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I am interested in any feedback from various areas of the country on the demand to add more comprehensive connectivity into new home construction. Is there a market for:
CAT 5 or 6 wiring to support computers, ISDN, other?
Satellite/CATV drops from attic to many rooms?
Ad hoc speaker wire ports throughout home?
Other?
Also – does this command a specific premium for the contractor (electrical, I assume) and home seller?
For those of you who respond, I’d appreciate knowing what area of the country your perspective covers.
Thanks in advance! TPB
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I recntly moved from Southern Illinois (near St Louis). In that area this kind of work was performed by specialty contractors. We were starting to see their booths at home shows, etc. I am in Arkansas now. No feel yet for interest in this kind of upgrade here but I am sure that it exists and sure that the materials are available. In my new house, currently under construction, I am providing entry conduit for CATV and phone lines. These terminate at a pannel where all of the lines home run. About as high tec as I get.
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I'm surprised that something as marginally high-tech as Leviton's X-10 stuff mounted in Decora styled components didn't seem to go over that well. I think the problem is that most people aren't aware of what the current state of the art is. And when they are, who would pay $75/month for an ISDN line when 56K modems or cable networks can satisfy most people. 'Nuf ramblin'.
*Thanks, Steve. I suspect your response will represent a lot of the country. We'll see.Tim
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Tim,
I'm a one-man outfit in the boonies in Central New York. I went looking for information and stuff to wire my own house for CAT 5 and RG6 for Satellite, and nobody at any of the electrical supply houses carries jack-sh*t. They stock the loose cable, but no structured cabling and none of the interface modules or patch panels or anything.
Then by odd coincidence, one of the electrical wholesalers has a flyer on the counter for an 18-hours-over-six-weeks course on how to install DataComm wiring. I'm two weeks into the course and learning what I need to know, but I get the definate impression it's still pretty limited to the commercial market at this stage here. I don't think they are doing much by way of residential installs yet.
Steve
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Steve:
The boonies of Central NY used to be my stomping grounds as a salesdude. I'm from the Berkshires in Massachusetts and had a route that extended through Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, East Aurora, Canandaigua, Gouveneur, Utica.... I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area now and sometimes miss the green hills, lakes and temperate climes. Oh, well.
Seriously - I'm interested in information on that course. Could you give me some contact info I can follow up?
Thanks,
Tim
*We recently built, near Philadelphia, a 3000 sq fthouse with audio and video distribution, a datanetwork and HVAC and lighting controls. Thebuilder and electrical sub weren't familiar withthe technologies or how to price them so theyonly did the prewire. One of the crew moonlightedto do similar work in the development, but weused an electronics specialty shop. They chargea labor premium and 30% product markup.As far as X-10 goes, the lifespan is just tooshort. We're using Lutron equipment and verysatisfied with the fit, finish and expectedlifespan.
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Most every house I've done has cable, phone and speaker to all rooms. Data only goes to "library/office/den" and master bedroom.
About half the houses go beyond this with dual RG-6 and dual 4-pair Cat-5, along with the above mentioned items, everywhere.
It'll sound ironic, but in many instances the homeowners best able to afford high-end home automation are the most likely to install it and the least likely to use it. They never learn how as they're always at work and spend so little time in their house!
I don't charge a big premium for this. A lot of this depends on the homeowner. When I got started down this track I installed what wiring the customer wanted. Typically there was a callback asking to fish new lines through the walls for those things they didn't originally want. Now, I prettty much install everything and bill what they requested. In each case, the homeowner has called back about running more wire. All I've had to di is show up and connect it, then billl for it.
Yes, I'm fronting a few hundred in cable up front, and I may or may not see a return on it down the road, but so far it's a gamble that has paid off each time.
I'm down in CT, BTW...
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I am interested in any feedback from various areas of the country on the demand to add more comprehensive connectivity into new home construction. Is there a market for:
CAT 5 or 6 wiring to support computers, ISDN, other?
Satellite/CATV drops from attic to many rooms?
Ad hoc speaker wire ports throughout home?
Other?
Also - does this command a specific premium for the contractor (electrical, I assume) and home seller?
For those of you who respond, I'd appreciate knowing what area of the country your perspective covers.
Thanks in advance! TPB