Building a new house - what would you ensure was part of the plan?

[Zoidz]

Show me that you know how to terminate Cat8 and test it.

CAT8 is easy to terminate using tooless connectors. Certified Testing, that's an expensive tool - $15k for the FLuke!

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[Taco]

Oversized garage++ also do yourself a favor and use 2 conduit runs to your EV chargers just in case something happens and it allows you to upgrade to higher capacity if needed. Conduit is dirt cheap.

If you're doing network closet or something do a conduit from there to attic, make it at least 1"+ maybe even 1.5", that way if you want to run POE external cameras you have a way in / out of house plus you can also do a HD antenna as back up.

I have a conduit from my basement to attic, just pulled a fiber line through it for upgraded 2gb internet. Also pull more cat cable / drop then you think you need. At least two behind tvs unless you're cool with a small switch setup.

 

[Rade]

We did a 3-bay garage with 2 large garage doors. It has been MARVELOUS having the walk-around room around the vehicles. Gave me enough space for a workbench and for seasonal storage of crap without compromising on usable space.

We are in Rhode Island, on hindsight, I wish I would have done some form of in-slab heating.

We modified our home over the past four years to be as carbon neutral as possible - in-home upgrades to get off fossil fuels. Electric heat-pump for HVAC and hot water, solar (with battery). It's winter time now, I have the Rivian plugged in and set to recharge only when the solar is producing the most during the day.

 

[mwexler2]

This really complicates things depending on what system you end up with, especially if you want your PV to work while the power is out.

Unfortunately I can't recommend GM Energy's system anymore (obviously doesn't support bi-directional with a Rivian yet anyway).

My GM charger crapped out, with an error detailed as the pilot line being grounded out, after only a couple of months, and apparently the basic diagnostic step of swapping in an identical charge cable means I voided the warranty for "tampering". They're refusing to even help me on it. Really quite strange when I was allowed to install the entire system myself.

Not sure if necessary, but may consider battery system that **could** also take charge from a generator. When we put our solar in years ago, the batts weren't where they are now - I have a generator as backup. There are apparently now battery backups that will allow us to charge them from solar, grid or generator (in case you would ever add one) and which we will be installing.
My system is a couple of months from being all set up, but do some research before going with the Tesla Powerwall. They do allow charging from solar or grid, but if you want to use the generator you need to switch the solar, grid *and* battery off. Instead I’m going with the FranklinWH that lets me plug solar, grid, battery and generator into their gateway and do things like charge the batteries with the generator.
Out here in the forest it’s common to have multi-day outages when a storm knocks down trees onto power lines. Between short winter days, storm clouds and electric appliances including a heat pump, I’m worried about the batteries lasting through the night. So my plan is to use generator to top off batteries before going to bed.
Also hoping it will work with Rivian’s bidi charger.
Also might need to use solar + generator to power AC + washer/dryer + refer + stove/oven during summer PSPS.

Garage comments are spot on. I would also look at door height: our garage is big enough footprint, but "standard" door height which means we can not use a roof box on the SUVs (our 3 series station wagon can pull in/out and I lift the roof box off that car).

 

[gultin]

Hi all

Building a new house in Pagosa Springs - breaking ground in May this spring

Currently have planned for (2) L2 chargers in the garage

We currently have solar and batteries in PHX and will plan for future PV in the new house

If you were planning a new house what details would you add around EVs?

Cheers, Andy

Go for 5/8 inch drywall instead of 1/2 inch to make the entire home much quieter. Insulate the heck out of every space (incl. attic) to prevent energy loss.

Also, I'd go for 3 L2 conduits/runs if possible, and try to get the perfect angle (30 degrees?) on the roof portion that faces South, since angle matters a lot for PV. Maximize the area on that roof, without vents or other bits sticking out that can interfere with panel placement.

And this may be a bit early, but try to get bidirectional charging standard incorporated into your home from the get go:
https://electrek.co/2025/02/21/nema-bidirectional-ev-charging-standard/

 

[rjcarlson49]

Cat 8 Ethernet cabling throughout house and garage. Also, hardwired Sonos as well

I don't know why people keep doing this. There are very limited places where you need hard wiring anymore. A mesh network can give you gigabyte speeds everywhere in the house. Bring your cable connection to a AV closet and put your main router there. Most of your AV electronics stays out of sight in the AV closet. The places you still need wiring are to the TV and any speakers you install. I put in Atmos speakers in ceiling, RLC plus 2 subs in the front wall plus the surrounds. I don't know any wireless solution for those. The TV can be connected though HDMI, but that can be replaced with a Cat cable that's easier to run.

I spent my entire working life on networking software. Don't waste your time on decade old infrastructure.

 

[captainjp]

I don't know why people keep doing this. There are very limited places where you need hard wiring anymore. A mesh network can give you gigabyte speeds everywhere in the house. Bring your cable connection to a AV closet and put your main router there. Most of your AV electronics stays out of sight in the AV closet. The places you still need wiring are to the TV and any speakers you install. I put in Atmos speakers in ceiling, RLC plus 2 subs in the front wall plus the surrounds. I don't know any wireless solution for those. The TV can be connected though HDMI, but that can be replaced with a Cat cable that's easier to run.

I spent my entire working life on networking software. Don't waste your time on decade old infrastructure.

PoE

 

[rjcarlson49]

Hi all

Building a new house in Pagosa Springs - breaking ground in May this spring

Currently have planned for (2) L2 chargers in the garage

We currently have solar and batteries in PHX and will plan for future PV in the new house

If you were planning a new house what details would you add around EVs?

Cheers, Andy

This isn't EV related, but I am really glad I did this in our major remodel. First, spend some money on a lighting designer if you can. Then use smart dimmers for all your light switches. I kind of dismissed voice control for the house for a long time but now that we have smart switches almost everywhere, it's really wonderful. You can define multiple scenes that you can invoke with a voice command, one for reading, party, watching TV etc. You can also avoid the need for multi switches too (like different entrances to a room). With voice control I almost never use the switches themselves. I used Lutron RA2S stuff, but there may be others. Lutron also has shades that can be controlled in the same way.

 

[rjcarlson49]

PoE

I used to have some POE switches. What PITA. Lots of expense for very narrow use cases. They were handy for voice phones, but those are all land fill now.

 

[captainjp]

I used to have some POE switches. What PITA. Lots of expense for very narrow use cases. They were handy for voice phones, but those are all land fill now.

lol. Crestron

 

[Newtonrj]

I really wish I had a hose spigot in the garage. Washing the car outside is not ideal. In the summer the car dries too fast causing waterspots and in the winter it is too cold. Based on your location, cold probably isn't a problem, but where I live the winters are miserably cold and I would want my garage spigot to have both hot/cold water so I can give the car a nice warm bath in the winter.

I would also add a L2 charger outside of the garage for out of town guests to use.

If adding a hose in the garage, please, please make sure there is a drain underneath each vehicle stall. No one likes the drain between cars except for the contractor building your garage who thinks one drain in the middle of a two-stall is plenty fine. It is acceptable from a volume standpoint but not from a needs standpoint. The drain underneath the vehicle helps snow-melt go to the drain and not on your shoes/boots into the house and vehicles.

 

[Newtonrj]

We designed and built our house ~6 years ago. We provisioned for two level 2 chargers in the garage (one 60A, one 80A), both of which have chargers installed now (we also have a third charger in a detached garage, we're a three-EV household).

Non-EV specific things to recommend:
- Hot/cold water spigot near the garage for car washing (we live in the PNW, washing cars in the winter with warm water is a delight)
- Ethernet throughout the house - I was dumb and told myself "everything is wireless in the future", and decided to "save a little money" by not running ethernet in our house. Our house is three stories, and wifi coverage is very difficult with a Google mesh network. Not running ethernet is my only big regret with the house.
- If you're not doing solar now, consider provisioning for it either with the wiring, or even empty conduit. Easy to do when the walls are all open, and saves unsightly conduit on the outside of your house if you want to add solar later.

Enjoy it! Building a house was a ton of fun.

If adding Ethernet, insist on >CAT6. Do not allow them to do CAT5 as it will limit bandwidth growth later on.

And just because, add a 120VAC outlet to the attic with an adjoining CATegory port. It helps to mount an AP up there and covers all the floor just below, thus saving the need to put an AP in a specific room and limit to others on the same floor.

 

[Newtonrj]

Future-proof your connectivity with a big Structured Media Cabinet. Make it ready for Fiber-To-The-Home, coax, etc. Make sure there's an outlet inside it Run your CATx cables in *pairs* from it to key areas of the house, including the garage - fast, clean, overnight OTA updates!

Wherever the structured cabling service is terminated in the house, run an blue-flex tube with a pull-cord or twine to at least three spots in the house; the garage, the farthest bedroom/living room and the highest point in the attic. It is cheap insurance once the walls get sealed for adding a CAT or line-power add later. Doesn't happen in the first few years of ownership but later when the next expansion or renovation happens that you wish it was there.

 

[Newtonrj]

I don't know why people keep doing this. There are very limited places where you need hard wiring anymore. A mesh network can give you gigabyte speeds everywhere in the house. Bring your cable connection to a AV closet and put your main router there. Most of your AV electronics stays out of sight in the AV closet. The places you still need wiring are to the TV and any speakers you install. I put in Atmos speakers in ceiling, RLC plus 2 subs in the front wall plus the surrounds. I don't know any wireless solution for those. The TV can be connected though HDMI, but that can be replaced with a Cat cable that's easier to run.

I spent my entire working life on networking software. Don't waste your time on decade old infrastructure.

Because your demarc is going to not be in your living room(s). Because your data access mesh won't be able to cover into the garage from the basement. Because that dang storage array by your gaming PC needs a dedicated ethernet. And because the latency of multi-hop MESH is going to bother the snot out of you when the TV is playing 1/2 second faster than the WIFI speaker can keep up.

Not saying that every room needs to have Category but better to have some and use a bit than need a little and have none.

 

[Newtonrj]

Not mentioned yet and not data related but in your garage, treat the floor with a coating that is visually appealing but also has a mild grit or flake in it to prevent slip/falls. Helps with salt-cleanup, spills and is visually better than bare concrete.

Also, if interested, add a TV aerial to the attic to the living room TV space. Free TV for local weather, news and sports. Great backup during emergencies and the occasional need to find out about the happenings not mentioned by national news outlets.

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