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Ask Slashdot: If You Were Building a New Home, What Cool New Tech Would You Put In?
An anonymous reader writes: I am starting the process of building a new home, and I would like to make the house as wired (or wireless) as possible. At this stage I can incorporate new tech in the design. What features do you have in your house that you just couldn't live without? What features are nice to have? What features do you want? In-home Fiber? Solar? Audio/Visual? Heating/Cooling?
I would try to get my heating and cooling costs as low as possible. Something similar to the Passivhaus standard. I might not be strict to the standard if the cost benefit becomes too extreme. I would probably also use some sort of geothermal system as well.
When the power goes out, it would be nice to have some sort of battery backup and/or renewable source of electricity on hand. I also like the EPA certified wood stoves that are now available, like those made by Quadra-fire. They're much more efficient than old fashioned stoves, and don't require electricity. However, their output is likely too high for a house that meets the Passivhaus standard.
What can I say, I work in the energy field. Saving energy is fun to me.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Wire runs. You can change cabling later or run new cabling if the runs are in place
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If the house has an open attic or basement I'd do all 3/4" EMT conduit stubs for all services, be they power, data, whatever, so that there's no in-wall problems later. I'd attempt to anticipate the locations of televisions, speakers, computers, wireless access points, and anything else that might use a cable and plumb the necessary number and size of conduit for the necessary power and data requirements.
I'd install a central vacuum system. It could be used for cleaning and for a tech bench to clean up dust when working on things, and with a proper filter might make for a good soldering station to get the fumes away. I would also run 1/2" or 3/4" soft copper in a giant loop above each room, probably "K" or maybe "L" rated, that could be hooked to an air compressor for things like cleaning, airbrush panting, etc.
I'd define an MDF and run several service-entrance conduits from the expected service-hookup locations on the outside of the house, so that whatever subscribed, hard-line services come, there won't be a need to drill more. Probably 1" conduit.
I'd use all 20A circuits for all electrical outlets. Circuits would not cross rooms. Some rooms would get more than one if they have more than ten outlets.
I would completely skip on consumer-grade faucets. Chicago Faucets or T&S Brass everywhere.
Behind the main panel I would define a room that could be a battery/inverter room. It would be climate controlled.
I would plan on running Ethernet everywhere. I would install conduit to later let me place cameras on the outside of the structure if I was at-all concerned that they'd be needed.
I would look into those windows that are effective large single-pixel LCDs, so that one can turn-off the view by applying power to the window.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I built a custom home a few years ago.
A few tips:
- Cat6 everywhere. At least 4 near every TV/Receiver
- In wall/In ceiling speakers in all rooms These should be tied into setups for receivers in most rooms. For the dining room (if you have one), kitchen, patio, and other areas you wouldn't want a receiver, have them go to the basement. When you buy receivers, make sure they have a cat5 input so that you can control them remotely.
- Wire for central alarm system for fire alarms, burglar.
- Wire the front door for a video camera. You don't need to install it, but having the wiring done is a nice thing to have just in case.
- Run empty pipes to each room from the basement or attic so you can pull wire easier in the future.
- Have your basement ceiling be 1 foot higher than your first floor ceiling. It costs little to do in the planning stage, but makes the basement look humongous when you finish it.
- Just before they drywall everything, take pictures of every wall. This is your x-ray vision for the future.
- 240V/30A line to the garage. Who knows, you may get an electric car in the future.
- Have one closet on each floor which has a power outlet and cat6 cable.
- Central vacuum. Once you have it, you will never go back.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
I would look at alternatives to having a "lawn" in the first place. In almost any climate, there are a lot more productive ways to use your land than raising an eternal crop of stuff you just cut and throw away. Put that surface area to work, harvesting solar energy in some way, even if it's nothing more than composting your grass clippings to feed a backyard garden.
Also, look into "integrative" housing design, which means a more holistic approach based on first principles, rather than tweaking the status-quo with than latest gizmos. For example, if you spend enough on insulation, you might not need a heater in winter, and end up with a lower total capital cost. Or by including a water feature, combined with appropriate shading and ventilation, you could reduce your summer A/C bills by 90 percent, and thus save a bundle on the A/C capacity to install. There are lots of people preaching this sort of thing, but the most prominent voice among them is probably Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.
As for your lawn look into permaculture. There's a ton of stuff on YouTube about this, and numerous blogs, groups, etc... Basically, you can set up your yard to be a "food forest" that naturally produces food, year round, at no cost and with very little maintenance. Checking out this trend will be very worth your time.
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You missed the Mythbusters episode where they proved the toothbrush got just as much fecal coliform on it when stored in the Kitchen as did the one in the bathroom, didn't you?
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