How To Get The Most Out Of Your Electrical In Your New Home (Smart Home Living)

Which smart home features are worth the investment?

Simple smart home feature, it's very cost effective. Can be something as simple as sensors, 30, 40 power points, 50 down lights. Some houses have two ovens. As always, the biggest thing is going to be the cost. The cost to install a power point at roughing stages and to do it later could be triple or, you know, quadruple.

Hey, guys, welcome to the Builder's Edge. I'm Norm Wales from Norm Wales Constructions. Now, for me, the whole purpose of this podcast here is to bring a little bit more awareness around the construction industry. I've been feeling for many, many years that there's not enough helpful information out there to support you guys to make the right choice. Now, we are a smaller family independent building company and we're not here to build everybody's home, but we would definitely love to be able to work with you to facilitate your dream home. But if we don't build your new home, we want you to be able to make the right decision in choosing the right builder for you. So hopefully the information that I'm able to provide through this podcast can be informative and helpful that you can now create your dream home. So hope you enjoyed and thanks for watching.

So, Anthony, before we get started and dive into this podcast, mate, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got to where you are today and then tell us a little bit why you care so much about helping families build their dream home?

Yeah, I've been doing electrical now for.

About 12 years now. Started my business and had a business for about three years. Got into the electrical sort of trade of, you know, in a bigger family. I've got a twin brother that's a plumber, an older brother that's a builder, and I think Mum and dad just pushed us into that a bit and, you know, promoted that.

So, yeah, since day Dot, I've. I've really just wanted to do electrical. Really enjoyed it. I get a lot of satisfaction out of the end product of a new home. I think it's. It's good to see, you know, when the people move in and, and the house is done, it's furnished, the lights are on and, and seeing it all done and seeing how they react to it and how much happiness it brings them.

Beautiful. Oh, that's amazing. It's quite the trifecta you got there, mate, isn't it? Like, you know, the three brothers, you know, it's.

Yeah.

Perfect little syndicate. Your mum and dad done well there, didn't they?

Yeah, yeah. They're getting Free Renault for years now. So I love it.

No, that's great, mate. So Anthony, for yourself there, how can families decide which smart home features are worth the investment?

Yeah, that's, that can be a, I guess, difference between each household. I think it comes down to sort of different household habits and, and just the practicality of the technology they want to implement. Yeah, a good, a good simple smart home feature. It's very cost effective. Can be something as simple as sensors.

Yeah.

You know, I know growing up, dad was always on to ask kids about turning the lights off. Something as simple as that can be fixed with a simple sensor in a hallway or.

That's perfect. No, that's great. And it is, it's just a simple thing. Sometimes that tends to get overlooked, especially in the fast pace of the world we live in now, isn't it? You know, so, you know, bringing things down to just a simple form can not just be function practical but just, you know, can really help people with, you know, saving money, especially in today's day and age. No, that's great, mate. And like for yourself there, what should homeowners prioritize in the electrical sort of sides of stuff there to future proof the home?

Future proofing can be, as I know you'd be aware, it can be really hard how far you go down that rabbit hole.

Yeah.

One of the biggest things I think should be considered would be the main supply and the capability of additional appliances and features in the house. For example.

One thing that's really taking off now is EVs.

That has been taken off, hasn't it?

Yeah, EV charges in, in the house is a huge draw on supply and that could be the difference of having to upgrade the supply and switchboard and things like that, you know, in the near future.

Yeah, definitely. You know, that's a very valid point there because something people definitely do tend to not consider is, you know, too far ahead, you know, and if you look into the future, especially the way it's rapidly evolving, you know, having those smart charges and things like that there, you may not think you want it today, but five years time. Yeah, a hell of a lot changes, doesn't it? Yeah.

Just even looking at houses from you know, say the early 2000s to the or 90s even. Yeah, you know, they had smaller mains, smaller switchboards, they didn't have aircons, they had 10 power points, 10 lights and the stove, you know, nowadays it's, it's 30, 40 power points, 50 down lights. You know, some houses have two ovens and you know, so it's a big change.

It is, it definitely is. And I guess with that there, like, how can like homeowners strategically place like their outlets and power points and switches and stuff throughout the home that's going to work best for them?

I think there's a few main areas in, in the household that particular.

Strategic planning, I guess should be considered. One, one being the kitchen, I think is the biggest one. I know you can never have sort of too many power points in the right spot in the kitchen without being cluttered and.

Yeah, no, and I think that's a fair point too because like, really it's the, it's the heart of the home, isn't it?

Yeah.

You know, I mean, and you, you want to make sure that it's obviously looks aesthetically right, but it's got to be functional and practical, you know, and it's got to be usable and nice and friendly, you know, so. No, that I think the kitchen is definitely a big one. Like do you think anywhere else that needs, you know, a little bit more attention that can sometimes get overlooked?

I find we, if we go back to do, to do additional work, usually it might be an additional PowerPoint in just a hallway for a vacuum or a cupboard for a stick vac charger can be as simple as an extra power point in the bedroom or a USB PowerPoint upgrade. Another good one is, is just trying to get the switching right. For lights. We try and have a central spot, but then also, you know, with longer hallways, two rooms with two entries, like a walk through robe or walk through laundry or things like that, I think two way and three way switching can be optimal in that area.

And that is something that we obviously do quite a bit there now, you know, and that just comes down to the functionality, doesn't it? And the usability, you know, the, the overall experience and you know, how you can live through the home and have the effortless, you know, approach to it there. Yeah, no, definitely.

And it's, it is hard, especially at that rough in stage to make the, those decisions then and think of the practicality when it's for the customer. Just, just bare frames. I think once they move in and live in it for a bit, things tend to change a bit.

Yeah. So I guess there, Anthony, like what are the risks then of neglecting the electrical considerations during, you know, the design phase? Like if there's not enough thought put into, you know, these rooms, you know what, you know, I guess problems, you know, can occur.

The bit, as always, the biggest thing is going to be the cost, the cost to install a power point at roughing stage is X amount and then to do it later, depending on the design and the layout of the house, it could be triple or, you know, could quadruple the, the price for that.

That's right.

Obviously certain areas are a lot harder to get to once you've got your roof on wall sheeted, you know, bracing walls that are double sheeted.

Yeah.

Rods in them and things as well. Definitely. So like, I guess they're like neglecting to forward, think and plan ahead there. You know, it's definitely in their best interest. And you'd say to, you know, put that PowerPoint in if they're humming and hiring about it, you'd say, yeah, yeah.

We, we do try and be.

Tactful in, in the sense of maybe putting a PowerPoint on a, a wall that we can easily add a PowerPoint back to back later where we get the chance. Obviously that's not the case in, in every house and every room.

Yeah.

So, so I guess that's, you know, the wonderful thing that you're very good at doing there is working with the customer and forward thinking and projecting the potential, you know, and that, that, that unknown, you know, so that's going that extra mile, you know, to try and assist and forecast, you know, ways that they potentially may change their living stall in the future. So, you know, like, I think that's a very, you know, valid, you know, point there and it's, it's a great skill set that you have yourself there that you're able to, you know, assist the customers, you know, through that process, you know, because not all electricians, you know, have that ability to go that extra mile. So you know, for me personally to witness that there, like that's, you know, a fantastic thing to sort of have there, you know, but mate, like with, you know, families and that balancing the technology and the functionality of what goes into the, like the electrical setup in their homes there now, you know, how can families manage that there to get the most out of it, you know, like the technology that's there, you know, like the sky's the limit, you know what I mean? Yeah. So how do you, or how. What would you say to people, advise them on how far they should go?

I'm a big fan of functionality.

Like I explained before, even just with sensors, you know, you can do a lot of little things with sensors, even, even timers, daylight switches just to, I guess make it less of a thought process to turn the lights off, the, the technology and smart home Automation can be a very, very deep rabbit hole. You can certainly can. You can do a lot just to switch a phone, sorry, switch a light on off your phone.

But then obviously it does come at a relatively bigger cost to do that.

Yeah, that's a fair, valid point there. So look, I guess Anthony, there, like, with you being in the game so long, like you've got the experience there, what would be the biggest takeaway that you would give families, you know, in making the right decision with the electrical side of things?

I would probably just recommend it. And it's hard because it's a very. Like, building a house is no small, easy process. There's a lot of decisions to be made and things like that. But just maybe trying to plan things out. A lot of the time we've seen, well, we've gone back to houses and the customer, you know, we're doing a pool or we're doing, you know, three aircons or we're doing, you know, XYZ and. And it's all doable, but could have saved a lot of hard work, therefore costs and, and been a little bit more aesthetically pleasing if we just had a bit of prior planning.

Yeah. So look, I guess what I can take away from what we've been discussing there, like, exactly that, you know, having time to plan.

Yeah.

You know, communicating earlier in the process there, you know, having those discussions around the advancement of technology and what might be feasible to them now but then potentially might be of an interest to them in the future.

Yeah.

You know, so. And I guess maybe not even necessarily going down that rabbit hole if the cost is a little bit more than they'd like to go to at this point in time, but maybe potentially put in a provision or a draw wire or, you know, pre drilling out some stud work there.

Yeah.

Can help future proof, you know, that next phase, if they chose to go down that path.

Yeah, for sure. Even as simple as a hockey stick in the wall.

Yeah, most definitely. And like, for something that simple there of putting a hockey stick in the wall there, mate, like I say, it's that aesthetic look at the end that you're not forcing me having external conduiting and that sorts of things. No, so definitely no, mate, that's. That's wonderful. Well, mate, look, just before we wrap things up there, just got one last question to ask you there, buddy. And this is, I guess a bit of a thing that we've started just to sort of find out a little bit more about. I guess I'm liking this. So, Anthony Mae if you could learn about any unsolved mystery, what would you want to know the truth about?

Look at the Bermuda Triangle. That thing just keeps me awake at night. I like them. Yes. You know why? Why? Certain things happen in that little triangle of sea. Why things fail. Why? Why? It just boggling.

I must admit. I've as a kid growing up. Yeah. In the library. And you're reading the books and be in a triangle. I definitely would be very interested to find out that, mate. Yeah, yeah. No, wonderful. All right, Anthony. Really appreciate your time today, mate. Yeah, thank you. It's been a pleasure having you on the builder's edge.

Thanks, mate. Thank you very much.

Cheers.