LOW VOLTAGE INSTALL NEW HOUSE UPDATE

OK, this might be a boring post, but I'll try to make it exciting, ha.  The next step we had was a low voltage installer come out for all the things that we are doing to the house separate from what the builder does.

What is a low voltage install?  It's all the things that you hook up that don't require 110 volts.

Things like the following:

We are having in ceiling surround sound speakers put in the living room for the TV.  That will save us on cords across the room, finding places to plug in, etc.  Plus, we can use the same speakers to play music in the living room and still be able to hear it in the dining room and kitchen.

What's the blue tube that was also installed?  This wall is where the TV will hang in the living room.  Note the left side of the stud is where the electrical outlet will be and the blue tube with openings at the top and bottom was added so that devices can be put into a cabinet below and the cables can be fed up/down through the tube and plugged into the TV directly, meaning no cords will be hanging down the wall and we won't be trying to fish them through, behind the drywall.

Speaking of speakers, we also had outdoor speakers prewired on the back porch.  Now those aren't three speakers, ha.  The one on the left end is the new wiring for a speaker, the middle one is one light, the next one is the ceiling fan (middle of the porch) and at the other end is another light and the second speaker.

All the doors were wired for an alarm system...

...as were all the windows.

What is this?  Another speaker?  No, this is in the foyer and it is called a wireless access point or WAP.  This enables devices to connect to a wired network without wires, extending the reach and providing internet access to devices like laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.  It works like a gap between what you have plugged in and wireless devices.

Speaking of, not to forget outside, this bundle on the wall is on the screened in porch, it will be an outdoor WAP, so that any outdoor wireless devices we might have will have coverage and connection.

Oh, and there's the other porch speaker, ha. 

What is this wire for?  It's for one of several outdoor cameras.  Realistically, again, we just figure this is the best time to do anything like this, it will save work and expense later on.  We'll eventually have cameras to keep an eye on things should we be out of town on vacation but what we really want is a real time, 4k HD way to watch deer and other wildlife!  They will be high tech versions of our trailcams!  It would be so cool to be at work and see deer roaming around or bunnies or bobcats or anything that might roam through and we can figure out what we have happening and plan ahead for the next visitation, ha.

It all terminates here in the closet in the study.

All of this will make the house smarter and we figure it is better to do it now while the walls are open so it can be done easier and cheaper.  We want to make not only working from home easier, but also using internet-connected devices like our Alexa, a Ring doorbell, etc work smoothly without losing signal.  Why the outside one?  One thing I will have for sure is a weather station and this will ensure that the data gets transmitted to the house even if the station ends up being far away in the yard.  There are even smart lights that we can use for outdoors lighting around the barn and shed that we will be able to control from inside the house.  If we have a driveway gate in the future, we can control it from inside as well. 

We are, in a sense, future proofing the house for things that we need now and new things we (or future occupants) might need later on as things change.

Next time, sliding door installation!