Unpopular opinion: I think the whole 'smart home' wiring chase is getting out of hand

I mean, just last week in a house in Charlotte, the low voltage guys ran their lines right through the same bay as the main electrical feed for the kitchen. It caused interference that made the whole lighting system flicker. We had to pull it all out and re-route it, which set us back almost two full days. Has anyone else run into weird problems like this with all the new tech stuff getting packed into walls?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_adams17d ago

Oh man, my buddy had a nightmare with this. His brand new voice control just stopped hearing him. Techs finally found the data cable for his fancy fridge was zip-tied right to a power line in the wall. The interference was a total mess. They had to cut a bunch of drywall to fix the routing. Makes you wonder what else is getting bundled together wrong in these new builds.

the_avery17d ago

Yeah, I had to re-run my thermostat wire for the same reason.

aaronclark12d ago

That's just bad luck and sloppy work by one installer. Most new builds follow code that keeps low voltage wiring separate from power lines. I've seen dozens of smart homes work fine for years without any interference issues. People focus on the one horror story but ignore the thousands of installations done right. The real problem is homeowners trying to add tech after the fact without understanding basic wiring rules.