In Home Intercoms

In home intercom systems have come along way. There are many varieties on the market with varied bells & whistles. No longer does the main station in the kitchen or master bedroom have to be over powering on the wall. Along with the improvements in technology, the price of in home intercom systems has also lowered over the years.

As is usually the case, a great time to wire for components such as an intercom is during new construction while all the walls are open and accessible. We have had the Greyfox (now OnQ/Legrand) intercom system installed in several of our houses. This system, like many today, uses Cat5 wiring from a structured wiring panel to each room that will have an intercom station. The room stations themselves are only the size of a two-switch panel. The main station is the size of a three-switch panel. These small sizes and the traditional looking face plates allow the intercom to blend well on the wall along with your other electrical switches.

One of the best features of this intercom system is the monitor which allows any room station to be monitored from the rest of the house. This is great for a baby's room, when someone is sick in bed, or even for an elderly person that is not easily mobile.

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Structured Wiring

So what's the big deal with structured wiring? It is just for tech-savvy people or is it worthwhile for everyone? How about the cost?

Structured wiring was originally used in commercial construction to integrate security, cable, and phone systems. As the cost of structured wiring systems has come down, it is becoming more and more common in residential homes. Installing a system like this during new home construction can also cost half as much as retrofitting it to an existing home.

Some of the systems that can be wired in this structured manner include phone, television, intercom, security, audio, computer networking, cameras, etc. Having these systems in a structured wiring configuration also allows for easy access via the structured wiring panel that they all can be wired into.

A structured wiring system typically consists of "home run wiring" which means that each cable is run from a source panel to its destination (ex: a bedroom) without connecting to another jack in a different room. This allows each cable to work independently and reduces interference. Additionally, this will allow for greater flexibility as to the purpose of that wire. For example, a cable used for a phone in a bedroom could be modified in the source panel to now be part of the home's computer network or an IP camera system. The cabling in structured wiring systems is typically: Category 5 or 5e for voice and data; RG6 coaxial cable for video. Fiber optic cable is also an option, but is expensive.

One benefit of structured wiring systems is that they give you more control over the wiring in your home, instead of giving that control to the phone or cable company. Those companies would just bring their outside wire to your source panel and the structured wiring system takes over from there getting the signal to the rest of the home. Also, some phone companies will charge an "inside wiring maintenance" fee on your bill which you can eliminate if you have structured wiring.


I encourage anyone building a new home to consider a structured wiring system at least for their phone, television, and networking. A basic system starts around $1,200 to $1,500 and goes up from there. I think the value it adds to your home will be worth the cost.

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