Renovation - Cabling

[NotAGolf]

I'm planning a fairly substantial home renovation. It will involve a full rewire, so it's the perfect time to make sure I add the necessary cables that I might need in the years to come.

Apart from ensuring I've got plenty of plug sockets everywhere, what else should i be considering? There's a few things on my radar:

• Cat6 - Not sure about this. I added loads of network points in my old place but barely used any of them. Our laptops, phones, tablets don't have network connections. I'll get a connection from the router to my office, but I'm not sure how useful it will be elsewhere. I'm tempted to save the money and put it towards a decent mesh network instead.
• Smart lighting - Never used it before. Quite happy with normal light switches to be honest. Smart bulbs don't need anything extra (I don't think?), so it would only be if I needed a different type of switch on the wall.
• Doorbell/camera - Would definitely like a few cameras, think separate cameras might be better than just a video doorbell.
• Alarm - Never considered an alarm system before, but might be sensible.
• Solar/Heat pump - I'm getting both of these installed as part of the extension. Not sure if there's anything to consider for either of these? Would likely set up home assistant to automate the use of both of these. Not sure what the deal is with thermostats, nor what other monitoring/configuration might be involved.
• EV charger - I don't have an EV currently, but could see me getting one in a few years. Will ensure there's space in the consumer unit and probably run a cable to the likely charging point, but wouldn't actually fit the charger yet.
• Heated mirror with integrated lights in bathrooms - Felt like a gimmick, but our new place has one and it's actually pretty handy!
• Coax for TV - Not sure I want to go overboard on this - surely it won't be too long before it's all served over the internet? Don't have Sky (or similar) and am unlikely to in the future.
• Smoke/Heat/Carbon monoxide alarms - Mandatory.
• Bathroom extractor fans - Mandatory.
• Any other smart home tech ???

Any thoughts on the above? Perhaps suggestions on things you wish you did/didn't do in your home?

 

[julianhj]

If you're going to the extent of rewiring, put the Cat 6 in anyway as you never know when it might come in handy, and it's much cheaper to do it whilst everything else is being done. I want everything you've listed for my next house (planning on moving soon, and will be there for many years hopefully) with the exception of coax. Are you having a battery system with the solar? I definitely would.

 

[Tesla]

If pulling in cable for an EV charger then don't forget a Cat6 for data and another Cat6 for CT clamps (ran between your main cut out fuse/electricity meter and the car charger)

With the solar consider where you'd put the inverter and batteries (if going down the battery route) as that will also need data and CT clamps and hard wired alleviates loads of potential head aches with setting this kit up.

 

[Dynix]

We're renovating and had a full rewire completed earlier this year - full strip out. Also had a rear extension completed just prior to it. This is along the lines of what we did to try and future proof as best as we can:

- Cat6 2x to every bedroom, 2x to the kitchen, 2x to the loft, 2x to the lounge, with plenty of excess in case they needed to be moved in the future. Electrician chased them in and I terminated them. Put them in roughly a location where having a desk would make sense in the future.
- Cat6 1x to a few ceiling locations where we may want an AP at some point (basically - kitchen, landing, hallway). We have one for now on the landing and one in the kitchen extension on the other side of 2 massive steels we had in which also covers the garden.
- Cat6 1x for a PoE doorbell (currently have the Reolink PoE doorbell).
- Cat6 to rough locations where you may want a CCTV camera. I think we have 8 cameras, 5 of those are connected direct to the NVR in the loft, the rest are over the network.
- All of the lightswitches are prepped for smart switches if we wanted - 'neutrals at the switch' I think is what we said.
- 40a for an EV charger direct from the consumer unit to the front of the house for when we do get an EV car.
- We will be renovating the main family bathroom at some point, and he put us an extractor fan isolator (outside the bathroom) and feed (in the loft) ready for that (we currerntly don't have one!).
- We have a ring circuit set up in the loft in case we ever have a loft conversion - the CCTV NVR is up there at the mo, and a Pi I think.
- Radial set up to under the stairs where I have a server cabinet (all the networking goes here).
- 32a for the garage as we may get a driveway gate at some point, and there's a server, tumble dryer, microwave, ...in there also.
- 32a for the garden office.
- External sockets on basically every corner of the house, and on the garden office. Isolators on the inside of course.
- Extra lighting circuit in the kitchen in case we ever decide to get plinth lighting. It's hooked up to our 4-way switch already and just terminated behind the kickboards in a wago box ready to go.
- I think we have 1x 32a for the induction hob and 1x 32a double ovens. Would have to check, but if you are planning a kitchen renovation, consider that. Kitchen sockets are on their own ring.

We didn't bother with any TV related stuff - we don't watch live TV and the world seems to be going full stream. Good points above re: solar - I think that's the only thing we didn't really consider with the rewrire but because of the orientation and shape of our roof it would make solar tricky anyway.