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Start With Wiring When Making Technology Features Standard
By Michael Stram, Stram Electronics' Home Theater Gallery
One would be hard-pressed to find a new car that does not come with a multi-speaker audio system, climate control, power windows, power locks, anti-lock brakes and other features that years ago were considered optional.
The auto industry’s shift from offering technology as options to one of making it standard in most models is something worth considering for home builders seeking to make a dent in today’s market.
Home buyers today are more in tune with technology than ever before and offering more home technology features as standard rather than options may just well be a deciding factor in turning shoppers into buyers.
Also working in the builder’s favor is the fact that, though home buyers know what technologies they want in their home, they rely on their builder or architect to help them accommodate their needs.
How to Make the Wiring Cost-Effective
Whether a builder decides to offer more technologies as standard or keeps them as options, the basis for providing these technologies to home buyers is the wiring.
Builders should consider the following first when offering or providing home technology features to their buyers:
- Use an Electronic Systems Contractor (ESC) to Wire Your Homes
Partner with an electronic systems contractor (ESC) who is qualified (CEDIA-certified) and operates in the same market niche you do. One easy way to discern the ESC’s market is to see if his showroom reflects the same type of quality and products you have in your homes. Also, when interviewing ESCs for the first time, discuss how they will represent you when working with your clients and what services they will provide.
- Use Generic Wiring
When putting your home technology plan together with your ESC, make sure the ESC will install generic wiring in your home, and not just the proprietary equipment they might also sell. Your wiring should be generic enough to allow your home buyers to select equipment and services from any provider or manufacturer.
- Wire the Home Before the Walls Are Up
This can’t be stressed enough. The wiring in your homes is the foundation for the home technologies most consumers want. Offering technology as a standard or an option requires plenty of pre-planning. Putting the wiring in before drywall eliminates the need for builders and home owners to carve up their new home to add a particular technology and the wiring to support it.
- Know Where Both Ends of the Wire Lead
You may know that the end of the wire sticking out of the ceiling is for a ceiling speaker or that the end of the wire in the outlet box is for the TV outlet, but do you know where the other end of the wire is?
- Keep the Outbound Wire Runs as Short as Possible
Locate the structured wiring panel in a central location to keep the outbound wire runs as short as possible to cut down on costs. Also, put an equipment rack to be located right in front of it. Add a 20-amp dedicated electrical circuit and ventilation and then run all your low-voltage wiring to this location — including alarm system cables, telephones and intercoms, doorbells and satellite dish wiring and other technologies.
- Get Involved and Increase Your Knowledge
Don’t leave home technology completely in the hands of your contractor provider. Get involved. Understand what you clients want, what their options are, what you provide — and know enough about home technologies to answer you prospective owner’s questions. In this situation, your ESC should be more of a partner with you — helping you choose and market the technology options.
The tips above offer the simplest and least expensive way to connect all of your home technology systems to each other ― and to provide you and your potential home owners with the most technology options.
Installing wire this way enables you to put in place a system that will give you the flexibility to offer your clients home technologies that are popular in your market as standard equipment — and to help you sell your homes.
Michael Stram is the founder of Stram Electronics' Home Theater Gallery, an electronic systems contracting firm in Tampa, Fla. For more information, e-mail Stram, call him at 813-831-855 or visit www.HomeTheaterGallery.com.
This article is by CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association).
 Information About Home Technology Available From HTA
The Home Technology Alliance (HTA) is a partnership between NAHB and the Custom Electronic Design Installation Association (CEDIA) that was formed to position the housing industry to effectively meet the growing home buyer demand for home technology and provide maximum return on investment in the new home building and remodeling process.
For more information, visit www.nahb.org/HTA.
 CEDIA: A Source for Electronic Lifestyles®
The Custom Electronic Design Installation Association (CEDIA) is a founding sponsor in the Home Technology Alliance and an international trade association of companies that specialize in designing and installing electronic systems for the home.
CEDIA members are established and insured businesses with bona fide qualifications and experience in this field.
For more information on CEDIA, visit the association’s Web site at http://www.cedia.org/. To view the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles® Finder Service, click here.
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