Building a Home

And in lounge rooms they need to be putting quad points in at a minimum to cover TV, Sound Bar, PVR/Chrmoecast, Router, Modem etc


We have an 8 point lightning/surge board behind our TV. TV, DVD, speaker system, ChromeCast Device, DVD player, Amplifier, spare outlet for portable fan on days don't want to use a/c etc etc.

In the study I am using another 12 outlets. Printer, Router, 2xNAS, speakers, Monitorsx2, PC, Label printer, ethernet splitter, phone charger, external HDD, foot warmer under the desk, etc etc
 
Double that at a bare minimum. Always better to have a spare than to be putting in power boards.
I can certainly see the value in what you are saying, but every change adds to the price. Luckily we have weeks before our electrical appointment to get our plans straight. I guess, if I can afford to, I want to keep things as simple as possible. It would be nice to go overkill on so many aspects, but the price would really jump. I do appreciate all the input though as it's giving me so much to think about. 🤔
Also consider the height of power points. As you get older do you want to be reaching down to the grown, no matter how infrequently?
Certainly for the TV/soundbar on the wall, we will be looking to get the power and aerial in the centre of the wall, so they're hidden when mounted.

I guess you should plan for every eventuality but I do hope I'm not too immobile in 20-30-40 years time. :p
Cordless landline telephone charger/stand
Mobile phone charger
Microwave
Spare plug for mix-master/handheld beater
(not our place, but some) Small TV/monitor to watch the news while cooking or look up recipes
  • Don't intend to ever have a landline phone again, have been free of one for the past few years.
  • Will probably upgrade a socket or two to have USB plugs in key areas (but not all).
  • The dishwasher space and microwave space come with a single plug socket for them as standard.
  • You did catch me there, I do have a stick blender that I had forgotten about. Goodness knows what I'm doing operating all 7 devices at the same time though. ;)
 
We have an 8 point lightning/surge board behind our TV. TV, DVD, speaker system, ChromeCast Device, DVD player, Amplifier, spare outlet for portable fan on days don't want to use a/c etc etc.
Certainly this would be more akin to the plan for the media room than the lounge/dining/kitchen living space. At least so far in my mind. That could change at any point in the next few weeks.
In the study I am using another 12 outlets. Printer, Router, 2xNAS, speakers, Monitorsx2, PC, Label printer, ethernet splitter, phone charger, external HDD, foot warmer under the desk, etc etc
That is an excellent point, the study will probably need extra power points, although perhaps a surge-protected board will appear there as well. In my study right now I only use two plugs, one is for my standing desk, the other powers my monitor, which then has a passthrough Thunderbolt-3 cable to my Macbook. We do have a printer downstairs though, which would probably move to the future study.
 
My additional electrical cost was in the order of $20,000, and I provided all of the actual fittings. I did have fun with it though.

If you want to plan for the future, but not install straight away, you could arrange to have conduit dropped from the ceiling space down the walls at likely spots. That makes it much easier to pull the cables later.

No matter how many power points you put in, they will never be at the correct spot, and there will not be enough of them.

I’m not convinced about USB power points. I have some, but they don‘t get used all that often. The wattage provided by the chargers is now much higher, so the wall plugs tend to be too slow.

Have at least some Cat 6 cable, especially to the area of the media room and office.

I had glass bricks in a previous house. I wouldn’t go near them again. They caused all sorts of heating issues.

My house was outfitted entirely with Clipsal Saturn switches and plugs. I was able to get almost all of them, at quite good prices, by hunting through ebay looking for the leftovers after other people’s builds.
 
Agree on checking bench heights. We had ours bumped up a touch.

The 900 width oven is fabulous, I love being able to put two trays of cookies on one shelf and not need to swap hot trays around.
 
As standard they will allow for two antenna ports through the house (our choosing where); so the current plan is that the main living space with dining, living, kitchen and access to the outside space will have a simple TV and sound bar setup, only taking free-to-air. We'll probably use our existing Smart TV, but if we bought a new one in the future, the apps that are now bundled should cover the gamut of internet streaming services we'd be after. As such, we'd only need the standard double-powerpoint behind this TV.
Along with the electrical cabling, think about home networking. Where's the NBN entry point? Where will router be.

Not of a great deal of value to the new build, but FWIW: I made some extensions to my place about 10 years ago, including a 'media/TV room' with a small office nook (watch telly while I'm 'working'). I got it network cabled in the ceilings (from the street side) and walls anticipating NBN (or whatever was proposed back then) and/or 'cable TV' (I'm in the country, so still hoped for), put concealed ducts for HDMI cabling between wall mounted TV and the shelf with the gadgets, speaker cabling in the walls for the 6 or so 'surround' speakers and heaps of power points, antenna ports etc. Just had enough of those at first :rolleyes: . Over the years, technology changed (as did my use of it). Now, most of the power points are unused and I never used the network cabling as the NBN eventually arrived via by telephone line, cable TV never arrived and my TV runs off free-to-air and signal broadcast from a router.

No matter how many power points you put in, they will never be at the correct spot, and there will not be enough of them.
So, over time, they will still be in the wrong spot, but probably for different reasons. 🙂
 
Have you considered a security system in case you might want to travel one day? ;)

The wiring could be part of your electrical system, especially if you decide to have security cameras installed.

Solar power? At the very least have the wiring done in such a way that the batteries can go in the back yard rather than the front yard.
 
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I’d be putting in a charging point for an electric vehicle. You may have heard of this ACT first, on EVs distributed energy.

“...As batteries on wheels, V2G technology allows EVs to discharge electricity back to the grid or even provide services to improve grid security”.

 
Cordless landline telephone charger/stand
...

Does anyone have one of those anymore? 🤣

  • Will probably upgrade a socket or two to have USB plugs in key areas (but not all).

I would offer to come swap them out for you post build but I don't think the QLD border will be open by then 😞

As @jb747 pointed out, the output is lower than most modern plugs. Off the top of my head the Clipsal ones are 2.1A max and 3.1A total if using both plugs simultaneously. Definitely worth having in the key spots though.
 
My additional electrical cost was in the order of $20,000
Holy smokes! I'm hoping to keep it as low as possible, which is already going to be hard enough as we want to change to LED down lights throughout the house.
If you want to plan for the future, but not install straight away, you could arrange to have conduit dropped from the ceiling space down the walls at likely spots. That makes it much easier to pull the cables later.
I would very much consider this, but unsure if Brighton will be very obliging as they'll know I'm trying to skirt around their outrageous prices for HDMI cabling. It's certainly something I will be asking at the appropriate time. Only trouble I see with this idea is that I'll be pulling a cable up a wall cavity and then over a ceiling to the other side of the room. That might be a little complicated for a conduit?
I’m not convinced about USB power points. I have some, but they don‘t get used all that often. The wattage provided by the chargers is now much higher, so the wall plugs tend to be too slow.
I'd certainly not be choosing anything below 2.1A output, as there's no point if less than that.
Agree on checking bench heights. We had ours bumped up a touch.

The 900 width oven is fabulous, I love being able to put two trays of cookies on one shelf and not need to swap hot trays around.
I'll have to get back to you, and everyone on this detail as it escapes me now and I'm waiting for the plans to be drafted. When I know, you'll know, however it certainly felt like it was at the right height in the display home – perhaps because I wasn't actually using the kitchen for its intended purpose.
Not of a great deal of value to the new build, but FWIW: I made some extensions to my place about 10 years ago, including a 'media/TV room' with a small office nook (watch telly while I'm 'working'). I got it network cabled in the ceilings (from the street side) and walls anticipating NBN (or whatever was proposed back then) and/or 'cable TV' (I'm in the country, so still hoped for), put concealed ducts for HDMI cabling between wall mounted TV and the shelf with the gadgets, speaker cabling in the walls for the 6 or so 'surround' speakers and heaps of power points, antenna ports etc. Just had enough of those at first :rolleyes: . Over the years, technology changed (as did my use of it). Now, most of the power points are unused and I never used the network cabling as the NBN eventually arrived via by telephone line, cable TV never arrived and my TV runs off free-to-air and signal broadcast from a router.
A good point, you can plan for every eventuality except where technology goes next.... and how slow it is to get to your premises. If I imagine having a small cabinet with various game consoles and set top box at the front of the room, I imagine I could hide a powerboard to connect all those devices as well. Speakers are wireless these days – we use Sonos – so all we'd need is power to the back corners of the room and that's future Sam's problem (plus the wire could be behind a couch).
Have you considered a security system in case you might want to travel one day? ;)

The wiring could be part of your electrical system, especially if you decide to have security cameras installed.
We already use the Anker Eufy system where we live, so will be looking to simply move those cameras into appropriate spots at our new build when the time comes. They have a bettery life between 180-360 days, charge via micro-USB and feature sirens, spotlights and motion/face detection. It's a good system. Also picks up audio from several houses away so we hear a lot of goings on out the front of our street, haha!
Solar power? At the very least have the wiring done in such a way that the batteries can go in the back yard rather than the front yard.
The included solar does allow for batteries, however the details are scant. When I know more I shall provide a better post on the offer to have a 6.5KW solar system installed for free – just waiting to be given more details. Ultimately though, I think I'll be skipping batteries for a while, as I know they're very expensive and very hard to pay off currently.
I’d be putting in a charging point for an electric vehicle. You may have heard of this ACT first, on EVs distributed energy.

“...As batteries on wheels, V2G technology allows EVs to discharge electricity back to the grid or even provide services to improve grid security”.
It's an interesting suggestion. Truth be told, we bought a new car last year and considered an EV. Problem was, at the time the new Nissan LEAF wasn't yet in Australia, and the only other appropriately sized vehicle (not saying the LEAF was) happened to be the Hyundai Kona EV and the price tag was ridiculous. We ended up buying two cars, matching cars for my mother and myself, for less than one EV.

I'd love a well priced EV and to feed back into the grid when home, but it's just not economical right now, and probably wont be for a little while. While it's true that it might be by the time we next change cars, and that will be well before we consider moving again, I'd hazard a guess that adding the EV infrastructure to the house at that time would be about as cost effective as it is now, probably better... and we'd actually be using the equipment. :p
I would offer to come swap them out for you post build but I don't think the QLD border will be open by then 😞
It certainly seems that way, but thanks for the offer, may take you up on it in 2021 (when I expect the build to be done).
As @jb747 pointed out, the output is lower than most modern plugs. Off the top of my head the Clipsal ones are 2.1A max and 3.1A total if using both plugs simultaneously. Definitely worth having in the key spots though.
Yes, so it shouldn't be every spot, but certain spots that make sense could do with an upgrade. We'll always have standard chargers anyway.
 
Going a bit OT but V2G won't work for many homes. Needs cars connected to the grid during the peak sunlight hours.

On the USB points tend to agree that plugs for higher power is better, particularly for multiple devices
I'd maybe consider an in-cabinet PowerPoint so you could install a pullout wireless charging draw or similar.

For an EV. At a guess with garage at the front, all the electric panels and any solar inverters will be in/on the side of the garage, so an EV charger install would be simple.
 
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  • Island bench (power points) are definitely something we are considering. Unsure if we want them on the end (and sitting out) or hidden under the breakfast bar – what are your thoughts on placement? I believe the kitchen already comes with 4 plugs (two at each end) and the butlers pantry comes with an additional 2 plugs. We've slowly added to our collection of devices that draw power over the years and currently have:


The island bench points have blended away in our place. We opted for a small office niche. The kitchen corner has a door that slides down

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Volume builders run a finely tuned profit process and it is difficult to improve the product and control quality without ramping up costs.
It can be extremely difficult to hold them to the spec and agreed standards without independent inspection.
Some builders spray paint rooms and some builders are guilty of using miniscule coats of cheap paint.
Check the contract , it should specify a minimum paint quality and a minimum thickness.
Check the plumbing spec , if you know a licensed plumber have him look over the spec and check everything on site before footings and frame sheeting.
Check who the certifier is, check their reputation.
The reality is that almost all homes are built to the lowest possible standard the builder can get away with without breaching the structural warranty
 

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