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"Smart Home"
One of the pleasant surprises that I found in Haus Von Kaiser is the presence of in wall speaker cable for several of the rooms. I’ve long wanted to make a whole house audio system, and since the hard part was already done I figured I’d make it happen. The two problems: The cables were tucked behind blank wall plates, and I didn’t know where they ended.
I assume the cables were just pulled from behind the plates, because there was enough cable in there to pull out to a speaker. I really prefer to have a cleaner look, so I installed double post speaker plates on these so I can use banana plugs on my speaker cables.
I have a shelf built into the rise from the dining room to the kitchen, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I’d find my cables back there. I could see some of them running along from the crawlspace next to the shelf. The problem was that there was no way to run cable through the shelf. I pulled it out and found what I was looking for.
Lucky me, a previous owner even ran a double gang outlet box back behind there. I’m not sure why none of this was exposed so as to be usable, but that’s easy enough to fix. On the back of the shelf, I installed a wall plate with speaker posts for each of the wires, plus an extra post for asub, which I’ll add later. I installed a new double gang outlet box and moved the outlets from the existing box to this one. I used the old box for a junction to run the power line.
I covered everything up and plugged in my receiver. I connected the system to my HTPC for iTunes via an Airport Express. It works like a champ. Now I can use my phone to control the music, and listen pretty much anywhere in the house. Here’s the finished look.
I’m crazy picky about wires. I hate it when I go to do work on a network or a home theater and I’m presented with a rats nest of cables, making it impossible to sort things out. Also, I like to keep things out of site as much as possible. This not only looks nicer, but it also keeps things tucked away where they won’t be damaged by pets or moving furniture, etc.
So, I decided to make one of my first home improvements a structured media center. This is basically like a junction box that brings together the most basic phone and network components in my home. I can use it as a tidy place to bridge things together, and keep it all tucked away safely when it’s in use.
To begin, I’ll be using the media center to house my DSL modem, my wireless router, and a telephone distribution panel. It makes sense to have all of these components in the same place since they all need to be connected. I also have my Insteon Smartlinc Controller housed here, and my AT&T microcell will be nearbye. Eventually I’ll be adding a small network patch panel for any network ports that I run for ethernet in the home.
Installation was pretty straightforward. I found the studs and cut a whole with a drywall saw to match the box. I recessed the box and attached it to the studs. Then I pulled in the phone line and ran power from a nearby outlet. Voila. Everything in one box. I was a little bit concerned that my signal quality would suffer on the wireless router, but it’s nice and strong, even with the metal cover over the panel.
Next I’ll be adding a UPS to ensure that my cell phone still works when the power goes out.
Josh’s Blog- Design Patterns: Observer November 9, 2012
- Design Patterns: Singleton November 3, 2012
- CentOS Setting Time with NTP Date October 16, 2012
- Kate’s Blog
- bear peak v2.0 May 19, 2013
- Kaia at 11 months May 17, 2013
- morning hikes May 16, 2013
