Once you have settled on the colour selection and tender process for your new home, you’ll be ready to ‘power’ through your electrical appointment. Planning for the electrical and lighting aspects is vital when you build a home because it improves the liveability and achieves a smoother build journey.
Just think: every time you charge a laptop, turn the dial on ambient lamps when entertaining, switch on the bedside lamp to read a book before falling asleep, vacuum a room, charge your power tools, or plug in the slow cooker for a hearty meal to be ready by dinner time – you’ll be grateful you put careful consideration into your electrical and lighting decisions.
Here are some helpful tips to know during the design phase before your electrical appointment.
FURNITURE CONSIDERATIONS
Where will your furniture be placed?
While planning for the electrical and lighting aspects of your home, it’s important to consider your floor plan and note your future furniture placement. Specify where you intend to place key furniture pieces and appliances in each space, which will in turn determine where you need access to electrical and lighting. You don’t want to be short on powerpoints or find yourself reaching for the extension cord in your new home to make up for poor planning. And you certainly don’t want to be spending money and effort to fix these issues down the line.
POWERPOINT PLACEMENT
As a new home builder, how do I know where the powerpoints should be placed?
It’s tricky to imagine how you will live in a home day-to-day when you are simply looking at the floor plan as a two-dimensional drawing. In real life, there are so many living spaces and nooks that will benefit from clever power placement with data points and powerpoints. For example:
Think of the hallway when it’s time to vacuum the floor each hour/day/week (depending on which family member is creating the mess).
What about the home office for charging and running all your office equipment, as well as the kids’ school and play devices?
Think about appliances that you use that may need a dedicated powerpoint, such as adding a powerpoint in the broom cupboard to allow for charging of cordless vacuums.
Don’t forget the option to wall mount a TV in the living room, theatre space or master bedroom without unsightly cords hanging down the wall.
Consider the placement of your Christmas Tree or decorative Christmas lighting outside, and if any additional powerpoints are required to power them into enviable action!
If you have small children, consider if you will need a powerpoint in the hallway outside their bedroom to place a sensor night-light for when they need to get up in the night-time!
PRE-WIRING
What are the benefits of pre-wiring?
Smart homes of the future will boast an array of pre-wired features to help make life easier, comfortable and enjoyable. The best time to consider pre-wiring is during your electrical appointment, especially for double storey homes where these features are installed during the framing stage of the build process. Pre-wiring also helps to reduce the number of exposed wires in the build for a more seamless and stylish finish.
Some of the features you can pre-wire include:
- audio and entertainment - home theatre effects (e.g. in-ceiling speakers, surround sound systems, HDMI cables)
- home security – CCTV System pre-wire
- cables - for the phone, Wi-Fi, TV, and more!
LIGHTING FUNCTIONALITY
What part does lighting functionality play?
Your lighting plan explains to your builder how each area of your new home will function with a different lighting style. For example, there are three main functions for lighting:
- Task lighting, such as for preparing food on the kitchen bench
- Ambient lighting to provide a soothing lamp glow, such as when reading books in bed
- Accent lighting, such as to feature a stand-out artwork on the wall
There is often the quandary: whether to choose between LED downlights or pendant lights? The two lighting options have such different styles and functionality (downlights for task lighting, while pendants are an ambient touch). But the good design news is that you can use both lighting options in a space as they complement each other and co-exist happily without fuss.
CEILING HEIGHT CONSIDERATIONS
Why is ceiling height important?
You may have noticed that raked ceilings are increasingly being designed as wow features in new homes, which reminds us all of the importance that ceiling height plays when it comes to a light’s brightness factor! The higher your ceiling is, the dimmer your lights will be due to the distance from the floor. The solution here is to compensate for any loss of light by adding more downlights, because of strength in numbers!
POST-HANDOVER
What electrical and lighting decisions should I consider post-handover?
When creating your electrical and lighting plan it helps to consider what developments you might make to your new home post-handover. For example, you might decide to build a pool, which will require at least two double powerpoints outdoors to service the filter and pump, depending on the type of pool (and a third for a heater, and a fourth for a light!).
There may also be upgrades you want to make internally, such as adding a ceiling fan to a room or having the option of a pendant light or downlight in a nook space. Having provisioned for this during your build will make the job easier and more affordable. And this type of planning is particularly important for a double-storey home build because access to the ceiling space of the ground floor can be challenging once the build is complete.
With these tips to help you prepare for your electrical and lighting plan, you’ll be helping to achieve a smoother build and a more convenient lifestyle.