Electrical upgrades for new build?

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#3315646 3-Dec-2024 20:46

lxsw20:
For our new build I'm doing the CAT6 runs myself same with TV coax. I've got a S/H 6U rack which will be fine for my needs.

In wall HDMI from the TV to the credenza I'll do myself too.

We get 25 plugs with our build, so I've basically done it so they are spread around to spots where a second plug will be handy back to back for my partners father (electrician) to install. Not going USB plugs, as others have said they can be a bit average.

Our plug/switch range is PDL Iconic. We're just getting standard switches done for now, but at a later date I can put the zigbee switches in that they sell. I've asked for the downlights to be dimmable, even if we don't have dimmable switching for now, its easy to just change the switch over later.

We don't have an electric car at this stage, but I've asked for a 6mm cable to run to a standard 15A plug at the front of the garage. Once we get a car, we can change out the plug and put a dedicated charger there.

While there are a lot of good ideas in this thread, remember this all adds up so only do stuff if you can see a use for it now/in the future.

I get why you are sticking by the basic electrical package but do yourself a favour and pay the variation for extra outlets in the kitchen. You can make the rest functional with extension cords etc but a lack of outlets in a kitchen is a killer.

sir1963

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#3315647 3-Dec-2024 20:58

Handle9:

I get why you are sticking by the basic electrical package but do yourself a favour and pay the variation for extra outlets in the kitchen. You can make the rest functional with extension cords etc but a lack of outlets in a kitchen is a killer.

I have 6 double outlets in my kitchen...and one double outlet in the pantry (can opener)...oh and another on a corner cupboard/bench, spread across 3 circuits....oh and another for the fridge (and another one for the dishwasher)

2 have USB outlets, I also have an ethernet outlet there by the breakfast bar.

In the switchboard spread your kitchen across different RCDs, same with the Laundry.

lxsw20

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#3315655 3-Dec-2024 21:19

Handle9:
I get why you are sticking by the basic electrical package but do yourself a favour and pay the variation for extra outlets in the kitchen. You can make the rest functional with extension cords etc but a lack of outlets in a kitchen is a killer.

Most kitchen outlets are outside of the 25 plugs (oven/fridge/dw etc) but yes that is one of the areas that we are going big on as my partner is very into her baking.

PS to the OP spring for the pyrolytic oven - its worth it.

Scott3

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#3315759 3-Dec-2024 23:03

Feed from street.

Look up your local lines company fee schedule, and try and get connected for as much as you can without your daily fee getting excessive.

In Auckland you can have anything up to 100A three phase gets the same fees from vector, with the main options being:

60A single phase
100A single phase
60A three phase
100A three phase

I think vector requires a minimum of 60A three phase for rural / lifestyle subdivisions.

Personally I would try to get 100A three phase.

It's stupidly expensive to upgrade later.

Nice to have:

Outdoor power sockets. Just 2x double units fitted, one near where our driveway, one near our deck. Much more convenient than throwing a cord out the window.
Caravan / campervan socket. Nice to have if you are every going to have somebody stay with a caravan / campervan. Also the defecto power supply socket for sleepouts etc.
Fridge's and Freezers on their own dedicated circuits with RCBO's - reduces the odds of a fault taking down your freezer. (but as a counterpoint, an RCD trip caused by your secondary freezer could go un-noticed for an extended period)
Heaps of double GPO's (A pair of doubles is cheaper than a quad)
- Include some for your data cabinet.
- We have some inside our bathroom cabinets (for toothbrushes etc), in addion to ones in the open
- Every wall of every room (excl bathroom)
- Locations suitable for phone charging near beds
- Lots for the kitchen.
- A location to charge a stickvac
Have wires for power circuits sized so they can have 20A breakers (we have 16A breakers, and sometimes trip one)
Dedicated circuit for laundry (not shared with rest of garage like mine).
Some kind of higher powered outlet in the garage if you might want to run a welder, but compressor or similar
Work bench power

Fuels

I wouldn't bother with gas, diesel, wood etc these day's, and just go electric for everything (Excl BBQ, and my dream kitchen would have a single gas WOK burner fed from a 9kg bottle)

Systems

Hot water:
- Evaluate Heat pump & resistance electric
- I would go for the biggest dual element resistance electric water heater I could fit (ideally 400L), sitting on a drain pan. Bottom element wired to controlled power + a timer so you can time for off peak power, or solar production hours), top element wired to 24/7 power. Ideally 5kW elements. (in the future, I predict that peak / off peak power plans will become the norm, so being able to heat water in off peak only will be a big advantage)
- I would love one of those hot water systems with a loop and a pump, so hot water is just a couple of seconds away from any outlet.
- Alternately it is common for people to have a dedicated little hot water cylinder for the kitchen sink so they don't need to wait for water from the main tank.
- Could also consider a boiling / chilled water dispenser for the kitchen if you like that.
Kitchen expel air
- Ideally 1 size up from the cooktop, i.e. 120cm expel air for a 90cm cooktop
- Ideally the type with the remote fan (if you have the budget)
Bathroom Extractors
- ideally the type with inline fans
- Consider over-run times (stays on for 10mins after you turn the switch off).
Bidet / toilet
- We decided not to go this route with our recent renovation, but if you think you might upgrade to these in the future, have power run to somewhere near the toilet
- Again we didn't go this way, but it seems that odour extract systems from toilets like Odourvac are now on the market.
Laundry
- My dream setup would be dual washers and dryers, and / or a commercial style dryer. If either of these appeal you would need to make electrical provision
- Also would love a drying cabinet, typically they either need vented out, or a floor drain. Perhaps a little unusual in nz.
Underfloor heating
- I think this is fairly essential in locations where you have tiles
Towel rails
- Ampal amount
Heating / ventilation / Air conditioning
- We just retrofitted 4x spit units mainly for summer cooling in our poorly ventilated upstairs, and have stuck with passive ventilation. Retrofitting is quite a chore. Ideal if you can sort a great setup while the house is under construction.
- Our house is old and leaky, but for a modern house I would strongly consider active (balanced pressure) ventilation
Central vac
- Never had used one, but love the idea.
Outdoor heater
- If you have a nice outdoor area, a radiant heater (of future provision for one) would be nice)

Data:

Ethernet
- 4x to primary TV location
- 2x to secondly TV location
- 2x to every bedroom (and if there is not a logical desk location put a pair to every location where a desk might go.
- Lots to your office (I have 8, but that might be overkill)
- Ceiling locations where an AP might go.
- To every remotely likely security camera location.
- If you think you might have smart doorbells and the likes to every such location
Rack / cabinet
- I put a 24 port patch panel in one of those recessed data cabinet's, but if I did it again I would go for a full blown rack.
- Make sure there is a path (or conduit) to run fiber in to access your data area
- Ideally in a location where there is easy wire access from the cabinet to the rood or underfloor space.
TV.
- I know it's 2024, but I would still do UHF to TV locations (and perhaps sat to primary tv location)

Solar

The economics are getting really strong. Even if your time of use doesn't align, the likes of Octopus Energy has a 17c buyback rate.

Makes a lot of sense to do an install while the roof is brand new & the scaffolding is up.

But of course it is quite a capital outlay.

At minimum I would make provision for future solar and battery.

Future Proofing

Obviously need to strike a balance between cost and likelihood of use. My childhood house was future-proofed for ceiling fans (Now has heat pumps installed, so that won't be used ever), and was in an era future proofing for computes meant having a phone jack in every room (dialup era).

Ideally you would have oversized Circuit board & data cabinet, both in a location with easy access to roof or under floor spaces, so you (data) or a Sparky (power) can just run wires as needed.

If access is fairly good, consider using conduit to get wires through future impassable area's rather than pre running wires.

Consider future proofing for:

EV's - This is the big one - I would expect that households where every car is an EV will be common within 15 years. And I predict batteries will continue to grow.
- I would future poof for every off street parking space (up to your number of bedrooms +1).
- If I was pre-running wire, I would size if for 32A three phase. Three phase is becoming common, even the likes of the $31k GWM Ora supports 11kW charging at three phase. While EV's that charge faster than 11kW are fairly rare (cadillac lyriq, BYD E6 etc), wiring for 32A means single phase EV's (Old shape Kona etc), can charge at 7kW)
- If your Site electrical connection is small (60A), consider running data cabling to EVSE locations, so you can buy an EVSE with a CT clam and have it monitor your total site usage.
Spa pool - Ideally a fat enough wire to support 32A
Swimming pool (if you have space). Three phase ideally if you might have it heat pump heated
Under bench water chiller / boiler / cylinder
Any obscure stuff you might be into
- Pottery kiln
- Sauna
- Ice bath
- Wood / metal working gear like lathes

neb

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#3315770 3-Dec-2024 23:59

And as a corollary to the above, why would you need Cat goes-to-11? Most of the stuff people have hooked up to the Internet in their home would have trouble making an impression on a 10mbps link, leaving video streaming and the odd software download as the only thing that needs anything much faster, 100M or perhaps even 1G.

lxsw20

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#3315836 4-Dec-2024 11:13

Another nice to have is mirror demisters , they are pretty cheap and easy enough to add.

KiwiSurfer

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#3315843 4-Dec-2024 11:46

Outdoor plugs -- put it anywhere people might socialize outside. Good for plugging in big speakers for music, lights for gazebos, etc. Someone above also suggested this would be good anywhere you might want to throw a cable through the window -- it would have been nice if we added one near the car to make it easier to access power for vacuuming the car. Only concern is that if it is outside it may attract people to leech your power -- depending on how secure your property is this may or may not be an issue.
Agree with no USB on power sockets -- USB charging standards change every 3-5 years whereas you might keep the power sockets for a good 20-30 years. Not worth it -- just stick with standard power outlets and use the USB charger of the day.
Agree with no smart power sockets/switches/etc. This was specced by builders of our new build (I guess it is the fashion now to have smart everything) but I told them to only install standard power sockets and switches with no smarts/USB/etc. Hasn't been a problem at all -- and in fact it is peace of mind for me that there's no app or anything that can go wrong.
Put power sockets and Ethernet on useful sides of a room. One of my regrets with my recent new build is we ended up putting in a desk into the corner of the lounge where there is no Ethernet nearby as we never planned a desk to go there (but once we started moving in we realized it was the best place for the desk). So now my gaming PC relies on WiFi which is not ideal -- and not worth calling out a sparkie to add another.
No towel warmer -- we've never turned ours on which is a bit of a waste.
Four power sockets -- useful wherever you have TVs. Means you have enough sockets for the TV itself plus any extra devices e.g. gaming consoles, set-top boxes, etc. However my only concern (which I realized after the build) was that this means the devices are not surge protected. If I did it again I might just stick with the standard two plug sockets, and use Belkin power boards -- means I get both surge protection and plenty of plugs.
Power socket locations in laundry -- try and plan ahead for where it goes so it's not to difficult to access once you have installed the washing machine etc. The socket meant for the washing machine was installed right behind the machine -- but we ended up plugging it into a socket above the washing machine so it's easy to switch off when not in use. If I did it again I would have the sockets above the machines etc so it's easy to turn off/on at the wall.
Ensure power sockets are right next to the ethernet/antenna sockets. Our new build the sparkies put both close together in the master bedroom which was great as I got a cable organiser and Ethernet/power/antenna is all consolidated into one cable organiser up to the TV. However in the other rooms there is a good distance between power and Ethernet/antenna which makes consolidating all the cables into one organiser awkward.
For wall mounted TVs, consider coordinating the wall mount position and the power/Ethernet socket locations. Our build has the power/Ethernet right at the bottom near floor level, with cables running up to behind the TV at eye level. I wonder if it would have been better to have the sockets closer to the TV or even behind it.
If you have a network cabinet, check where the power sockets go. Our one is annoying as the power socket is the wrong way around for the chorus PSU. The chorus guy suggested plugging in a 4-way power board and plugging the chorus PSU into that as well as the router's PSU. Great for surge protection I suppose but would have been nice to be able to just plug both PSUs directly.
If you're planning a single router unit -- try and do at least 2 ethernet cables to a central location. This means you can use one for Cabinet->ONT in Cabinet->((CABLE 1))->Router in central location->((CABLE 2))->Switch in Cabinet for connections to other Ethernet ports. Personally I just went for a non-WiFi router in the cabinet which feeds all the Ethernet ports directly -- including one which has a WiFi AP -- which is what I recommend if you are up to settings things up that way.

All the best. :)

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Obraik

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#3315895 4-Dec-2024 15:54

Having built a new house in the last year, one thing we did was to go with a three phase connection. The price difference was pretty small (I think we paid $400 for the upgrade in Canterbury) but it future proofs for high-consumption. We already have an induction cooktop, ducted heat pump, hot water cylinder and EV that would already require planning to avoid popping the pole fuse of a standard connection if they were maxed out. A lot easier to do during the build than later.

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neb

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#3315990 4-Dec-2024 21:22

KiwiSurfer:

Outdoor plugs -- put it anywhere people might socialize outside.
Four power sockets -- useful wherever you have TVs.
If you have a network cabinet, check where the power sockets go.

Outdoor: Or where you might need to plug in outdoors machinery at some point. Heck, given the hassle involved in penetrating exterior walls and adding it later, just put one or two in in vaguely appropriate locations, particularly if there's a roof or other shelter there so you don't have to be extra careful about water. That's the one thing I overlooked in the basement, and can't retrofit it any more now.

Four-way: Consider that in a bedroom you'd typically have a bedside clock/radio/sound bar, reading light, phone charger, and electric blanket, that's your four sockets taken up without even adding any fancy extras. Also if you don't think you need four-ways somewhere put in horizontal two-ways that can later be upgraded to four-ways.

Network cabinet power: Consider getting a hardwired mains filter, so not a crappy MOV across active and neutral but a proper filter to protect all your networking and IT gear. The Casa de Cowboy has an Islatrol Elite IE-210 active tracking filter in front of the network cupboard power outlets.

sib106

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#3316003 4-Dec-2024 22:38

We've been enjoying our new house and electrical system for a couple months so can offer a few more thoughts on top of the good suggestions above-

Definitely work out any future outdoor needs and include spare wiring/circuits - pathway and driveway lighting, landscape lighting, outdoor kitchen, spa pool, etc.
If you have any attic or other extra space outside the building envelope that you still might use for storage, consider adding in lighting and powerpoints for future use.
Future proof for solar - spare ducts from the switchboard up to the roof space. Even if you're not ready now, it's a low cost to do now for what is a pretty strong likelihood in the future
+1 for all the folks saying no to USB plugs - the technology will change far faster than your overpriced socket!
If it's not too late, consider a quick read through the Lifemark design standards for universal design, specifically switch and powerpoint location. They're relatively small placement changes to make but could have a big difference for you or a future resident later in life.
If wall-mounting a TV, ensure the powerpoint (and any other cabling) is behind the future TV but not in the way of a wall-mount. This is a pretty simple check that our builders completely missed!
I am going to disagree slightly with the "no smart switches, plugs, etc" comments. We put in a couple Shelly 1 Plus and Shelly dimmer relays behind light switches as I am starting to dip my toes in the Home Assistant world. I haven't done much more than dip toes but we already want more Shelly relays. They add a lot of flexibility with what I've found to be a short learning curve - remote on/off, time of day, holiday routines, smart dimming, and I haven't even begun to touch most of the capability. Just my $0.02.

Scott3

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#3317450 6-Dec-2024 09:28

On surge protection, when we had our circuit board re-done, we had a surge protector added to it.

There are pro's and con's if you compare whole house surge protection to local surge protection, but this was a relatively small cost and I felt it was worthwhile to me.

I would be tempted to get the sparky to go one size bigger than their calcs show for the incomer. Will mean there is less voltage drop when high draw appliances are turned on. Not strictly required, and something a non-techy person isn't likely to notice.

Could also add a generator inlet socket & changeover switch (especially if you have or are planning to get get a car with vehicle to load).

sir1963

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#3317452 6-Dec-2024 09:37

LOTS of suggestions.

Depends if you are a Commercial building, a Prepper or just making reasonable cost effective installs such as extra Power points, extra lights, networking, etc for your home.

You could easily spend tens of thousands on stuff that will not improve your life, and never get used.
But if you have the budget and the desire to over specify then fill your boots lad.

chimera

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#3317592 6-Dec-2024 13:53

Dunno if it’s been mentioned, too many posts to read through, but run 12VDC to the top right corner of all your windows. You can then put 12VDC roller blinds or curtain motors in. I dropped this in my home after the fact, was doable with a freaking long auger bit, but challenging. Lucky I have a decent ceiling cavity to move around in. Ran them all back to a 12VDC distribution board.

olivernz

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#3318436 9-Dec-2024 16:37

Definitely put a cable in for solar. You can just do normal 220v wire if you use something like EnPhase.

For air tightness try and put all light switches and power sockets to inside walls. Every hole you make in the outside wall will cost you in heating. Small change but big effect.

Don't install satellite or aereals. Those days are over I hate pulling out that dang coax everywhere. Do run ethernet to under the roof so you can do something like Starlink if you ever want to.

Ethernet I'd say run a cable next to every power outlet even if you don't use them. Figure out where things are needed when you move in and then put the facias in. Also gives you enough redundance. Putting copper in now is cheap. Do NOT rely on Wifi.

Have one point in Garage or somewhere where networking goes to and is centralised. It should be where the fibre ONT goes.

Think about pulling in fibre if you think you need high bandwidth data to the office or something.

Oh and the one single most awesome thing is one of those instant hot water tap thingies in the pantry! We use it CONSTANTLY! It is just sooooo useful. With a timer so that it stays off when everyone is asleep.

Oh and Philips HUE lighting. Just simple, good and works. For the price I don't know a better system.

tweake

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#3318442 9-Dec-2024 17:03

olivernz:

For air tightness try and put all light switches and power sockets to inside walls. Every hole you make in the outside wall will cost you in heating. Small change but big effect.

that only works if you have hot roof setup. ie the insulation and air sealing layer is just under the roof and the attic is now conditioned space. i highly recommend it.

on normal houses it makes no difference as inside walls go up to the outside in the attic. the best bet is to simply seal around the cables and pipes coming through. ditto for under the house, often the kitchen bench, hand basin, laundry etc is open to under the house.

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