5 Tips for New Construction Electrical & Smart Lighting! 

Who else flinched every time he laid his hand across the main lugs 😂

I've watched your channel for years and one thing I've really appreciated is your knowledge of sealing and insulating. As an electrician, having installed those Arlington in-boxes I had to wonder why anyone would want a great big hole like that in their exterior wall cavity, because you just know the insulation is gone, being taken up instead by this giant hollow plastic box. It's a huge energy leak. Thanks for showing your solution!

use #14 for lighting circuits. Your electrician will thank you.

You could go through the expense of having all 20A circuits, or you could tell your electricians to put the lighting and receptacles on separate circuits. Have lighting on 15A and receptacles on 20A. Just my opinion but you’re the boss😂

Ive been waiting! Thanks Matt I always look forward to Tuesday and Friday

I'm an electrician for over 30 years. 12 Guage wire is unnecessary in most places. It just fills up the boxes with wire, harder to work with. Houses are more efficient now with led lights

Hey Matt, this gave me a lot of subtle details to make a build more enjoyable. Hope you can keep good records of your current house so you can give us an update in about 18 months or so on how the rebuild compares with your current house in terms of Heating, Cooling, Electricity usage, comfort level etc.

I have been using wafer lights for about 2 years now. So easy and fast. Love the ability to place just about anywhere. They work great for remodeling especially is small spaces where a standard low pro can does not fit

As an electrician some of this is overkill and some makes sense. For one 12/2 throughout the house is a waste, but the middle ground that has logic is doing the receptacles in 12. In a brand new home no one should need to plug in portable heaters or window AC units, which are 2 of the biggest culprits I find people overload their circuits with. Older home's didn't require a 20A bath circuit either. I've seen hair dryers with a wattage label of 1875W, which is more than a whole 15A circuit. Again that's an old home problem in an area already addressed by code. A vacuum can draw around 12 amps but it is usually a temporary load. Excluding kitchen/dining/bath areas that already require 20A circuits, most people will never utilize a fraction of any of those 20A circuits. One cost saving route would be to put more receptacles on a circuit. With most lighting going the LED route that's even less load in the system. Having breakers on the exterior of the house I just hate the idea of it. Main outside if you must; 2020 code when adopted will mandated an exterior shutoff. The whole copper/AL issue has long been settled. Those AL wires will not loosen on those lugs if installed properly, neither will the copper. If the customer wants copper and they got the cash I'm happy to install it, but overall I feel the extra money spent on copper feeders and 12/2 on lighting could have been put to better use elsewhere.

The Halo line is only 5% dimming. He is going to really regret that. People don’t understand how important 1% dimming really is. I personally feel that Lutron has significantly better lighting control systems. Also, If you’re going to go to the extent of having smart lighting, and home control, you really should have an IALD certified lighting designer do your lighting plan and fixture specifications. Unlike interior designers, an IALD lighting designer DOES NOT make money of off fixtures or get kickbacks from manufacturers. A good lighting designer will help you avoid a lot of lighting pitfalls, and also keep you in budget. I can’t even begin to tell you how many bad lighting layouts I’ve seen done by architects… Lighting has become a true specialty, and it’s well worth the investment to make sure you’ve got the right person looking after it. I am not a lighting designer, but I would never build my custom home without having one on board from day one of design. Worth every penny.

I liked the individual wires to a box idea. The plywood blocking to the 2nd floor makes good sense too.

glad you put these video's out.for future use i tell home owners to put metal conduit pipe from basement to attic.im in the north so chimney is a good chaseway.older homes tell customers to use fire chaulk around wires and pipes good for drafts,bugs and [well] fire.a little extra up front in the walls can save alot latter.

If you got the money I’ll wire it anyway you want

I understand people's hesitation with hub required home automation but many of those standards are purpose built for low bandwidth distributed devices. I ended up going almost entirely z-wave mesh network with a hubitat hub for my own home and I'm glad I did. There are tons of z-wave devices by different brands offering different feature sets if you every find yourself wanting something specific and the frequency range it uses doesn't conflict with wifi.

We are going to be building our second, and last, custom home and your ideas and insights have been very helpful. The information and products you've shown are and excellent way for me to start the conversation with the architect. Keep up the great work!

Love the smart functionality of my recently remodeled home. I used Treatlife switches with standard led bulbs in regular fixtures. It is wifi based, and I can set my scenes via the Smart Life or Alexa apps.

Matt, I re-did my downstairs area for my mom when she couldn't live alone any more. One thing I did was wrap the bathroom in 3/4" plywood. This let me wait until she gradually needed more help, then add grab bars and other heavy items anyplace I wanted.

4:17 I appreciate seeing the air tightness detail! I've yet to get an electrician to do that, but still, love the detail!

Thank you Matt! I’m just now in the process of specking out lighting in my basement. One side is entertainment space, one side is my workshop. Those Halo lights look like just the ticket!! :)

You will appreciate this Matt. My first home I built back in 1978 I used all 12-2 WG and a 400 Amp commercial panel that was about 4 foot high. The home was all electric. The second home I built back in 2001 once again had 400 Amp with two 200 Amp panels and CAT5 all prewired with AV panel. Keep up the good work.

Wiring lighting with 14 gauge wire is just a little easier. Also allows you to get more wires into switch boxes. 12 gauge is just not need with today's LED light fixtures, it is just more work and extra money.

I think the biggest thing that scares me the most is that the setup requires an app. Say halo for whatever reason goes under, chances are their app will cease to function. I’ve seen very similar technology in theatrical lighting controls that have a central processor to make edits and changes. If you’re going for longevity, you might want to look at long term software support solutions.

Matt, perfect timing again. I'm planning my lighting now and am pretty sure I'm going with Halo.

That cabinet looks great. Looking forward to seeing that.

For who might be interested: In the Netherlands most new homes get 3 phase, 220V/25amp (used to be 220V,16Amp, but solar and electric cars made 3phase become the standard). With a mains panel in an indoor door closet that's standardized for gas, water, electricity and data/telecom input and meters. Positioned within 3m (~3ft) of the front door. All wiring goes through pvc 3/8" (sometimes 1/2") piping. Every group has a 16Amp breaker per group. Separate groups are required for bathrooms, kitchens build in appliances and mechanical. Most rooms have one group going to a ceiling box (3"×3"). From that box all other points in the room are fed. And the box itself is used for the lamp. Data wiring all goes from the "meterkast" (the door closet with the meters) to the points around the house and also through 3/8" pvc piping.

You see him touching the lugs and I see a job opening.

Really liked this video Matt👍👍👍

Excellent video, Matt.

Pro tips: - Holy heck, DON'T EVER touch the main lugs in a panel. You'll never know if they're live if you're dead. - If your electrician is buying wire by the 250' bundle, find a different electrician. - If you have an issue with "popping" breakers, find a different electrician. - The Halo wafers you used are advertised as 12 watts. You could run 100 of them on a single 14 gauge, 15A circuit. You overspent by a factor of about 2 on your lighting cabling. - Halo wafers on Insteon flicker excessively.

Hey Matt I would love to see a video of just products you use to air seal a house, such as certain tapes, caulks, and spray foams.

Thanks for the Mr. Mom reference Matt! Highlight of my day!

Great share, appreciate the details on the Halo lighting system. Not be fan of Bluetooth, but the grouping of lighting makes up for it. Also, love the one hole to each wire through penetrations. Good stuff!

Buy extras for all of those led fixtures. Some will fail and very likely will no longer be available when this happens.

If you're an audiophile/home theatre nerd, multiple dedicated 20A circuits, preferably in BX shielded.

What perfect timing, I am at the electrical planning stage on my self build, thank you... only one comment I would give is to add some pendant lighting, I had all recessed lighting then I realized it was missing some character. The Halo smart products are really cool. Again thank you

GREAT - nice analysis of products and materials, as logistics to a build; for me it highlights the difference of UK/US builds, that exposes developments in building, as markets change.....interesting Matt Risinger, more please - thank-you.

@Matt, have you considered the security aspects of your electrical and smart home setup? For example, your 220 box for mechanicals is outside and easily accessible to potential bad actors. Also, bluetooth is just about the least secure means of wireless communication, it's super easy to exploit. I.e., someone sitting outside you house could shut off all your electrical and/or change your lighting programming. On a tangentially related note, have you considered physical security in the design of your house? I think a video on that would be useful for many of your viewers, who might know to air seal the slab to framing but not know the difference between a truly high security lock system and a Kwikset from their local big box store.

Matt, I know you mentioned the Big L when it came to smart lighting as being expensive. You are correct when it comes to their Radio RA and HomeQS but their Caseta system is a game-changer. Advantages: No need for special wiring. Caseta switches are a direct replacement for traditional switches. They work with ALL traditional light fixtures so there's no need to be locked into one brand of lighting. They make 3 and 4 way switching a thing of the past; 3 pole switches are replaced by a single-pole smart switch and Pico remotes are used anywhere you want secondary switches. The remotes look like switches and can be mount on the walls as such or sit on a table in a pedestal. The system is just as programable as any other out there, but it steals from its bigger brothers, so you get more functionality for less money. Note I am in no way affiliated with L. I just did a lot of research before I did my house and Caseta was by far the best solution. That said my daughter is a designer for a local company and they use RA and QS. Next comment: If you are truly going to build a smart home, do not forget about your computer network. Almost all smart devices like TVs can be hardwire connected. RUN CAT6(a) to every room. DO NOT depend on WiFi especially when it comes to streaming media. Cable is cheap when the walls are open. As an IT professional, I tell all my clients that there is no reason why a (smart) home shouldn’t benefit from a business-class network. And with so many professionals working from home post-COVID, now more than ever is the time to start building even modest homes with wired networks. WiFi will never replace the quality of a good, wired network. Lastly, my cardinal rule of building a Smart Home is for it to be smart enough to allow people to interact with it in the traditional way. Love your videos. Would love to talk more about home-based networking and smart home technology.

I love these walkthrough videos

Thanks for the video Matt. I am a DIY, remodeling my entire home and since i'm saving $ on contractor labor I have a bigger budget for materials so I started installing 12 gauge wire for everything but that was a mistake. From my experience, it's nice having 12-2 because I can extend circuits to multiple receptacles without worrying about amp capacity but the downside is with installing the lighting (especially halo recessed lights). It is much easier wiring lighting fixtures with 14 gauge than it is with 12 gauge and NEC doesn't allow for downsizing if you start with 12 gauge and switch to 14 gauge in a branch. Anyways, i've learned a lot from your videos so thank you.

Yeah, I’ve been using the Halo thin lights for a year now and eventually realized I no longer had to worry about my ceiling rafters throwing off where the lights can go. If the rafter is right in the center, the support clamps can go to each side of it. If it’s far enough to one side of the hole or the other, the clamps can go parallel to the rafter. It’s terrific.

Yeah I was already checking on a heated towel rack for my bathroom. I'm thinking of connecting the hot water side to the towel rack before it goes to the shower. That way when the shower is in use, it will heat up the towel rack. Just my thoughts I'm thinking about for my place.

Comin along nicely man! You are making many people jealous with your build. Kudos. You deserve all of em.

in SKorea, the medicine cabinet seem to have power outlet inside, with holes to the bottom, for cable mgmt. Seen some with lights and magnified mirrors. A lot of apartments there, have heated flooring and smart lighting via main control pad and sub control pads, with total shut off for electricity and gas, you also have access to security camera outside your door and main entrance, also you can also call up the elevator, when needed. look at Skorea/house apartment tours, most of them arent as big as US, but seem to be more convenient

Had a laugh with the boxes for extra sound proofing in the master bedroom... Joking aside two gang boxes on wall with headboard is brilliant!

I have been in the electrical industry for 40+ years. I have to say this has been an impressive video with a substantial amount of information. Hats off from one Texan to another one Matt. Thumbs up to this video for you.

hope you show more of the switch hook up with the runs in the closet .looks like a nice system

So fascinating how different the electrician crafts are from country to country!

I do 15amp on lighting and 20amp on any plug circuits.

This channel has gotten crazy. I'm all for improvement, but think we're going crazy. I have watched this channel for a few years and learned a lot that I have used on my own builds, but I'm finding most of the recent stuff completely impractical at any cost. 1. Main panel on outside is great for sub panels for pools, buildings, generators, etc. You should have just run a 200a subpanel interior for everything. So one penetration. 2. The lugs on the panels are aluminum, so technically you just mixed metals. They have designed all the new boxes to work fine with aluminum. 3. Most circuits these days require 20a anyway, but for the bedrooms, I prefer more circuits than higher gauge wire. 4. Smart switches.. so obviously it's sponsored, but no custom home should be putting Bluetooth switches in. Control4, lutron, zwave, zigbee are much more standardized and reliable. Lutron really isn't that expensive. You'll be tearing out those switches within a few years and using a more standardized system.

Excellent stuff

Hi Matt love your videos I learn a lot

Missed this during the storm and recovery. Anyone else think the "all off" next to an exit is a security nightmare, if not a personal annoyance? Kid runs out and shuts off all the lights on accident. Also it's nice to have smart lights, and Bluetooth can be more efficient than wifi. But can we get and idea that you've planned for a full home network?or have I missed it?It's one of the few things installed in a modern house that is directly responsible for income and it always feels tacked on instead of an integral component of a modern home design. Space consideration with venting for something like a 12 u server rack for space for a home storage server than can be used for local security video storage as well and general network attached storage for home media. Wireless ap deployment to ensure wifi coverage to compensate for your construction in key areas. Hard-line network connections in key areas: offices, bedrooms, TV spaces, even the kitchen as well as for ceiling mounted APs with power over ethernet. I've lived in a number of different houses, but the one that was most enjoyable had redundant ethernet drops in each room. With adequate wire installations the concerns for your wifi connectivity is diminished. I'm sure Ubiquity would love to donate a few samples for a RU-vid spot.

When it comes to fluorescent and LED interior lighting, CRI is very important.

I think the all 12 awg wire size issue has been fully discussed. It is personal preference. When building my house, after I saw the price for all 12 awg I asked for dedicated circuits to heavy load areas such as entertainment and office desk. Kitchen, bath, and laundry already require 12 awg. I ran 12 awg to outdoor outlets to limit voltage drop on extension cords for DIY projects. As far as aluminum, the problems are myths. I surveyed wire and connector manufacturers on failure rates. No difference between aluminum and copper. Always make sure connector is listed for the wire used. Past problems have been with connectors not listed for use with aluminum. I also have found, rough electrical is very regional as can be seen in the comments. I installed two 200 amp panels for future expansion as I had several unfinished rooms. My brother, the contractor, only advice was to run empty conduit from panel (in basement) to attic for future expansion. That extra conduit is full today! The extra space for breakers has also been needed. The commenter’s mention of Cat 6 wiring is perfect. I installed Cat 5 20 years ago to future proof. Today I am using only one coax for incoming internet and the Cat 5 phone wiring that was used for phone has been converted to an Ethernet network. BTH, the only issue I have had is when doing work with switches, the backstabbed 14 awg causes the switch back to crack and have a loose connection. This has happened in three switches so far. Also, for frequently used outlets (vacuum cleaner) buy a commercial grade outlet.

2:16 That's gold!

Aluminum per UL AND NEC does not have oxide interference as it ages and DeOx is not required per NEC code. Lugs need to be retourqed because copper DOES expand just like aluminum but not at the same rate. Those lugs are also made from aluminum so specifying copper over aluminum is mute.

As an electrician this outta be interesting.

Circuit correctly and 14 gauge is fine bin working for me for 40 years with no call back plus I agree with with other comment about box fill.

Matt’s OCD is worse than mine!!! When I go way overboard on my house, I think of Matt. Love this channel.

Matt, I thought I saw a generator being planned for. I didn’t see/hear any thing about a transfer switch or discussion about which circuits will be powered when the generator kicks in. Did I miss something? Maybe there is a new show planed to cover the generator.

Great video. A little surprised no mention of prewiring in garage for electric cars.

My dad happens to be a pro electrician, I used to work with him growing up. 14 is all you need for vast majority of homes if you are building to code and doing your load calculations correctly. Kitchen gets 12/2 or 14/3 due to powerful appliances used there. Future is about using less power, not more, LED lights being a great example. Honestly the only time I've seen or heard of popped 15a breakers was when someone got a cheap reno with no inspection electrical or in really old homes.

Interesting on the sound barrier, you can always do double drywall. I like using plywood, then install drywall on it (more sheer structural support). Then pump it with cellulose, that will definitely make things quieter. Of course, more expensive - but better in the long term. Any who, great discussion on the subject.

As a CS PhD Student (taking break due to ... the world in 2020) I shivered when he said mesh network over bluetooth... That equipment will all need replaced in under 15 years. No If And or Buts about it... Someone will find a vulnerability that can't be fixed remotely and that's the end of that story.

Towel warmer, heated floors, how much more can the Texas grid take? 😂

Thanks so much

Nice house. Another point I’d like to mention to you, make sure you install a panel with copper bus not aluminum. And when installing it you should keep all the largest loads closest to the lugs with incoming power. I’d like to send you some pics of a 2 year old 200 amp panel I had to replace that had aluminum bus and an 80amp EV charger circuit installed at the bottom of the panel furthest from the lugs... as for your house He did a nice job. I always use 14/2 for lighting just for ease of terminations. I’d just run another circuit if I felt the circuit was going to be too loaded. Always 12/2 for general receptacles.

Wafer lights are a pretty poor choice for a new home. Having the bulb recessed in the can allows for much better light distribution. Wafer or surface lights are for closets at best. Spending a bit more on your cans either from WAC, USAI or another higher end manufacturer really makes a difference. Also, if the house is custom, I would find it in the budget to hire a lighting designer. I am willing to bed most if not all the lights are placed poorly. 4 cans and a fan, downlights over carpet, bathroom sconces over a mirror etc.

I work in Information technology and I made my house a dumb as possible. The last thing I want to do is fix another bluetooth device after work. I've also switched to all led light bulbs as I got tried of the entire light failing.

Great tips!!

I really like the 1970’s remodel, especially this episode.

"In the bedroom I've got a couple cool things going on." Waiting for the saxophone music to start...

Maybe in the your next 100 year home you can wire up all the lights with low voltage cat6 instead of 14 guage... Would have been interesting to see those products and you talk to a lighting designer.

Hi Matt....copper all the time....aluminum only on temporary work. Great work by the electricians! Anthony, IBEW LOCAL UNION #3 NYC

Great video 😀

There is a lot to talk about with this whole full 12ga setup, more than I can write in a youtube comment. I'll just affirm what some others have already said and add that the idea that 14ga is "worse" is fundamentally wrong. It just has a different use case. An old joke amongst electricians is that you can always tell when a homeowner did the wiring because everything is done in 12ga since they think "bigger is better". In some instances it may make sense to do a circuit in 12ga even when not required by code, but in others it may make no sense at all, and cause issues with box fill etc. Consult your electrician for your specific scenario and I think you'll find a majority dont agree with this concept.

Matt, have loved your channel for years but it’s becoming more and more like an infomercial. It’s great your getting free stuff for you home but is it worth your integrity.

Surface flush LED extrusions that are 5/8" deep are a must.

Noice light option video. Matt, I appreciate the through dive on everything you do. With the 12 gauge wire idea though, I might suggest 14/2 for lights and 12/2 for all outlets. When figuring the load requirement for the lights, especially with led technology (90% more efficient), it very likely the 14/2 would even be to 25% of it's maximum capacity.

12g wire for led's is way over kill. Run 14/2 on a 15 amp breaker for each rooms lights. Every room should have 2 breakers. 15 amp for the led's and a 20 amp for the sockets. The master bath would have a separate breaker from the master bedrooms sockets.

11:00 If you mount the fixture on joist, and drywall covers the access hole, you can no longer access the J-Box. NEC does not encourage creative thinking. ;)

Surprisingly, our 1976 house out in Aggieland is wired in 2/12 Romex. Just wish we had more than a 125 service! Maybe eventually

Good stuff.

Aluminum wire does not need noalox, it's not required by any major panel maker or any large manufacturer of wire such as Southwire. It does however need to be properly torqued to the panel manufacturers spec. The alloy of aluminum in use today is very different from the one that was first used in homes that had issues. There's nothing wrong with using modern aluminum wire to feed main panels or sub panels when installed to manufacturer specs. I used it to feed the main panel in my house. I wish people would stop propagating these myths about aluminum wire.

Thinking of building an igloo in Texas, what is the R value of snow?

I hope my eventual builder doest get pissed off by asking him to watch videos of Matt. I already have 3 videos. Love the 2×6 supplement in areas of water pipes, using Borax before drywall, and agree with him about soffit lighting not to mention got me hooked on the zip system. Hope he does a video on his gutters because I did notice he had ice hanging down from his roof and that surprised me.

12-2 is overkill Matt. If you are worried about heavy loads in individual rooms, just wire the receptacles seperately in 12-2. 12-2 in all circuits is a total waste of money. All houses are usually re-wired well before 150 years. Wire and insulation changes significantly every few years. LED's are used extensively in modern homes, which reduce the lighting load significantly. 14-2 is all that is needed for lighting circuits. Great video. Thanks, Russ, Journeyman Electrician from Oregon

After having one smart hone set up it was so expensive to setup and then I had to go replace all the blue tooth stuff cause it shut down the lower 2G wifi and also messed up the use of wireless headphones and headsets. I ended up having one wireless network just for the "smart home setup" worked great but after 2 years only had one leviton smart switch go bad. Wish I did not have to sell that place

Why put a panel outside where its subject to weather, humidity, and malicious persons / hackers when you have a conditioned garage?

Comment 1000, Matt Im 24 and work with my Father who is a GC and you're a big Inspiration for me this content is amazing and I'm really trying to emulate you as a model for our company. Can you please do a series for young builders just starting off?

Love it

As a professional you should know it's 240/120 volts.

It's over engineering Someday we got a problem Flashing the toilet because Internet go down

as an electrician in Oklahoma, I can say that electricians wiring new homes, that I have seen, are using 12/2 for home runs and jumpers for duplex receptacles and to heat up a switch. Some of your branch circuits like laundry and small appliance branch circuits, they are required to be 20 amp circuits; even on switch legs, which you can get away with a 14/2 and still be on a 20 amp branch circuit, all electricians I know are using 12/2 and 12/3 for 3 way and 4 way switches. The NEC code actually requires 20 amp branch circuits on some of the branch circuits in the home that are likely to have motor loads on them, like small appliance BC and Laundry. I have seen some electricians in Texas do some remodels and use 14/2 for switch legs, but I think every one is using 12/2 and doing 20 amp branch circuits for homes. I don't know if that is to accommodate space heaters that many people use during the winter time, but it certainly is wise to run 20 amp branch circuits for homes! I'm just speaking for the experience I have had, but I have certainly seen some of the storm relief mobile homes made by FEMA for storm relief shelters use 14/2 as early as 1992. Great advice!

I'd previously looked at a towel warmer. To run it for a year would have cost me about $100, so if I didn't want to pay that, it's another thing I need to remember to turn off. So the lesson: put towel warmers on a switch with a timer so it turns off automatically after 30-60 minutes. Rule of thumb: running 1W of power for a full year costs about $1 for even below-average US electricity (11¢ per kWh vs a 13¢ per kWh US average).

“Now that a fat daddy right there” - Matt 2021

- Tech Enthusiasts: Everything in my house is wired to the Internet of Things! I control it all from my smartphone! My smart-house is bluetooth enabled and I can give it voice commands via alexa! I love the future! - Programmers / Engineers: The most recent piece of technology I own is a printer from 2004 and I keep a loaded gun ready to shoot it if it ever makes an unexpected noise.

Good video. I hope you make a video where you put up external wired cameras also. I plan on doing an ICF based house with a dozen external cameras and probably four of those floodlight systems maybe six of the ones you showed here

Used to use all halo led trims. They changed there product. Its a home depot grade now. Halco is all i use now