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What are your thoughts on my upgrade selections.

I'm going to order 4 recess lights for each of the bedrooms. Connection center conduits for each of the bedrooms, the tv will have all the connections through the wall. Four recess lighting for the Great Room. I will also have a prewire for ceiling fan there.

Since its a detached condo, I want to order electrical prewire for a light fixture. (There is already one that comes with the place) I think it will come in handy when it comes to entertaining at night.

I was thinking about getting additional data ports for the office and my kids room. I will solely be using Roku for my tv entertainment. Better video and faster performance from a wired connection using Roku.
 
The 4 lights for each bedroom is great. To conserve funds, we only added 2 lights to each bedroom (except the master) because we also wired for ceiling fans and hope the light from that will fill out the rest, and the room definitely needs more light than just the 2 canned lights.

Another great choice with the in-wall conduits if you'll be hanging TVs on each wall. It's so nice to have the floating TV with no visible wires below it on the wall.

Where is the light fixture you want to order the prewire?

Additional data ports are awesome. Pro tip: if you're like me and won't be having a hardwired telephone line, you can also use your telephone jacks as data lines because they're wired with Cat-5 as well.
 
We did four in each room.  TIC offered a package IIRC for four lights and a dimmer switch.

Saratoga came with an in-wall conduit for the TV in the great room standard.  We are not putting TVs in the upstairs bedrooms and can live with wires in the downstairs bedroom/den

Extra data ports are fun but probably unnecessary.  You can just get wireless routers. 
 
Did 4 lights per bedroom because well it just looked even to me...we thought about doing 2 but I felt like it would look weird.

problem with pre-wiring the TV is that the electrical outlet they give you is recessed into the wall and to try and get a surge protector on that things is next to impossible.  If the idiot walk through guy tells you that the whole house is protected and you wouldn't need to worry about your TV, don't listen to him. If you're not that concerned with a surge protector on your TV then it's not a problem.  I ended up re-wiring that electrical outlet to a normal outlet so I could attach a wall mount surge protector for my TV.

Ceiling fans I did master bedroom and great room.  Extra data lines I found unnecessary, I did what Lucky did and hijacked the phone lines since i don't care to have a standard home phone.  Really I only needed the extra line for my home office.


 
Hi,
Just a tip from someone who just did the conduit/electrical outlet for wall-mounted televisions - specify what height you want the outlets and conduit at.  We didn't specify and just assumed the builder would be experts at this... a few of our tvs are slightly lower than we would have liked since the placement of the outlets didn't allow enough room for the mounts at the proper height.  It's only a difference of about 6" but a little irksome.  After going through this experience very recently with TIC, my advice to you would be to be as SPECIFIC as possible with all upgrades (example - we added a plug in the home management area and they placed it in the dead center of the wall about 18" above the desk - it looks odd, we just assumed they'd place it at desk-height).  Hope everything goes well for you and you enjoy your home!!!

 
NewGirl said:
Hi,
Just a tip from someone who just did the conduit/electrical outlet for wall-mounted televisions - specify what height you want the outlets and conduit at.  We didn't specify and just assumed the builder would be experts at this... a few of our tvs are slightly lower than we would have liked since the placement of the outlets didn't allow enough room for the mounts at the proper height.  It's only a difference of about 6" but a little irksome.  After going through this experience very recently with TIC, my advice to you would be to be as SPECIFIC as possible with all upgrades (example - we added a plug in the home management area and they placed it in the dead center of the wall about 18" above the desk - it looks odd, we just assumed they'd place it at desk-height).  Hope everything goes well for you and you enjoy your home!!!
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they told me they won't adjust the height...you get what they give you.
 
I agree with you guys - they should be at a standard height.  Unfortunately when we had the tvs professionally mounted, we got an earful about how the wall plugs interfered with the mounts being at the correct height and that we shouldn't have left it to the builder... (This was done by a company I've used in several other homes, so I trust them to be honest.) The tvs truly are a bit low in two of the bedrooms, but it's livable.  What made me think you could be more specific is that we did give very specific heights for a few electrical upgrades that were actually true custom (not something offered by the builder, but something we thought of on our own and requested - it was very difficult, but we finally got them to do it). Either way, best of luck!
 
I read all your responses, and I enjoyed reading them. So I responded below in italic to some of your comments/questions in no particular order.

lucky - Where is the light fixture you want to order the prewire?
exterior light in the so call backyard/side yard (I'm leaning not to get it)

lucky - Additional data ports are awesome. Pro tip: if you're like me and won't be having a hardwired telephone line, you can also use your telephone jacks as data lines because they're wired with Cat-5 as well.
Yeah, but I want a data port that is opposite of the existing telephone port in the bedroom. So one of the rooms I would turn into my office. I plan to bring my existing L shape (shaved glass look) desk, and place my dual desktop monitors on one side. On the other side of the desk, it will be empty (use for reading/paperwork/place bills/magazines) because I would place the tv on the wall [which will be above that side of the desk]. (tv will be mounted on the wall w/ the in-wall conduit) For the other side of the office, I plan to have a futon (that can convert to a bed for the guest or a small movie room if I'm too lazy to walk downstairs to the "great room" haha).

Irvinecommuter - You can just get wireless routers. 
I already have one for my current place and I will also bring it to my new place. (to surf with the ipad around the house wirelessly)  When I move to the new home, I am planning on streaming netflix/hulu from my tv and the streaming performance is better when it is connected "wired".  l will order just two data ports, for the two other bedrooms so I can have a data port below the tvs.

broda - Did 4 lights per bedroom because well it just looked even to me...we thought about doing 2 but I felt like it would look weird.
I had the same thoughts also.

broda - Ceiling fans I did master bedroom and great room.
Same here - added one more for my little one's bedroom for the future. I was thinking getting the ceiling fan prewire for the office, but decided not to.

No Quarter - Not sure if you are past this part or not, but upgrading the door handles to the lever style was something Mrs. No Quarter and I disagreed on.  She felt it was unecessary and that a knob would suffice.
I know what you mean about the style of the knobs. I had to change the knobs back when I moved into the current place now, I changed all the knobs for a modern looking one.

bones - For the bedrooms, we actually did not do canned lighting - thought it was too harsh and unnecessary.  We just use bedside table lamps and the light from our ceiling fan and that seems to provide enough light for the bedroom.
Thats what I have now, bedside lamps/traditional lamps and its kind of dark. Also, my little one likes to lean/push down the lamps, and broke one. That is why I am getting recess lights.

NewGirl - my advice to you would be to be as SPECIFIC as possible with all upgrades
Thanks for the tip. This weekend I am going to bring my measuring tape, pen, and a note pad, to the model home to take measurements.


For downstairs, I was thinking about getting the standard tile in the kitchen, and carpet for the great room area. Then rip out the carpet and replace it with hardwood. I was considering getting wood in the kitchen, but I would have to stay on top of spills as liquids can cause damage if not wipe/cleaned right away. My wife cooks, and my little one likes to "help" cook /play/eat - which leads to multiple daily spills in the kitchen - I think tile is the best option for me.


Thanks for sharing your inputs/stories!! I have around one and a half week to decide for my electrical.




 
I think it is ridiculous that the builders charge you $150 to $200 per can light and just about any contractor will charge you only $60 to $100 per light. It is so hard to justify doing anything with the builders...
 
snowblind40 said:
I think it is ridiculous that the builders charge you $150 to $200 per can light and just about any contractor will charge you only $60 to $100 per light. It is so hard to justify doing anything with the builders...
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if you do it after the fact it costs more since you have the drywall up...so it just makes sense to do it through the builder.
 
broda said:
snowblind40 said:
I think it is ridiculous that the builders charge you $150 to $200 per can light and just about any contractor will charge you only $60 to $100 per light. It is so hard to justify doing anything with the builders...
Click to expand...

if you do it after the fact it costs more since you have the drywall up...so it just makes sense to do it through the builder.
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And you don't void the electrical warranty.
 
Recessed lights are definitely worth it. Table lamps are expensive and don't produce half the amount of light that recessed lights produce. It has to do with the fact that recessed lights offer a much wider dispersion seeing as though they're on the ceiling. We went with 2 recessed lights in each of the secondary bedrooms (non-master bedroom) and glad we did because it produced more than enough light, especially when we upgraded the bulbs to LED 20 watt (90 watt equivalent) bulbs. However, we did go with 4 in the great room and master bedroom. I guarantee you going with 2 will be plenty bright. Also, it won't look awkward for as long as they place the two lights in the middle of the room with one of left and right (equidistant) from the bed. Neighbors of mine that went with 4 lights, who have seen ours, agree that getting 4 was a waste of money. Hope this helps.
 
dealcatcher said:
Recessed lights are definitely worth it. Table lamps are expensive and don't produce half the amount of light that recessed lights produce. It has to do with the fact that recessed lights offer a much wider dispersion seeing as though they're on the ceiling. We went with 2 recessed lights in each of the secondary bedrooms (non-master bedroom) and glad we did because it produced more than enough light, especially when we upgraded the bulbs to LED 20 watt (90 watt equivalent) bulbs. However, we did go with 4 in the great room and master bedroom. I guarantee you going with 2 will be plenty bright. Also, it won't look awkward for as long as they place the two lights in the middle of the room with one of left and right (equidistant) from the bed. Neighbors of mine that went with 4 lights, who have seen ours, agree that getting 4 was a waste of money. Hope this helps.
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Maybe it depends on what kind of lights you have. Our two bedrooms with 2 recessed LED lights aren't well lit at night. There are two spotlights but everywhere outside of those circles is really dim. I'm hoping the ceiling fan lights will compensate and brighten up the rest of the room. That was the original plan.
 
lucky said:
dealcatcher said:
Recessed lights are definitely worth it. Table lamps are expensive and don't produce half the amount of light that recessed lights produce. It has to do with the fact that recessed lights offer a much wider dispersion seeing as though they're on the ceiling. We went with 2 recessed lights in each of the secondary bedrooms (non-master bedroom) and glad we did because it produced more than enough light, especially when we upgraded the bulbs to LED 20 watt (90 watt equivalent) bulbs. However, we did go with 4 in the great room and master bedroom. I guarantee you going with 2 will be plenty bright. Also, it won't look awkward for as long as they place the two lights in the middle of the room with one of left and right (equidistant) from the bed. Neighbors of mine that went with 4 lights, who have seen ours, agree that getting 4 was a waste of money. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Maybe it depends on what kind of lights you have. Our two bedrooms with 2 recessed LED lights aren't well lit at night. There are two spotlights but everywhere outside of those circles is really dim. I'm hoping the ceiling fan lights will compensate and brighten up the rest of the room. That was the original plan.
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How many watts are your LEDs? What kind are they? Definitely has to do with the bulbs you chose.
 
Also get the CREE WIDE angel Flood vs narrow. Costco also carries them.

One thing about the drops for the ceiling fans. Not sure if TIC does the same thing but our builder installed a single light under the reinforcement plug (supposedly against code to leave empty). And because it's a light they need to install a dimmer switch.

Now the issue is when you install a ceiling fan you should not be using a light dimmer switch to control the fan. The new light dimmers cut the power off/on (it's like switching on/off the motor every split second), this will KILL the ceiling fan motor since you're under powering it. It produces a distinct humming noise which is NOT good.

Consequently, in our case we had to also change those light dimmer switches out for standard switches.

Standard switches are cheap but just a pain and something you need to keep in mind when you install your fans if you're doing it on your own.

Also can't use CFLs on any dimmers so need to get the more expensive LEDs.

All our ceiling fans included lights so thought it would be overkill to having ceiling fans w/ lights plus recess lights too. So opted for no recess.

Ceiling fans make a nice decorative touch even if you don't use them. Bonus is using them is a lot cheaper than running your central air.

Best of luck!



 
TIC prewired a fan in my bedroom, included a dimmer for the light and an on/off switch for the fan.  I control the fan speed with it's included controls.
 
irvineshadow said:
TIC prewired a fan in my bedroom, included a dimmer for the light and an on/off switch for the fan.  I control the fan speed with it's included controls.
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That's good! That's the right way to do it. But don't you end up with lots of switches?

Sounds like:
- 1 switch for recess lights
- 1 switch for for the outlet on/off
- 1 switch for fan
- 1 switch for fan lights

Sounds like an awful lot of switches for just one room. An entire side will be just switches :).



 
PenguinOrange said:
irvineshadow said:
TIC prewired a fan in my bedroom, included a dimmer for the light and an on/off switch for the fan.  I control the fan speed with it's included controls.
Click to expand...

That's good! That's the right way to do it. But don't you end up with lots of switches?

Sounds like:
- 1 switch for recess lights
- 1 switch for for the outlet on/off
- 1 switch for fan
- 1 switch for fan lights

Sounds like an awful lot of switches for just one room. An entire side will be just switches :).
Click to expand...

I don't have recessed lights, but if I did then you are right.    You can have less switches if you opt to control the fan thru the included fan controls e.g. fan remote control, and remove/cover  the switches TIC includes. 

I chose not to do that because I was fine with 3 switches and I figured it was more convenient for my purposes.
 
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