The last few days in the house have been busy ones. Matt is busy putting up the last of the lath on the high ceilings in preparation for another BIG mud day with the concrete. Down below a team of electricians from C & S Electric have been busy finishing off the rough-in of all the wire and boxes. The big tangle of wires that were seemingly hanging from every ceiling and wall are now all tucked in place and trimmed. Today the guys were sorting out, labeling and tying all the wires in the mechanical room. The house is more complicated than the average. The first panel box to the left houses the electronics for the sewage system. The second will handle all of the communication data and controls including alarms, telephone, cable and internet. The third one from the left is our main 200 amp panel. It also feeds a sub panel on the other side of the house. The closest large panel box is the generator panel. In case of a power outage this will feed at least one light and plug in every room plus power for the heating system and kitchen appliances. There will be no need to huddle around a candle in the blackouts any longer. With all LED lighting we have incorporated into the house that uses so little power we could add a surprising amount of equipment to be run by the emergency generatior. Above this panel (not shown) is a large box containing all of the relays for the outside lights and plugs. With the new house operational we can finally celebrate Christmas with some creative light displays. For the last ten years we've not been able to plug in lights as the electrical system in the old farmhouse was not up to par and even bordered on dangerous.
The box above the light switch will house the program panels for the outside lighting and plugs. They will be fully digtal of course. Yet to come are all the electronic digital controls for programming various 'smart' systems in the house.
On the opposite wall will be the electronically programmed hot water heating sytem, both for domestic hot water and the infloor radiant heat.
It is a bit intimidationg to see all the fancy electronic and programmable systems - especially for a non-technical guy like me. They assure me they will set it all up perfectly and even train me how it all works. I'm still trying to get a handle on the old TV remote. :)
-grampa dan