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HOME WIRING FOR THE 21st CENTURY Think about the energy you’re using those evenings when everybody’s at home – stereos are blasting, TVs are blaring, computers are running, play stations are zapping, phone lines are buzzing. My how that can tax the knob and post electrical system of an old home."Probably 25 million households have more than one PC in the house, and people want to leverage their broadband connection," notes Bill Kenney, vice president of emerging home solutions for Sears and chairman of the Internet Home Alliance. Today’s home requires a sophisticated wiring system. How else can you support your 21st century lifestyle- multiple televisions, multiple computers, security systems, whole house audio, and a home theater system. The nucleus of this wiring system is called a hub. It lives in a cabinet about the size of your electric circuit breaker box and can live in a number of places in your home – usually near your circuit breaker home or in a closet. Be sure there are large enough circuits for extra (i.e. professional) gear in case the homeowner is considering doing the home office thing,” notes hi-tech Santa Monica homeowner David Javelosa. “Breakers may not be set high enough, especially if there is any electric heating. If breakers keep blowing, the main box might need to be upgraded. In the case of a home recording studio or computer lab, this consideration is important. The hub is where your cable, Internet and phone service enter your home at get distributed to individual rooms. Called "structured wiring," this is where the signals for cable TV, phone, and Internet data transmission get sent to every networked outlet. About 16% of new homes built in 2001 had structured wiring installed, according to Parks Associates; the number is projected to increase to 22% this year and to 50% by 2005. "Structured wiring will be like plumbing in the future," predicts Mark Flagg, vice president of Estridge Cos., a home-building company. "You'll just have to have it." Of course, with an existing home, upgrading to premium wiring means smashing through a lot of drywall. Other options for your can include wireless networking –which we’ll look into next week. The outlets for the structured wiring network typically have four jacks – known as "universal" or "quad" outlets - two for cable and one each for phone and data transmission. This structured wiring network can allow everyone in the household can check e-mail and surf the Web sat the same time. You can have as many as eight separate phone lines, and you can use the phones as an internal intercom system. Some of the magical time saving elements this box will let you perform are telephoning someone in a different part of the house (as opposed to yelling). Televisions can be networked so that you can watch a video upstairs, while another family member is watching a television program downstairs on the set with the VCR or DVD. Add a wireless router to your hub and you can check your e-mail or surf the Web in the backyard. Now that you're sold on the gray box, you need to find someone qualified to install your system. Your installer should be skilled in low-voltage electronics, including telephones, cable television, security systems and home theaters. The integrator must have additional training to network all these systems together properly. CompUSA started its "Digital Living" program two years ago and installs the networks in existing houses. Currently, Sears is testing its "Connected Home" program in California. Costs vary, depending upon the size of the network and the number of universal outlets but expect your base price to be in excess of $1,000. FYI - wired and wireless systems are not interchangeable. The frequency of cordless phones and microwave ovens can interfere with the transmission of your wireless signal, and, at this juncture, most consumers would not be happy with the quality of the video signal transmitted over a wireless system. Next week we will delve into wireless networking systems for you home.
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