Home "extras" and gadgets

[lucas80]

Not a gadget, but, as suggested a whole house fan in a temperate area like Eastern Iowa can be a huge savings over running the a/c. I grew up with one and wish I had one in my current house.
Fire pits seem to be all the rage right now. I have several friends who have built large stone patios with fire pits. They never use them.

 

[linkshero]

Broke down and installed a Nest Gen III last night.

Honestly, other than the fact two fitty is a little redic for a thermostat, I'm not sure why I didn't do this a long time ago. It took about 5 minutes to install, and another 5 to program. Now, I get to enjoy messing with the family when they are lounging around the house, and I'm hard at work.

It's basically an iPhone for your HVAC, and I hate IOS, but I liked everything else about it. I know someday when Skynet takes over, I run the risk of having a slightly hot, or cold house, but I guess I'll risk it. The really cool thing for the cats around here, is that on the App, it's really easy to organize the HVAC on all your vacation homes, so you can keep track of them when you are busy getting your freak on in Amsterdam.

 

[The Tradition]

Outdoor electrical outlets strategically mounted near the eaves and lower corners of your house for Christmas lights.

 

[Joes Place]

Are you in an area you need a water softener?

If so, and it will be in the basement with your HVAC stuff, consider putting in a closet somewhere above that area of the house; put in a tile or something in that closet with 3" or 4" PVC running down to the softener. Then you can just drag the 40# bags of salt to that closet, open them, and pour it down into the softener w/o having to carry downstairs. This is a really nice feature for older people.

Also, if you are building a house you think you will retire in, consider making at least one bathroom handicapped accessible or convertible (e.g. walk-in shower, space for wheelchair access to a toilet)

Another nice option is to put a small recess in a main living room or den ceiling (a small shelf around the room with slightly higher ceiling). You can run rope-lighting along those that you cannot see, but provides very nice backlighting in the room.

Don't cut costs on your roof/shingles. Most contractors will try to underbid using the cheapest product. Get hail/wind resistant shingles as they are a small cost upgrade compared with the cost of the work. And,you'll get an insurance break for them every year on your premiums.

 

[B1GDeal]

Nest can be done later. No reason to do this upfront and pay a premium to HVAC people. Look at Ecobee as well as they have sensors available. Go with Nest for your smoke and CO. You'll be Happy you did.

Ethernet all over, even where you have want phones. Take it all back to one central location. Have some run to outdoor soffits. Set for outdoor AP later.

Don't forget drains in garage. Not a gadget, but still ......

How are the Nest Smoke alarms. We have a house a year old with whatever brand smoke detectors the builder installed and they suck. The one in the kitchen goes off all the time while cooking... and there isn't even smoke. I am assuming the opnes installed are low-end crappy ones and that I can replace with something better to avoid this while cooking.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

Breaking ground on a new home in a couple months. I've found some things I'm looking forward to install with the build instead of down the road. Here's what I have so far - any additions would be appreciated.

Central vac - no brainer

Ethernet wired throughout the house. Realtor thinks I'm nuts, but I want smart TVs and don't care for wireless

Bluetooth locks and garage door

Nest thermostat - needs to be top of the line. I've never had a thermostat I've been happy with

External gas lines - definitely for grill, potentially for fire pit

Geothermal - still trying to figure out cost. Lots of options but seems like a no brainer in a house well stay in at least 10 years.

USB ports in outlets

Others?

You don't use a programmable thermostat with geothermal.

 

[HawkFantastic]

How are the Nest Smoke alarms. We have a house a year old with whatever brand smoke detectors the builder installed and they suck. The one in the kitchen goes off all the time while cooking... and there isn't even smoke. I am assuming the opnes installed are low-end crappy ones and that I can replace with something better to avoid this while cooking.

I have 1st Gen and have no issues. The 2nd Gen are better and smaller. I don't have false alarms and I love the motion sensor night light feature. It's not very bright, but bright enough to stagger around in the dark. They are quite a bit higher priced, but I love not having false alarms. They have both battery and hard wired variety.

 

[B1GDeal]

I have 1st Gen and have no issues. The 2nd Gen are better and smaller. I don't have false alarms and I love the motion sensor night light feature. It's not very bright, but bright enough to stagger around in the dark. They are quite a bit higher priced, but I love not having false alarms. They have both battery and hard wired variety.

How easy are they to install? Do you just plug them into the spots where the current detectors are located?

 

[bagdropper]

Four things, variations of what's been suggested.

1) ATSC antenna - when I re-sided my house, I added a valance in the back of the side of the house to do a side-mount outdoor antenna, and pre-wired for a rotor and coax. I get 23 channels free of charge and can cut the chord and still have 100% free TV if I ever choose. The reason I say go outdoor is attic antennas tend to not always work well and the axiom with ATSC is the higher the better, and as little in direct line of site (such as shingles etc...the roof) as possible. The rotor wiring...sometimes ATSC antennas need fine tuning, sometimes stations put up entirely new towers, etc.

2) go cat 6...more speed, Scotty.

3) pre-wiring for speakers...personally, only one room needs to pre-wire for surround sound. Any other rooms, just go stereo.

4) pre-wire a LOT of coax. Run a line to every bedroom, every room that might someday have a TV. Go RG6. Have a collection point - an entry spot for the whole home where everything collects inside the house so when cable/DSS enters the house, all the gizmos that come with it (distribution amps, splitters etc) are inside, not out. Then if you are doing ATSC, double up on your cabling to every room...you'll just include a wall outlet with two coaxes and ethernet coming out - one for free antenna, one for cable/DSS receivers as required, one for wired internet.

 

[bagdropper]

Four things, variations of what's been suggested.

1) ATSC antenna - when I re-sided my house, I added a valance in the back of the side of the house to do a side-mount outdoor antenna, and pre-wired for a rotor and coax. I get 23 channels free of charge and can cut the chord and still have 100% free TV if I ever choose. The reason I say go outdoor is attic antennas tend to not always work well and the axiom with ATSC is the higher the better, and as little in direct line of site (such as shingles etc...the roof) as possible. The rotor wiring...sometimes ATSC antennas need fine tuning, sometimes stations put up entirely new towers, etc.

2) go cat 6...more speed, Scotty.

3) pre-wiring for speakers...personally, only one room needs to pre-wire for surround sound. Any other rooms, just go stereo.

4) pre-wire a LOT of coax. Run a line to every bedroom, every room that might someday have a TV. Go RG6. Have a collection point - an entry spot for the whole home where everything collects inside the house so when cable/DSS enters the house, all the gizmos that come with it (distribution amps, splitters etc) are inside, not out. Then if you are doing ATSC, double up on your cabling to every room...you'll just include a wall outlet with two coaxes and ethernet coming out - one for free antenna, one for cable/DSS receivers as required, one for wired internet.

 

[HawkFantastic]

How easy are they to install? Do you just plug them into the spots where the current detectors are located?

Should be fairly easy. Remove old detector and the mounting plate. The Nest ones have their own mounting bracket and it doesn't even have to be level on 2nd gen model. They're instructions in the box that's pretty self explanatory. You will need the Nest app on your phone to get it configured.

I have 3 of the detectors. Install and configuration of each was 10 to 15 minutes. What I don't know is if the Nest Thermostat is necessary to use the protect.

 

[artradley]

Buy a house on a golf course.

Pay people extra so they can tell you when your garage door can be open.

Buy a four-door truck, because the type of guy who buys a truck is typically into car-pooling to the job site.

Back your car into your driveway so you can better show your dumbass neighbors what you drive.

Make your garage doors the most prominent, forward-facing aspect of your home.

Do not get me started on that! One of the selling points of the community we just bought into was that all of the houses have side-entry garages, so you don't see a single garage door.

As for other suggestions, I highly agree with:

• Ethernet. What fool realtor doesn't think that's a good idea?
• 36" doors
• Water faucet at the stovetop
• Transfer switch (or just go all out and get a standby generator)
  

Others:

• Laundry room on same floor as master bedroom. That or a laundry chute.
• Plenty of electrical outlets outside

 

[Bulldogs1974]

If I were to go back in time i would have ran speaker wire to my deck.
others/suggestions:
1. Have your foundation and first floor be flat to roll in a wheel chair (if it will be your retirement home.)
2. Put some outlets in your soffit.
3. Make sure you have wide steps 48" in your house.
4. If you have kids. Put a door at the bottom in the basement. If not they are just echo chambers.
5. If you can have your exhaust that vent through the roof correspond to where your fridge is. That way you and have a wider wall to recess your fridge flush with your cabinetry.
6. spray foam, spray foam, spray foam. If you can't afford it at least get the box sill. Heck if you have a lot of kids I'd even spray the interior walls. Insulate the basement ceiling as a sound barrier. Make sure you adhere your canned lights and hvac well

7. Make sure your garage is big enough then add about 500 square feet.
8. If you insulate your garage well enough, infloor heat is not really necessary. Mine never drops below 40 degrees in the winter. Plus in never have to worry about leaving the garage door up. My previous home I left the door up 2x in one month because the cat ran out and ended up paying an extra 100 that month.
8 dig your geothermal deeper than they suggest. My neighbors all had their geothermal freeze 2 years ago because they are at the recommended depth for iowa. I dug mine 8' where it comes into my house and 12'-14' the rest of the way out into my yard. My temps coming in are much better and more stable than my neighbors. Never close to freezing.
9. More Geo: run a water line off your main coming into the house with a valve that you can control to water your geo lines. This will also come in handy if you need to run the water in the winter and have a septic tank.
10 make sure you check your electric provider for all rebates and government rebates.
11. put a crap load of rock around your foundation/formadrain. also use the fabric to prevent the soil from leaching through plugging up your drainage. May not make a difference the first few years but it will eventually.

 

[Lone Clone]

If I were to go back in time i would have ran speaker wire to my deck.
others/suggestions:
1. Have your foundation and first floor be flat to roll in a wheel chair (if it will be your retirement home.)
2. Put some outlets in your soffit.
3. Make sure you have wide steps 48" in your house.
4. If you have kids. Put a door at the bottom in the basement. If not they are just echo chambers.
5. If you can have your exhaust that vent through the roof correspond to where your fridge is. That way you and have a wider wall to recess your fridge flush with your cabinetry.
6. spray foam, spray foam, spray foam. If you can't afford it at least get the box sill. Heck if you have a lot of kids I'd even spray the interior walls. Insulate the basement ceiling as a sound barrier. Make sure you adhere your canned lights and hvac well

7. Make sure your garage is big enough then add about 500 square feet.
8. If you insulate your garage well enough, infloor heat is not really necessary. Mine never drops below 40 degrees in the winter. Plus in never have to worry about leaving the garage door up. My previous home I left the door up 2x in one month because the cat ran out and ended up paying an extra 100 that month.
8 dig your geothermal deeper than they suggest. My neighbors all had their geothermal freeze 2 years ago because they are at the recommended depth for iowa. I dug mine 8' where it comes into my house and 12'-14' the rest of the way out into my yard. My temps coming in are much better and more stable than my neighbors. Never close to freezing.
9. More Geo: run a water line off your main coming into the house with a valve that you can control to water your geo lines. This will also come in handy if you need to run the water in the winter and have a septic tank.
10 make sure you check your electric provider for all rebates and government rebates.
11. put a crap load of rock around your foundation/formadrain. also use the fabric to prevent the soil from leaching through plugging up your drainage. May not make a difference the first few years but it will eventually.

Did the cat come back OK?

 

[Joes Place]

4) pre-wire a LOT of coax. Run a line to every bedroom, every room that might someday have a TV. Go RG6. Have a collection point - an entry spot for the whole home where everything collects inside the house so when cable/DSS enters the house, all the gizmos that come with it (distribution amps, splitters etc) are inside, not out. Then if you are doing ATSC, double up on your cabling to every room...you'll just include a wall outlet with two coaxes and ethernet coming out - one for free antenna, one for cable/DSS receivers as required, one for wired internet.

WiFi really mostly eliminates the need for coax, anymore, but if this is something you really want to run, definitely go w/ RG6, as it's better for satellite hookups, lower attenuation

But make sure you get 75ohm terminations at all the 'outlets' in the house if you're going to start using it. Leaving those unconnected can result in LOTS of reflection noise through the whole setup, and significantly degrade your signal. Any unused connector should have a 75ohm termination on it. Also, not all coax and splitters, etc are the same quality, so if you are putting them in places they will not be easily accessible/replaceable, put in good quality ones.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

Did the cat come back OK?

Only got 1 out of 2 back.

 

[Joes Place]

7. Make sure your garage is big enough then add about 500 square feet.

LOL!!! Nice!

Also, consider putting in a central floor drain/grate in the garage (if you are where there's lots of snow/road salt); If you also put in a garden hose outlet in the garage, you can spray off the salt and vehicle undercarriages anytime during the winter.

 

[moral_victory]

Some decent lighting, and watering system for your grow room.