Smart home wiring may seem like something that goes without saying since everything is going wireless now. But here’s the problem: The more wireless devices you connect to your network, the weaker signal each will receive. This causes the connection to slow down or even break.
Plus, knots of wires from home electronics can still clutter your living space, with cables from routers, television boxes, computers and phone chargers tangled into an unmanageable mess. You get the worst of both worlds.
Smart wiring is a way to untangle the wires you need and better support wireless-only devices.
What is smart wiring?
Smart wiring is a series of panels that organize a variety of wires and cables to provide reliable coverage for your dedicated home automation wiring and your Internet, PC, and audio, visual and gaming systems. This is something to consider when you’re set up your smart home.
You may have heard of structured wiring systems. Structured wiring and smart wiring both refer to a way of connecting and integrating wires and cables for Internet, television and audio entertainment, phones, home automation, home security and more, providing speed, security, convenience and energy efficiency. Smart wiring supports today’s technology as well as future smart home innovations.
How much does it cost to smart-wire a house?
Prices will vary, but none can be considered low cost for most people, often running into thousands of dollars. Smart wiring for new homes is less expensive than renovating an older home because you won’t have to pay to open up your existing walls.
Smart home wiring is an investment – one best installed by professionals. The main costs are for the panels, wiring and electrician’s labour. In many jurisdictions, you’ll also need to apply for permits and pay for inspections to make sure your smart home wiring work is safe and up to code. Prices will vary dramatically depending on where you live, code requirements, and the size of your home. Our new build smart wiring and NBN package, take your home to the next level of connectivity and convenience .
Our new smart wire packages just at $1799 make it easy to add smart features to your new build.
How to Wire Your Smart Home
Now that you know what smart wiring is, the next question for interested homeowners is how to wire a smart home. For most people, the answer to the question is simple: hire a professional. Working with electricity is dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Making a mistake increases the risk of fire. And it is not easy to go through permits and inspections.
Which smart devices will need to be wired?
Although many smart home devices are wireless, others require a direct physical connection. Not all devices controlled by your smart home are smart themselves. For example, your air conditioner or refrigerator may be a “dumb” appliance with manual controls. With smart home wiring, you can connect these to smart controllers to incorporate them into your smart system.
Below are some other commonly included components that work best when wired:
- Data Point
- Phone Point
- Antenna Point
- switch point
- Hills Lockup Home hub
- Log HD Digital Antenna
Are smart wires worth it?
To really enjoy your smart home and the promise of your smart home energy management system, it’s a good idea to invest in smart home wiring. The initial expense may put a strain on your budget, but the benefits may outweigh the costs – especially if you’re doing smart wiring in a new home under construction when you can bypass the additional cost of opening up the walls.
Benefits of installing smart wiring in your home
As you consider your options for how to set up a smart home, realize that whichever path you choose, you’re opening the door to considerable benefits:
Enjoy home automation features: Robust and up-to-date home automation wiring ensures that you enjoy dependable high performance across your systems. With efficient operation, you can get the most from smart home energy-saving strategies.
Boost your home’s value: Smart home wiring future-proofs your home for smart home upgrades so that you can benefit from innovations that are coming to market fast. You’ll increase the value of your home today and in the coming years.
Increase security: Closed wired systems are tougher to hack than a wireless signal. For devices you depend on for security, choose the wired option.