Planning a Smart Home Before Your Fit-Out Starts

Cables cost little while walls are open and a lot afterwards. This checklist shows what to decide before your fit-out contractor starts.

The most expensive smart home mistakes are made before anyone thinks about smart homes: when the electrical drawings are approved and the walls are closed. Here is what to settle early.

1. Write a brief about life, not devices

Who lives in the house? Which rooms are used daily and which only for guests? What annoys you in your current home — dark corridors, too many switches, a hot living room? What should happen when you leave for the summer? These answers define the system far better than a list of gadgets.

2. Decide the "backbone"

Will lighting be wired to central dimmers? Which platform? That decides the cable types and where they go. See how to choose a platform.

3. Reserve a technical room

Network equipment, amplifiers, controllers and lighting modules need a ventilated space — a small room or a large cabinet — with power, cooling and cable routes from every floor.

4. Plan the windows

Motorized shades need ceiling pockets, power and control cables. Agree on this with the interior designer before ceilings are drawn.

5. Keypad and panel positions

Fewer, smarter keypads instead of rows of switches. Agree heights and positions with the designer so they align with furniture and finishes.

6. One drawing for all trades

The electrician, the AC contractor and the integrator must work from the same drawings. Otherwise AC units arrive without the right interface, or a speaker ends up behind a beam.

7. Spare capacity

Empty conduits and a few spare cables to key points cost little now and save chasing walls later.

Get these seven points right and the rest of the project goes smoothly. Send us your drawings — we review them for free.