It's late, of course, but I will try to update really quick....
I made a map of the house electrical system. It's different from the original lighting plan in that I removed all (or most) of the switches so I could track things differently... Each bank of lights or singular light has a number associated with it... For example...
111 means panel 1, module 1, light 1 -- Courtyard Sconce Lights
254 means panel 2, module 5, light 4 -- Bedroom 2 Can Lights
2-16 means relay panel 2, relay number 16 -- Outside Master Bath Eve/Ground Christmas Lights
The electricians have to keep track of every wire as they pull them back to the panel, so they can hook them into the right position. Once they got the hang of my system, they were on board and are getting faster. They started in the back of the house and are working towards the garage.
One of the challenges is that the newer version of the NEC (National Electric Code) requires Arc Fault breakers, which trip when they sense an arc, and not just a fault to ground, such as a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI's are still required in water locations, outdoors, and in the garage). Anyway, an example of a problem is when you have a ceiling fan, with a relay to the motor, but a dimmer to the light. These wires are coming from different panels, but share the common (white) wire in the fan itself. So, to keep the Arc Fault from tripping, the source of power has to be from the same breaker and share the same common. So, to get around this, the power has to be split to both panels from the same breaker before the panel.
There is also a lot of wire to run. For example, we have flood lights at the corners of the house, 6 in total, 3 on the front, and 3 on the back. That alone takes nearly 350 feet of wire, because you can't go in a straight line from light to light, you have to stay inside the house.
Ok, blah blah blah, I know you want to see a picture. This is the general scene of things, looking through a wall into the study. Foam everywhere, wires here and there. Keep in mind that the lights and things on relays are just a small part of the entire package. All the outlets require power, and there are lots... That all is coming from a separate panel in the garage, while the power that feeds the panels is a sub panel in the attic.
A little of my handy work. A double low voltage bracket at the nightstand, gives me 8 buttons to control things on the wall, with status lights. Then the conduit runs down to a single bracket, so that the wires can continue out to the actual wired remote sitting on the nightstand, which will give me and my wife a total of 12 buttons each at that location. Here are some examples off the top of my head...
Mine (reading light on my side),
Yours (reading light on other side so yes, if somebody falls asleep while reading, you can shut down their light from your side)
Path (lights your way dimly from here to bathroom and kitchen)
Fan (on/off)
Sconce
Good Morning
Goodnight
Sleep (puts the entire house in a night mode, taking care of anything left turned on by accident)
Fire (lights up the entire house inside and out, outside porch and garage lights flash to help fire dept find us, signals security panel to dial Fire and Rescue)
Panic (Similar, but all bedroom lights go full dark, common area lights go full bright or flash, while I sit patiently with my gun waiting for someone to cross my sights)
These are just examples...
You can see where the wires cut through the foam to get to the nearest stud wall. The conduit allows me to change the relationship of the wall panel to the wired remote at a future date.
From further away... Yes, messy. I should add that we are putting the majority of our outlets in the baseboards, rather than up on the walls. We had a house in Seattle that had this feature and loved it. No cords hanging down the walls before they littered the floor. The baseboards in that house were also mounted a little higher, so you could stuff your cord under the baseboard on it's way to the light.
This is creating some challenges, though, because where there is ICF, there is nothing to attach the box to, so they are setting them loose, and will attach them to the baseboard itself after it is installed. They then have to use a trim ring inside the box to keep anything from touching the screws that hold the box in position. By the way, it is a misconception that the NEC doesn't allow outlets at this height, not true. There is a maximum height, however, in the range of 50 inches, to be considered a "convenience outlet." You will have to read up on those rules somewhere else, too much to explain.
Cable chase to get from where the panels are located, to the other side of the catwalk, without making a mess of things. This is now full of wires.... But my electrician is really cool because he is keeping all the wires nice and tidy. Not running them anywhere you could trip on them or step on them, which is a huge fire hazard and common practice by others... Oh, the one wire in this picture is the one I ran for lights, it is temporary...
This is the framing I put in for the remainder of the "smart" boxes. This will house the Centralite Brain (Master Control Panel), Security, Automation, and Intercom Hubs. When you walk onto the "Bridge", as my wife is now calling it, you first pass all the water pumps and tanks outside over the garage, and then in the attic, across some distance to the bridge, you find the water distribution manifolds on your left, lighting control front and center, and the control boxes on the right... Note the mounting height is carefully positioned at chair height, with fans blowing on the occupant... I fear many hours of sitting here with my laptop connected to said device programming things...
Front and center... Relay boxes, and lighting control. The map is affixed to a foam board which makes it easier for the electricians to use it, and not lose it
OK, off to bed for me. In the works is the security system, central vacuum, closed circuit security, hard wired ethernet and phone, and all the audio/video you can imagine. I have taken far too much on, so I am feeling pretty stressed about holding things up.
Some other news, we have selected the stucco, which will be a washed version (fauxed, basically) as well as the rock for outside and inside (moss rock boulders). Hope to have all the cantera ordered very soon as well. Once we get everything behind the walls that needs to be there, it's just a matter of drywall, trim and doors, cabinets, cantera installation, painting, flooring, plumbing trimout, hardware, and electrical trimout. Yikes... Don't even ask me when we will be done, but we are going as fast as we can, and Nov 20th is the drop dead date...
Goodnight!
PS... The 5 GEO holes are drilled, and have the pipe installed and backfilled. Later this week the driller will be back to trench and install the feeder lines to these holes, as well as install the pumps that feed them. The pipes are exposed right now above ground, with a casing around them and down into the ground some to protect the lines during the trenching process. One last pic... Yes, drilling is messy.
