Consider These 50 Things for Your Electrical and Lighting Plan

Building your own house, even overseeing the building of your own house, can be an absolutely enormous enterprise. Devising a comprehensive checklist for each aspect of your house is key. Various components of your home’s interior must be considered in turn, such as those relevant to plumbing, electricity, etc. Just limiting the considerations to those aspects dealing specifically with electricity and lighting can be mind-boggling. It is possible, however, to develop a fairly inclusive lighting and electricity plan that should cover all the essentials you will want to include in your initial walk through with your builder, or electrician. Try to create a room by room list of lighting and electrical features that you require, including needed outlets. Place colored dots in the places you wish to remind yourself and workers that you want to have sconces, chandeliers, outlets, etc. You can vary the colors to indicate, for example, recessed lights.

If you know precisely what type of fixture you want to have in every room then consider affixing a photo on the building specs. You will want to consider if you want inclusive features, such as a smart system you can access with your phone, or merely a switch that controls all of the bedroom lights. It’s especially important to consider where you will want outlets. You may want to charge your phone in the bathroom, for example. Consider too, whether you want outlets that feature multi-socket options. You may want outlets that are accessible in unusual places. Consider where artwork will hang and where your holiday decorations will go. Motion detecting lighting may be an important issue for you. If your doorbell is electric, you may wish to have an on and off switch for it. Other considerations may be if you want to have a keypad entry, heated areas, or ceiling fans. Consider where fire detectors will be placed. Do not forget about WIFI and cable-box hookups. Also, remember exterior lighting needs. concerns.

Key Takeaways:

For your bedroom, install either a smart lighting system or a single bedside switch to control all the room’s lighting.
Install light switches at both the top and bottom of staircases, then add small lights along the steps if you can afford them.
Plan the exact location of your dining table and center the lighting fixture above it.

“The lighting walkthrough typically happens in the rough-in stage, after framing is complete and before the drywall goes up.”