William Reid: [00:00:00] All right, here we are. We're back in the world of design, and we've covered a lot of the design consultants today and over the past few weeks. This one's going to be a fun one that you hear the word a lot, but you don't necessarily understand what this person may do.

So picture this: you've just finished building your dream home. The paint is perfect. The kitchen is stunning. Everything looks exactly like those Pinterest boards you've been obsessing over for months. But then you try to connect your TV in the living room and realize there's no cable outlet. You want to add security cameras, but there's nowhere to run the wiring without tearing into those beautiful new walls. Your teenager is complaining about the wifi dead zones, and you can't figure out why your smart light switches keep going offline.

Welcome to the world of low voltage. This is the invisible nervous system of your home that nobody talks about until it's too late.

[00:01:00] This is a classic case where if you don't know what you don't know - what options you have - this is one that can really bite you later from the early budgeting phases of the project, during the design aspect of the project, and then ultimately meeting your expectations about how you've just spent hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars on your new home.

You didn't realize that you could integrate automatic blinds, for example, into the project, but you didn't realize that needed to be thought about ahead of time before the home is built, before the walls are closed in. So let's move into the first segment of this episode.

I'm going to come to you today audio only. I know I've been doing a lot of YouTube videos as well, but I'm on the road this week, and I don't really want to skip any episodes if I can avoid it. I'm back down in the Bay Area, [00:02:00] Silicon Valley area of Northern California on a business trip, and I'm just going to take this morning to cover this topic.

So what is low voltage and how do you go about tackling it at the right time? Let's talk about what low voltage is. In the past we've talked about plumbing contractors, plumbing consultants, electrical contractors, electrical consultants, mechanical contractors, and their consultants during the design phase.

If you've been listening along, we are in this section of The Awakened Homeowner podcast called The World of Design. We're still talking about things that you have to work through before you even begin construction, and these are the people that are supposed to help you do it.

Low voltage is actually a separate category in construction. It's even a separate license [00:03:00] in most states. It's not as restrictive of a license because you're dealing with low voltage wiring, but it's very technical and it's usually a specialist that handles this. We'll talk about that in a minute, but let's talk about what low voltage really is.

I'm going to go down a list here, and I'll try to post this list in the show notes so that you can take a look at it.

Telecommunications: That has to do with your telephone wiring, your good old landline wiring. Now, as most of us know, landlines have been going by the wayside, but that type of cabling, whether it's a phone line and good old classic landline, or you're doing voice over internet, the cabling is essentially the same.

[00:04:00] The telecommunications category covers the good old landline. It also covers data. So all of the wiring that maybe the office that you go to every day, or a lot of the cabling that you've probably become familiar with, plugging into ports on the back of your computer. Often it's blue, and that's called data cabling. A lot of times right now, people are using what's called category six cabling. It's the twisted pair of wires, or multiple pairs of wires, I should say, that's routed throughout your home. It can be used for a lot of different things.

Data wiring can be used for phone lines, it can be used for voice over internet devices, it can be used for streaming video to your TV, it can be used for a lot of different things. Even though a lot [00:05:00] of people do depend on wifi throughout their home, in a new home, it's a good idea to run cabling - hardwired cabling - back to a central point location since all your walls are going to be open.

You'll find that if you work at home a lot, if you're like me, if you're online a lot doing video work, you're going to find that if you're plugged in directly to a network as opposed to depending on wifi in a lot of areas, it makes all the difference in the world.

So we have telephone lines, data networks, and we have cable and satellite connections. Good old cable TV and then satellite connections began with their own proprietary cabling, but now that's even going to data cabling. These are examples of what is called telecommunications cabling that should be done throughout the home prior to construction.

AV Systems: The next category is audio video [00:06:00] systems. This could be an example of whole house audio systems, home theater setups, video distribution to multiple TVs. There are a lot of different options. You can build home theater to distribute audio throughout your home and you can hardwire that. Some people used to go to the good old Sonos system or other wifi speaker systems, but depending on the area that you're in and the dependability of the wifi and the internet connection, you may want to think about hardwired audio video.

Security: Security is the next one we're going to talk about. Security can cover a lot of different things and this is the one that's often overlooked during the design process and even during the construction process where actual hardwired alarm systems can go in during construction before the walls are sealed up.

Alarm systems have been going wireless, and of course it's a [00:07:00] lot easier to install a wireless system after the fact than it is a wired system after the fact. But when you start talking with low voltage contractors and alarm and security specialists, I think you're going to find that most of them, if they can, would prefer to do a hardwired system. There are a lot of reasons, most of it's dependability. You also won't have these big obtrusive wifi contact devices at all your windows and doors.

Alarm systems is definitely the first one under security. The next one is video surveillance and cameras. Cameras, again, there are wifi systems - the one I'm thinking of right now is the Arlo system where you have to recharge the cameras periodically. I have some of those in one of my homes, and honestly it works pretty well. I don't have to charge it up that often, but the dependability is not there because it's depending on wifi [00:08:00] connection and the internet connection.

So you can install all different sorts of cameras. One term used is POE - Power over Ethernet. Ethernet is what I spoke about earlier, the CAT six ethernet wiring. You can run CAT six to all of your camera locations and you can use some of the wiring to power the actual camera so that you never have to recharge anything and it all goes back to a central hub.

One that a lot of people forget, especially if you're building a larger custom home with maybe a gate that's a quarter mile away down the driveway - gate systems can also be part of a low voltage contractor's scope of work. Again, pre-planning this, getting the wiring out there for reliability and security is something that you're going to want to think about.

[00:09:00] So we've covered telecommunications, audio video systems and security, and now we get into home automation, which is the latest thing that's been coming online. It is becoming more and more available, more and more complex, and the benefits are really wonderful.

Home Automation: Think about this under the smart house revolution. Smart lighting controls and switches - everywhere that you have switches, you can do some relatively simple process by installing wifi enabled switches that are controlled by your mobile phone, or you could get all the way into lighting control systems. One brand I can think of off the top of my head is Lutron, and there are other ones out there where you can get really complex and you can include your lighting control systems into the mood of the room that you walk into.

[00:10:00] The home automation systems, the smart home systems, could be a whole book unto itself, but visualize walking into a room with your phone and you hit a button and it turns the lights to a particular dimmed level, the automatic blinds go down, the TV comes on - things like that. So home automation is a big one, and smart lighting controls and switches begins with that.

You can get into automated window blinds and shades. You can literally have - and I think Lutron has the same system where you can control all of your window shades and blinds. This all has to be wired before the home is insulated and drywalled. Again, that's why we're talking about it today - because this is part of the smart planning process.

HVAC - heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems - [00:11:00] are one that certainly is already being integrated into smart homes with the wifi thermostats that we've all heard about and maybe even used. This is all part of the home automation category, and then smart appliance connectivity.

This is another one, a relatively new one, where you could on your way home, turn your oven on and heat your oven up or control any of your home appliances via your mobile phone on the wifi network. That doesn't necessarily need pre-wiring, I believe, but it's something to think about.

Voice control is really coming on, so that's your Alexa and your Google, and there are some other higher end systems out there. That can be integrated into a home automation system, so a specialist in that - if you declare that you want to be able to voice control, they'll consider that when they're designing the system.

Monitoring and Management: Let's continue on here. Monitoring and management of the home is one that starts to get into a [00:12:00] little bit higher end home usually, but you can have smart panels - smart electrical panels is what I'm talking about. I spoke a little bit about this in the electrical section of the doctors of your home, and you can monitor your power usage. This all has to do with managing your behavior in the home to save energy.

Smart electrical panels are able to be connected to your mobile phone and you can see where all the power is being consumed by identified circuits. Then you can turn things on and off so that you can manage your electrical power, and that also can apply to your water consumption. If you put water meters on your water supply system, you'll be able to understand how much is being consumed and where it's being consumed.

We're getting into a [00:13:00] little bit more complicated details here, but that is something that you should be aware of that you can do, and this is all through a low voltage contractor. Of course we have the solar panel systems and the battery backup systems. Now that crosses over into the electrical category as well, but this can also apply to the low voltage contractor and consultant. Sometimes they have to coordinate and work together to be able to pull off a system that's something that you can actually understand and work with.

Other ones that I'm seeing used are indoor air quality monitoring and irrigation controls - managing all of your landscape irrigation throughout the home.

Here's the thing: the more boxes that you check on this list, the more you need a low voltage professional involved in your design. I'll bet you checked more boxes than you expected on this little list that I just threw at you.

[00:14:00] Again, why we're talking about this now in the world of design is because the low voltage design of your home - the needs and the wants and the wishes you have in your home - can certainly affect the electrical design. Some of the stuff like the built-in blinds, the automatic blinds, for example, could affect how the home is designed structurally. There are many pictures out there that you can see where the blinds are concealed into the ceiling, so when they do go up, you don't even know they're there, which is a wonderful detail, but it takes thought.

It takes detailing, it takes the architect actually detailing out the ceiling construction method so that this can actually happen and your blinds can disappear. When you do this coordination effort early on, this really prevents potential conflicts and allows for optimal design and placement so that you're not making compromises with the big, huge blind stuck to the [00:15:00] wall when it didn't really need to be, and it didn't cost any more to actually conceal the blinds in the ceilings.

It's just one small example of proper coordination and design considerations. A lot of the things we're talking about today and in the past are not necessarily things that will cost you more. It's about thinking about what you need to do, what you need to know, and bringing it up and planning it. Maybe you'll invest a little bit of time in the planning, the architect's fees or whatever to put the blinds up in the ceiling, but these are not necessarily things that have to cost you more - it's just that you need to know what you need to know. I know I keep saying that, but this is a big part of what this podcast is about.

Segment Two: Low Voltage Professionals

[00:16:00] Let's move into segment two. The low voltage business is a little bit different than what I've talked about earlier in some of the structural design, mechanical, electrical, plumbing design, in that there's kind of like this blurry line between a low voltage consultant or designer and a low voltage contractor - the person that actually installs the system that has been designed.

Low Voltage Consultant: A low voltage consultant focuses purely on the design during the planning phase of the project, and they understand and help you - and while they help you understand what's even possible, because this is a big one where you don't necessarily know what the possibilities are. You may be able to articulate how you'd like to live in your home or the features that you might want, but there are things that you didn't even think of, and that's what a low voltage consultant is really good at.

They create specific plans [00:17:00] and specifications for the project that your architect will use to integrate into the complete plan set of the project. They don't necessarily do the installation, but if you have a large custom home or you have a lot of requirements and wants and wishes in this whole world of home automation and low voltage, it's not a bad idea to have an independent low voltage home automation expert design the project because this gives you more of an objective opinion about what products are out there, what work best, and this also allows you to provide a set of drawings and specifications to a low voltage contractor or a group of low voltage contractors to get estimates on the project.

This kind of empowers you to be able to get competitive bids on the process, to get apple to apple bids on the process, and removes a low voltage contractor that has their own way of [00:18:00] doing things or the products that they're most affiliated with and pushing specific products. A low voltage or home automation design expert has the knowledge of all of the products out there, or most of them, and then can tailor the ones or offer the ones that they feel best fits your needs.

Low Voltage Contractor: Now, a low voltage contractor - we talked about low voltage consultant and then a low voltage contractor - actually, they're out there on the job site pulling the wires and installing the equipment. They do stay current with the latest technology, usually the good ones, if this is really their specialty. But some of them may only specialize in certain categories that I mentioned earlier. For example, there are often a lot of alarm specialists or audio video specialists or security specialists, but not all of them do all of the categories, and that's one of the first things you're going to want to [00:19:00] find out after you've determined what you want to be able to do in your home - figure out if the low voltage contractor is suitable for all aspects. Otherwise, it's very possible that you might have to get more than one low voltage contractor involved in the project.

More often than not, when it comes to low voltage work, the design-build approach is usually what you're seeing happening on custom home, single family residential custom home projects. What that means is it's usually the low voltage contractor that's helping you with the design and the placement and the products and the installation, which is totally opposite of what I just said earlier about having a separate design consultant and a separate contractor. This is not a bad way to go, so don't immediately rule it out. Depending on how much time you have and are willing to put into it to learn about some of the [00:20:00] products out there, this is not a bad way to go, and it might even be more cost effective depending on the low voltage contractor and what their capabilities are.

You have to be careful though, because a lot of low voltage contractors know how to pull wire. Frankly, you can pull the wire if you had the time. So it's not about pulling the wire, it's about the connections, it's about the equipment, it's about the programming of the equipment, which is a big one in home automation. Are they able to do that? Some of them are real basic. They know how to hook up a camera and a CAT six network wire, but if you get into all the fancy home lighting controls and home automation, you really have to make sure they understand that. It's pretty easy to figure that out once you ask them those questions and have them explain to you. A lot of them will tell you straight out that no, we do all of that, but we don't do the programming, or we don't do this, or we don't do that. That is [00:21:00] really important for you to know.

Related to what I just said, here's where it gets interesting, and this comes straight from my book, The Awakened Homeowner. The low voltage trade is really close to the electrical trade, right? You're talking about high voltage and low voltage. Sometimes your electrician can also be your low voltage contractor, but - and this is a big but - be careful. There's a vast difference between somebody who can pull network wiring around your house and somebody who's deeply entrenched in the rapidly evolving world of home automation.

In my experience, it's rare to find an electrician who also specializes in the low voltage world, but I have, and when I have, it's been the best of both worlds. If you can have one mind thinking about all of the electrical and all of the low voltage together, you're going to get some of the cleanest installations. You just have to really make sure that it's not that old saying, "Jack of all trades, master [00:22:00] of none," that you've got an electrician that dabbles in home automation. It's not usually the reverse. It's not usually a low voltage contractor that specializes in low voltage that also does electrical. It's usually the prime - the dominant trade is electrical and then they brought in the low voltage design. That is something else to keep in mind when you are beginning to think about this type of solution for your project.

The Timing Trap

[00:23:00] Let's talk real quick about what I call the timing trap. There's a statement that you hear during design that can come out of a homeowner's mouth, it can come out of an architect's mouth, interior designer: "We'll figure it out later." That actually comes up a lot - "Let's worry about that later."

When? What does later mean? Does that mean after I move into my house or does that mean after the specific task at hand during the design process? Because anytime you hear the words "we'll figure it out later," you may not remember that you needed to [00:23:00] figure that out later. Sure enough, you're moved in and your internet's not working because there's no wiring in the walls.

That can be a really expensive phrase to use on a project. Let's just remember that low voltage and electrical systems are interconnected. They need to be thought about at the same time. Smart switches sometimes need specific wiring from the electrician, not the low voltage contractor, depending on the system that you go with. Home automation panels need to have dedicated electrical circuits. When you design a networked home with home automation and all of these other fun devices, they need a place to live and that has to be designed into the home.

So often you see that equipment crammed into cabinets and closets and the wiring looks like crap. Why not design a network room or a network [00:24:00] closet that's specific to that? Keep in mind that there are multiple power requirements and also ventilation requirements. You have to remember a lot of this equipment generates heat and if not properly managed, will just degrade the equipment faster than it should.

As I mentioned earlier in this whole timing trap thing we're talking about, the automated blinds that retract in the ceilings - believe it or not, structural design implications can come into play when you are thinking about some of the cool features that you want in your home. In the past I've mentioned what's called a reflected ceiling plan, and that is literally like a plan of your ceiling and ceilings in your home and your architect will create that and you can be looking up at your ceiling and all of the things can be factored into this design so it's aesthetically pleasing.

You may have speakers [00:25:00] in the ceiling, which is part of the low voltage trade audio video, you're going to have fire sprinklers, recessed lighting fixtures, beams, structural beams and decorative beams, skylights, decorative pendant lights hanging over your island. All these kinds of things that need to be factored in, and the low voltage audio video aspect of design is part of the reflected ceiling plan.

You can get away with it without doing a reflected ceiling plan, but if you spend a little bit of time and ask your architect, "Can we go ahead and take a look at how all of this stuff is working together on the ceiling?" It is something they normally do, and if they don't do it or don't offer it, that's not necessarily the most professional architect that will help you. I call it the timing trap, but really it's something that needs to be thought out during the design phase.

Here's a result that could happen. I had a [00:26:00] client that we were building a home for. I think it was a major remodel, and they were in a hurry to get started. Classic number one basic problem that ruins projects is starting too early. Of course, after drywall's done, here we are getting ready to go on interior doors and trim and painting and starting getting the finishes going, and here comes the questions. "Oh, we wanted to put security cameras in," and "Oh, now I saw this advertisement. I really want to do speakers here and there," and "Oh, I think I need a dedicated network line over there."

These are all the things that kept coming up. Guess what? It can be done, but it's going to cost the homeowner two or three times more to do it after drywall's in, because now we're cutting into drywall, we're making compromises, we have exposed wiring in some [00:27:00] locations. This is why I'm here to help you - to just let you know that you need to think about these things ahead of time, and now you know you need to think about these things ahead of time.

So why spend $9,000 to get the wiring in when it could have cost you $3,000? Thinking a little bit about it ahead of time didn't cost you anything. Maybe you had to throw together a low voltage electrical plan - that should have been done anyway. That's what we're talking about today - getting you positioned so that you can maximize your investment and meet your expectations.

Planning Questions and Considerations

[00:28:00] Let's get into some of the things that you can actually do, or at least think about, when you are getting ready to start designing your home. Think about these kinds of questions:

• What's your actual interest level in smart home technology?

• Do you work from home and do you need robust networking throughout your home?

• Are you concerned about the speed of your internet at home? Being connected to wifi significantly degrades the speed of the device that you're on. If you're working with video, audio files, heavy CAD design files, you're working off the cloud a lot, you're going to want to think about that.

• Do I need robust networking, which means hardwired locations for maybe your big tasks? You're still going to have wifi throughout the home, hopefully, and that'll accomplish most of the needs, but you may want to plant yourself somewhere so you have the fastest connection possible.

• Are you planning an outdoor entertainment area that could affect low voltage design, audio, video?

• What's your security comfort level? [00:29:00] What do you want to have in place so that you can make sure that you feel safe in your brand new home? That could be cameras, that could be alarms, sensors.

• Do you want to be able to control all of your lighting off your phone? Some people don't want that. That can get really confusing and fussy and sometimes it doesn't work if you've invested in a low end system. You're going to want to think about that.

I mentioned it a few minutes ago, but when you're starting to think about your key planning questions in your new home or your remodeled home even, be thinking about a dedicated room or space for your equipment, even if you're not even going to do it now. Think about a space that has dedicated electrical circuits run to it, ventilation, and then you can build upon it later.

Also remember that you can do what's called pre-wiring. Let's say you're [00:30:00] not sure if you want to do security cameras. You're not even sure where they should go in the optimal location, so you can pre-wire multiple locations. It's very inexpensive to run pre-wiring, so running the CAT six wiring to multiple locations. You don't necessarily have to use all those locations. You can do that with speaker systems, you can do that with audio video systems. There are all kinds of pre-wiring you can do, and you run that all the way back to your network closet. You label them and then you have them there for the future so that you can tinker if you want to do it yourself.

The network closet is a really valuable thing for you and it prevents equipment conflicts. It ensures optimal performance. It also allows your network, low voltage contractor - they're like kids in a candy store when they see that an architect has designed a low voltage closet or home automation room. They just love it. They feel like it's their own little room and make it as big as you can, within a reasonable closet size or a whole little room, like a little walk-in pantry somewhere that you can just have all of your lighting control and everything there, and they just love [00:31:00] it. That is really a smart thing to do.

Like I said, it kind of future-proofs your investment so that you can add to it later. Sometimes we'll even run conduits - so hard pipes in the walls to locations so that wires can be easily fished through the conduit. Here's an example: you're not sure if you want to do solar power on the roof. You've consulted with a solar contractor, they threw together a design for you, but you're not sure if you want to do it, but you can run all the conduits up into the roof system ready to go so that you have the cleanest installation.

Another benefit of this pre-planning thing is the cleanest design will be accomplished. What I mean by that is how many of you are looking at your TV right now with wires dangling everywhere and you open up the audio video cabinet and it's just a big mess? If you can plan this [00:32:00] out properly, you'll get a really nice aesthetic.

Complexity and Budget Considerations

We're getting there. Let's talk about the complexity of this, because it does get a little complex for a homeowner who doesn't do this every day. I know that some of you are thinking right now this sounds incredibly complicated and expensive. You know what, it can be both, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming if you approach it systematically.

The Scaling Approach: Start with the basics - strong network infrastructure and adequate electrical preparation. Get your CAT six, your network wiring where you think you want to put it, and put them in more locations than you think you need, because you always need more and always run two wires to that location because you may have multiple devices. I guarantee you - you got your computer plugged in and then all of a sudden, "Oh, I want to plug my TV into that." Plan for future expansion, even if you're not ready to install everything now, consider rough-in wiring for [00:33:00] systems that I just talked about that you might want later, and then focus on the infrastructure that's hard to add later.

Budget Reality Check: Low voltage work can range from a few hundred dollars for basic network wiring to tens of thousands for comprehensive automation systems. The key is being honest about your actual needs versus your dreams. Don't get too crazy with this because you're going to get into a big heavy investment that you may not actually get a return on because you don't use it or you get frustrated with technology, which a lot of people do.

The DIY Question: Some owners ask if they can do the low voltage work themselves. The answer is maybe. Running network cabling, CAT six cabling - believe it or not, there's a proper method to run that wiring. You can't have it crimped or bent too much. It will restrict the data flow. [00:34:00] There are standards to running CAT six wiring. The programming - I don't know, that can get really complex. If you're a techie person that wants to geek out on that, then you might be a good candidate to do that yourself. It takes an incredible amount of time to learn it all and then install the wiring, and learning about it is a good thing too, because you can actually communicate better with your home automation expert if you spend some time yourself learning.

One thing to keep in mind: technology changes fast and it's really changing fast now. The smart home system that's cutting edge today might be obsolete in five years. That's why focusing on good infrastructure - quality wiring, adequate space, proper power - is more important than the specific equipment brands. You're trying to future-proof your home behind the walls so that you have the cabling that you can always tap into later.

[00:35:00] I can think of one instance in a commercial building in Saratoga that I did. We wired what's called power over internet, POE cameras in a commercial environment, and it just really didn't work that well. The cabling that we ran all the way to outside up light poles and stuff was not adequate to upgrade the system. I had to run all new wiring to all of the locations to upgrade the cameras to a higher quality system. That is an example that was really painful to go through. Investing in what's behind the walls is more important than how fancy and expensive the equipment is.

Working with Your Design Team

[00:36:00] You're going to want to ask your architect about some of these things during the early stages of design. After stage one - and this will be another whole series of episodes, the design process - but when you start developing the design in step two, the question should come up: "Should we go ahead and bring in electrical and low voltage contractor now to start talking about where things are going to go and what the possibilities are with the technology so that we can design it properly?"

That's something that you may not hear your architect recommend unless you say so. Don't assume one contractor can do everything optimally that you want. That's another thing. Once you determine what features and functionality you want, without thinking about the actual technical solutions, but just think about: "Oh, I'd love to be able to walk into a home and hit a button and turn all the lights on a path to the kitchen automatically. Wouldn't that be cool? I want to be able to preheat my oven. I want to be able to do this and that." Think about your lifestyle. Think about how you're going to use your home.

Rather than, "Ooh, I don't know, can this be done? Or what do I use, how do I make it happen?" That's somebody else's job. When you go to [00:37:00] your low voltage or home automation expert, you need to figure out if they're the kind of person that can handle all of that, or do I need a special security person and a special home automation person, which may be the case.

Action Steps Summary

That's where we're going with this, and I'm hoping I'm helping you with all this. Let's wrap this up. Let's talk about some action steps. It's kind of like a summary of what you should think about when you're in the design process.

Specifically for low voltage home automation, fire alarms, security, audio, video, network wiring, etc. What should you do right now?

Step 1: Assess your interest level. Go through the categories we discussed. Be honest about what you actually want versus what sounds cool. Consider your lifestyle and how technology fits in. Prioritize it. Am I a person that really wants to dive into that, or do I just want the basics?

Step 2: Education phase. Research [00:38:00] local low voltage or home automation professionals. Look for specialists in your area of interest and ask for examples of similar projects. Ask them about the products that they used and how it's benefiting the owner.

Step 3: Design integration. Bring the low voltage professionals into your design team early. Don't wait until construction starts. If you get it before sheetrock, you're much better than after, but during the design phase, I highly recommend you bring somebody in to start working with you on all the things you want to do and ensure that there's good coordination with your architect and your electrical and your low voltage contractor. Once those people are brought into the team, and a lot of times architects will do that for you. You just say, "Hey, I want to talk about home automation, I want to talk about electrical. What do we do?" And the architect will usually say, "I've got specialists that [00:39:00] work with me on that and I can bring them into a meeting and we can have a meeting and specifically talk about that."

Step 4: Budget planning. Getting realistic estimates for the systems that you want is really good for your early budget planning. Low voltage home automation is one of those ones that really surprises people, especially if they haven't thought about it early enough. That's often the case. You remember I mentioned earlier, if you have a specific home automation, low voltage designer that doesn't necessarily do the work or can do both the design and the work, but provides you a set of drawings and specifications, you can get multiple estimates on the same project to help you with your early budgeting.

The low voltage is a separate dedicated category in construction estimating. As we get deeper into the awakened homeowner experience, we'll be showing you how the budget is broken down and there'll be one line item for low voltage.

[00:40:00] In your budget planning, plan for infrastructure, even if you're not installing everything immediately. Get that pre-wiring done. Just remember that rough-in wiring is much cheaper than retrofitting for sure.

Step 5: Plan your equipment rooms with extra space. Consider conduit systems for easy cable updates and invest in infrastructure that's hard to change later. Invest in it now.

Conclusion

[00:41:00] Let's close this out. The world of low voltage design - it's way more extensive than most homeowners realize. Early planning saves money and prevents headaches. The right professional makes all the difference, and this is very true. You're really going to want to make sure that you have the right ones and enough of them depending on your needs. Again, for the fourth time, the infrastructure matters more than the actual specific equipment.

But if you're one of the homeowner types that really wants to geek out and get into it, that could affect the cabling behind the walls. You're going to want to - there is a thing called CAT seven, believe it or not, which is even more robust than CAT six. But that's all going to be driven by the speed of the internet from your utility company to the house. You can get the data to travel around the house faster, but if the internet speed connection you have coming to the house is not any better than you're not really accomplishing anything.

It's okay to start simple and expand later if you plan for it. The bottom line is the low voltage might be the most overlooked aspect of home design, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming.

[00:42:00] Like everything else we talk about in this podcast, it comes down to education, planning and working with the right professionals at the right time. So that's what I have for you today - the low voltage design of your home. We're still in the world of design. In case we're getting lost here, we're still in the world of design. We're in this design consultants stage of life. I'm trying to educate you.

We went through architects and interior designers. Then we got into the doctors of our home - the structural engineering and the mechanical electrical plumbing design, MEP, if you remember. Now we're in low voltage, and these are all the people, all the stuff that goes behind your walls, holds your house up.

This is Bill Reid with The Awakened Homeowner on the road in Northern California, keeping you up to date and informed of the things you need to do to enlighten, empower, and protect your experience. Don't forget about my book, The Awakened Homeowner. All of this stuff is in here that you can have by your side, and it would thrill me if you were able to pick that up and have [00:43:00] that alongside you during your project.

As always, subscribe to the podcast channel. I did not get this one on YouTube this time, but I will do that next time. That way you didn't have to look at my face. Happy remodeling and building.