The home life in modern society needs not only to be convenient and comfortable, but also smart, entertaining, and secure. This requires a well-planned weak current wiring system within the home. The weak current wiring serves as the "nervous system" of the house, transmitting various circuit signals to different devices, thus fulfilling the aforementioned application requirements. However, an ordinary homeowner who is unfamiliar with this field might encounter some practical issues regarding weak current wiring. How should the weak current lines be arranged in newly renovated interiors, and what are the key points for wiring? The following necessary, optional, and elective weak current lines should be arranged in newly installed interiors:
1. Local Area Network System (Necessary)
The information network era has had a significant impact on home life. We should keep up with the times and set up a small local area network for our new home to meet the needs of family internet access, networked appliances, and remote network monitoring. Setting up a small LAN at home only requires applying for one broadband line, allowing each room to use computers for simultaneous internet access. Additionally, with the trend towards networked home appliances, network audio-visual centers, network refrigerators, network microwaves, and network video surveillance systems will gradually appear, all of which can connect to the network via nearby network interfaces.
Wiring Key Points: The LAN we are building is a star topology structure. Any node or connection cable failure will only affect one node. Install an RJ45 distribution panel module in the information access box for centralized control. All network socket lines are connected to the back of the distribution panel. The information access box should also have a small network switch, which connects to the front interface of the distribution panel via RJ45 jumpers. To reserve network information interfaces for current internet use and future networked information appliances, we need at least two network interfaces per room. One can be used for the network, and the other for the telephone, based on the requirements of network and telephone multiplexing and mutual line backup. Including RJ45 distribution panels, twisted pair cables, and RJ45 information modules, I will choose the currently popular super Category 5, which can meet both current and future needs.
2. Cable TV System (Necessary)
Home life may not just have one television in the living room; there should also be televisions in the bedrooms, especially now that large-screen LCD TVs have significantly dropped in price. Some families may need to update their TVs, and the original TV can then be moved to the bedroom. The cable TV system can transmit analog or digital phone signals, sending the signal to every room so that both analog TV programs and digital signal TV programs can be watched.
Wiring Key Points: For the home cable TV system, better materials should be selected, such as dedicated bidirectional, high-shielding, high-isolation 1000 MHz coaxial cables, panels, distributors, and amplifiers (needed when more than 4 branches). The distributor should be made of high-quality components marked with 5m1000MHz technical specifications. The cable should be the 75-5 type, four-shielded physical foam coaxial cable with good shielding against external interference signals, ensuring the signal level in each room; providing clear cable TV images without mesh pattern interference. Cable TV wiring is relatively simple. For ordinary commercial housing, installing a one-to-four distributor module in the home information box can distribute the incoming cable TV signal to the living room and various rooms.
3. Telephone System (Necessary)
Although mobile phones are now very common, people always tend to chase after various discounted tariff packages and constantly change phone cards. Mobile phones may also be lost, leading to unstable phone numbers. Landline phones do not have this problem, plus their fees are generally lower than those of mobile phones, so it's still necessary to install a landline phone in a new residence. Nowadays, small domestic one-to-four or two-to-eight mini telephone PBXs are very cheap, priced between 100 to 200 yuan, making it possible to install a small telephone PBX at home. After installing a small telephone PBX at home, only one external telephone line needs to be applied for, allowing each room to have a telephone. Moreover, internal calls can be made, and external lines can be dialed. Incoming calls cause a round-robin ring until someone answers. If it's not your call, you can press the room number on the phone to transfer it to another room. Small telephone PBXs in villas or duplex apartments can also be used as call buttons. Of course, there are also ordinary telephone voice module panels that accompany the information access box, but these panels can only share the incoming telephone line. When the phone rings, all phones ring simultaneously, and conversations in one room can be overheard by others, without any confidentiality feature.
Wiring Key Points: The telephone system and LAN system wiring follow our "multiplexing and dual backup" requirement and are wired together. The materials used for cables and interface sockets are the same. What differs is the connection method in the information access box. For telephone network twisted pairs, we use blue and white-blue color-coded wire pairs to make RJ11 crystal heads. If using a small PBX, directly insert them into the PBX interface; if using a regular one-to-many telephone module, insert the RJ11 crystal head into the telephone module.
4. Home Theater System (Optional)
The home theater system is the top choice for modern home entertainment. Building a home theater system should be a choice for many families. A home theater allows you to enjoy images as clear and colorful as in a cinema, with dynamic and live sound effects. Home theater equipment is divided into video and audio parts. The video part is a crucial link in the entire system, usually handled by a large-screen color TV or projector, where the projector requires wiring. The AV amplifier is the center of audio playback, characterized by multi-channel sound playback. Talking about multi-channel playback cannot be separated from surround sound standards. Popular surround sound standards today include:
1. Dolby Digital Surround Sound (5.1 channels);
2. DTS Surround Sound (5.1 channels);
3. DTS-ES Discrete Surround Sound (6.1 channels);
4. THX Surround EX Surround Sound (7.1 channels).
In a home theater, speakers consist of five, six, seven, etc., plus a subwoofer. The main speakers on the front left and right and the center speaker may not require wiring, but the rear surround and back speakers do.
Wiring Key Points: Home theater system wiring mainly includes video lines for projectors (such as VGA, component video, DVI, HDMI) and speaker wires. Since it's a top-tier home theater system, these cables have no splices, meaning they run straight through, with connectors and cables factory-made. Therefore, this wiring system operates independently, generally only wired in the living room or study. During design, accurately calculate the length of the wiring to purchase appropriately sized cables, ensuring enough reach and sufficient slack at the audio/video device center. When wiring, carefully wrap one end of these expensive cables with multiple layers of plastic, tie them with wire, then wrap again with electrical tape, and finally pull them through PVC conduits. One end pulls while the other pushes, avoiding brute force. Additionally, select slightly larger PVC pipes to ensure smooth pulling without twisting in the middle.
5. AV System (Optional)
AV is a combination of audio and video. DVD users know that signal output includes one video channel, one left audio channel, and one right audio channel. Generally, AV devices are in the living room. To enjoy these AV devices in other rooms, you need to connect the three types of lines mentioned above to each room through comprehensive home wiring. The AV system in the home includes DVD AV systems, satellite receiver AV systems, and digital TV AV systems. Through the AV signal transmission system, you can watch DVDs, satellite TV programs, and digital TV programs in other rooms without needing to buy multiple DVDs, satellite receivers, or digital TV boxes. AV signals can be transmitted to bedrooms, studies, bathrooms, kitchens, and other rooms.
Simple Wiring Points: The AV system only requires two network cables. The outlet panel is a three-hole AV interface. Shared AV signals from the living room or audio-visual room are split and connected to each room. The network cables coming from the audio-visual center connect to the terminal blocks behind the AV module panels, and the toggle switches on the panels control whether the connections are open or closed. {Of course, professional full-digital AV sharing equipment is required.}
6. Home Background Music System (Optional)
Background music is becoming a new favorite in modern home decoration. When doing housework or taking a casual rest at home, you would certainly want to hear beautiful, soft background music like in hotels. To fill every corner of your home with enchanting and gentle background music, you need to connect audio lines to various corners through comprehensive home wiring in each room, bathroom, kitchen, and balcony. Ordinary home background music systems use centralized control. The audio source can be directly input into a zonally controllable amplifier, which is the core of this system. By selecting the audio input switching switch on the amplifier, you can choose one program from multiple audio sources, and each room can only listen to the same program. The most important feature of this system is that it can independently control the broadcast of programs in each room through the zonally controllable amplifier, playing where needed and closing where not needed. This system has a simple structure, is not complex to construct, and is economical and practical. Each playback speaker can be turned on and off individually.
Wiring Key Points: The home background music system is also an independent wiring system. You can connect the speaker wires from each room to a speaker wiring panel located on the wall in the living room audio-visual center, and then connect the zonally controllable amplifier to the speaker wiring panel to form a home background music system.
7. Infrared Repeater System (Optional)
The infrared repeater system consists of infrared receivers in each room and an infrared transmitter in the living room. The infrared receiver receives signals from remote controls of various audio-visual devices, converts them into electrical signals, transmits them to the infrared transmitter, which then converts the electrical signals into infrared signals identical to the original remote control and emits them to the audio-visual devices for control. The wiring of the infrared repeater system is a complementary project to the aforementioned AV system. Through it, users can remotely control audio-visual devices in the living room, such as DVD players, amplifiers, satellite receivers, and digital TV decoders, from bedrooms or studies. Therefore, through the AV wiring system and the infrared repeater system remote control device, you can fully enjoy the convenience and comfort brought by home informatization and multi-point sharing of audio-visual devices.
Wiring Key Points: The wiring of the infrared repeater system does not need to go through the information access box because the signal lines from the infrared receivers in each room can be connected in parallel and then connected to the infrared transmitter via a set of signal lines. The installation point of the infrared receiver in the room is: on the same wall as the audio-visual equipment in the room; the installation point of the infrared transmitter in the living room is: on the opposite wall from the audio-visual equipment in the living room. Since the entire system only powers the transmitter, a power switch should be installed for it, so it can be turned off when not in use.
8. Surveillance Alarm System (Optional)
The home residential alarm system consists of a home intelligent microcomputer alarm host and various front-end detectors. Front-end detectors can be door magnets, window magnets, gas detectors, smoke detectors, infrared probes, emergency buttons, etc. When someone illegally intrudes, the corresponding detector will be triggered, and the home alarm host will immediately send the alarm signal to the neighborhood management center or the user-designated phone, enabling security personnel to quickly respond to the alarm; at the same time, the alarm host at the neighborhood management center will record this information for review. If the home residential alarm system is networked with the neighborhood security alarm system, it is the best option. If the neighborhood has such a system, homes should install a residential alarm system.
Wiring Key Points: The home residential alarm system can be part of the integrated wiring system, with the microcomputer alarm host installed next to the outer wall of the information access box. Various front-end detectors' lines are connected to the security alarm meter reading signal collection module in the information access box, and then connected to the microcomputer alarm host from the module.
9. Precautions for Weak Current Wiring
How to arrange your wiring method according to your own needs? Modern wiring concepts basically promote the "star topology" structure, which replaces the previous "bus topology structure." Star topology emphasizes that each line is independent, avoiding system-wide failures due to single-point faults. Most of the home weak current wiring adopts advanced star topology wiring methods, converging to the information access box for centralized management, facilitating jumper connections, easy expansion, and is the main content of home wiring. However, we cannot generalize and think that all wiring must go through the information access box for centralized management. Among them, several systems are independently wired, such as the aforementioned infrared repeater system, home theater system, and home background music system, which do not need to converge to the information access box. Due to their unique characteristics, they require independent wiring methods.
What should be noted for strong current and weak current wiring? (Strong and weak currents should cross vertically) Home wiring not only involves weak current wiring but also strong current wiring, including lighting electricity and power electricity. Strong current inevitably has electromagnetic effects on weak current. Therefore, we must clearly understand the following precautions for strong current and weak current wiring:
1. Avoid tight adjacency and parallel wiring for strong and weak currents. Weak current pipelines and strong current pipelines need a distance of 50cm when paralleled. If conditions do not allow this, use dedicated shielded lines or iron pipes instead of PVC pipes.
2. The minimum distance between strong current and weak current sockets should be 30 centimeters.
3. When strong current and weak current lines cross, they should form a 90-degree angle.
4. For AV systems and home theater wiring with strict audio-visual quality requirements, it is best to use metal conduit, especially for home theaters.
Summary: This article introduces which home weak current wiring systems are necessary, optional, and elective in arranging the home weak current wiring system. We should adhere to the principle of "meeting current needs and appropriately looking ahead," choosing as many wiring systems as possible suitable for our needs within the financial limits of new home renovations. Additionally, this article focuses on the relationship between strong current and weak current wiring projects, which should also draw our attention.
For consultation, please contact Chengdu Saipu Zhiye Intelligent Engineering Co., Ltd.
Phone: 13880125866
QQ: 345789580