Structured Wiring

Structured wiring is the term used to describe a relatively new method of providing service throughout your home for all of your low voltage requirements - cable TV, satellite TV, sound, telephone, fax, security and data.

Over the past ten years, the amount of information and services that we are receiving from outside our home have grown dramatically. 

The standard method of delivering the services to different rooms within a home is also changing as technology is offering us new and enhanced benefits and features.

The old method of wiring a home for low voltage devices such as TV and telephone was to create a loop.  The service would enter the home and from there it would be connected to the closest location and from that location it would be connected to the next and so on.  This type of distribution method has a few major flaws:

• A break in a wire or other damage disrupts the service from that point forward.

• The services delivered to the first outlet on the loop must be the same for all outlets on the loop.

By utilizing the structured wiring method the aforementioned problems are dealt with.  In structured wiring ever outlet terminates back at a common panel.  The incoming signal wire also terminates at the same panel.  The damage of a wire to an outlet only disables that outlet, as there are no additional outlets connected to that leg.

By having all the inputs terminated in a common place with all of the outlets you achieve complete control of what service is delivered to each of the outlets.

Structured wiring panels and their associated accessories provide additional features:

• Convenient termination of input and output lines on specially designed terminal strips.  This allows the homeowner to easily convert what signal is connected to any specific outlet.  Telephone today – data line tomorrow.

• Amplifiers can be added to boost signals for all low voltage inputs.

• Security camera outputs can be easily added to TV sets on a vacant channel.

• A neat and tidy wiring (rather than a bunch of assorted wires randomly stapled to the electrical panel backboard) that allows for identification of wires in years to come.

If you are involved in a major remodel or home renovation you should consider the benefits of using structured wiring for all of your low voltage requirements.

Click on diagram below for larger image: