. However, there are other rooms/areas where we want audio but don't want to put a TV. For this reason, the garage, master bathroom, dining room, and patio will be wired for stereo audio. The wiring for these speakers goes back to the SMC in my office closet with the rack, where I plan on connecting them to AP2-compatible stereo amps wired into the network. Since the builder's rates for running cable isn't particularly cheap and neither are the amps, I'm going with bookshelf speakers for the laundry room and kitchen, on top of the wall cabinets. A stereo pair in the kitchen, and a single speaker for the laundry room. If you're counting, that makes for a total of 11 independently-controllable audio zones, all utilizing Apple's AirPlay2 streaming protocol. This is one reason why building out the network right is important. While all but one of the audio end-points will have wired network connections, the source devices (iPhones & iPads, mostly) will be WiFi only.
For volume control, I usually stream music from my iPhone and use my Apple Watch for volume and transport control. In the Sonos zones, I can pair Lutron Pico Remotes for Audio and wall-mount them for in-wall volume/transport control.
Smart Home / Home Automation
This is the area that I started with when planning the tech in the house. My goal is not to have tech for the sake of tech, but rather to have tech that adds value to our lives. Being primarily an Apple user, I'm mostly using the HomeKit platform, but will also use Homebridge and IFTTT where necessary. The equipment I'm thinking of is below.
In conclusion, I'll talk more about specific equipment choices in future posts. This post and the future deeper dives are the result of years of planning and research. I am always happy to answer any questions.
- light switches & dimmers for (almost) every light
- fan controllers for each ceiling fan
- motorized blinds in select areas
- door/window magnetic contact sensors for automation triggers
- thermostats for each HVAC zone (each floor) with remote sensors
- garage door controller
- water shut-off valve
- locks for entry doors
- video doorbell
- security system
- irrigation controller for the sprinklers
- smart plugs
- robot vacuum
Many of the specific devices I'm looking at are natively compatible with HomeKit, but some aren't. However, they are IFTTT-compatible, so I can use that triggered by a HomeKit device, for certain automations. Homebridge or Home Assistant can fill in the rest.
In conclusion, I'll talk more about specific equipment choices in future posts. This post and the future deeper dives are the result of years of planning and research. I am always happy to answer any questions.
Comments
Post a Comment