Home Technologies & Green Designs Helping Builder Profits
August 22, 2009
Despite the current economy and decline in the housing market, builders have not abandoned home technologies, according to new findings in the 7th Annual State of the Builder Technology Market Study released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The study found that a majority of builders remain committed to home technology and recognize its importance in marketing new homes. According to the CEA, consumer desire for electronics helped preserve builder revenue in the current housing market. Seven in ten builders (71 percent) report that technology helped them preserve home renovation revenue that might otherwise have declined this year because of the down economy – an increase of ten percentage points from last year.
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Beware of using high-voltage contractors for low-voltage work.
August 22, 2009
Coordinating the work of many contractors is the bane of most home builders’ existence. So it’s no surprise that some would like one contractor to do double duty, where possible. When electrical contractors say they can do low-voltage, structured wiring work, builders may be tempted to give them the business. After all, wiring is wiring, right?
Not necessarily, says Ken Smith, president of CEDIA, the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association. “Unless your electrical contractor has an experienced low-voltage team on board, you’re taking a risk if you use them for low-voltage work,” he says.
Smith says he was recently hired to fix a serious problem caused by an unwitting electrician. The client wanted music in several rooms of a home, including the bedroom. The electrician’s first mistake was to use thermostat wire, which would have worked but was far from optimal. In general, Smith says electricians are not always aware of low-voltage wiring issues, such as problems caused by pulling speaker wire near high-voltage wire.
At the client’s home, the more serious flaw was the system design, which included left and right bedroom speakers in adjoining rooms. It was clear to Smith that the electrician had little idea of how to create a multi-source, distributed audio system. “If someone wanted to listen to Top 40, everyone in the house had to either listen to the same music or turn off their speakers,” says Smith. “A low-voltage [custom] electronics specialist would never wire a house like that.”
Read Full Story: 5 Things You Should Know About Hiring Installers.