Trends For Living Room Electronics? Ideas?

I know nothing about car stereos, but I had a crazy thought the other day and figured someone here on this board would know home electrical stuff and also car stereo (electrical) stuff.... so here goes....



How difficult would it be to "rig up" a car stereo (or, actually, an in-dash video player/receiver) in a house, hardwired in?



I assume (admittedly, without researching) that the foremost issue is that car power is DC, so the first problem would be getting a transformer to take 110VAC to whatever the stereo required in DC, right?



As far as speakers - are car speakers and home speakers essentially the same, as far as the signal sent to them from the receiver/amp/radio? Or are they a different capacity (resistance ohms or something)? Could you use home speakers (say, small in-ceiling type speakers, like you typically see sold for home theater surround usage) with a car stereo?



Finally, do these systems typically have standard audio and video inputs in the rear (component, composite, S-video, headphone-jack type plug)? I know they typically have an "aux" input on the front (for video game systems, iPods, MP3 players, and whatnot) but do they have connections on the back where it would be out of view when permanently connected (for connection from the satellite box)?



I had this crazy idea that I would love to install one of those car stereos with the slide-out, pop-up TV screen into my bathroom, and have the sound wired to ceiling speakers. If I built a cabinet with a mounting frame that would hold it in place, could this work? I am not looking for some high-end sound system that will blow me away and rock the house, nor do I care about a beautiful HD picture on the TV... I just want to have a small TV and a radio/audio receiver at the vanity area that I could hear with the shower running or whatever, and car systems like this are way less expensive than buying a small LCD TV and a stereo receiver (plus I can't find a receiver small enough). Plus, you would get the added benefit of the TV "disappearing" when not in use. 



Obviously, this would take some rigging - transformers and all - but can anyone clue me in on the feasibility?
      

just wondering if someone can give me a quick answer.  I currently have 7 receptacles and 3 lights on one circuit.  the receptacles are in the living room and the lights are in the basement.  I have just installed 6 recessed lights in the living room. does anyone think that that is too much to add to the circuit.  not much gets plugged in in the living room    T.V.  couple of lamps dvd player, occasional vacuum cleaner.
      

Help!  We decided to raise the ceiling in our kitchen for some new taller cabinets. We have 30" cabinets with a 7' drop ceiling. By taking out the drop ceiling we can go to an 8' ceiling with 36" cabinets.  We just had the ceiling taken out and now I see I got a problem!



This is a 2 story home, the wall in question is a load bearing wall (runs through the center of the house) The main breaker panel is in this wall (the panel opening is in the adjacent family room)



As you can see in the photos I cannot extend the wall up because all of the home wiring is in the way!  I expected I might have to run longer wires but not this. 



Some ideas we've thought about...

notch the double 2x4s (not sure how much I need to notch or allowed to)



build a cove (box) and leave the wires like they are (might be an eyesore in our new kitchen)



put up a large crown moulding along the entire wall (would be the only crown moulding in the house)



extend the ceiling up 6-7" instead of 12" (should leave enough room for wire to stay)



I'm leaning to the notching option if I can find a way to reinforce that section.



Any ideas?



thanks!
      

I'm building a whole house everything system. It is a sixteen zone system with full AV distribution, 9 security cameras, about 70 speakers, ten 9.1 surround sound amplifiers, 6 PCs, KVMs, loads of networking gear, two dss, bluray, roku, squeezebox, NVR server, NVR viewer, etc. There are air conditioners in the Liebert MCR racks. The headend contains three 42U racks. Two of the racks are for AV equipment and the third rack is for the PC equipment.



Here is a detailed list of all the equipment and their electrical needs:



http://dl.dropbox.com/u/70589/MillerPlan.xls



You will see two tabs on the spreadsheet: Equipment and Cabinets. These contain very detailed information on all the devices going into the three racks. You will see that I specified 14 electrical circuits.



I have already purchased all the equipment except for the "APC UPS 280 watts" and "Furman power conditioners". If anybody experienced with residential systems with requirements like this could give me feedback on the electrical requirements and my proposed design it would be great, all feedback is welcome!
      

Hello, I'm roughing in 5 rooms and it's time to do the cable boxes. I was thinking of using RG 6/U in each room with home runs for every room.

I'm not sure really what to use.



This is rental property, and some tenants use Satelite, some use "Charter"

and all use High Speed Internet.

I'm thinking of also installing Cat 5E or 6 in same box.



I only want to do this once since I can't pull it out once installed.

Not sure about telephone, probably cable, but I might run some 22/4

in same box just in case. Hopefully crosstalk will not be an issue.



Any help or ideas would be appreciated.



Thanks.
      

Just pulled 7 home runs for kitchen remod. All come across the attic and come out in a 1.5" hole in a rafter blocking. I have about 15' hanging on each 12-2.



The problem is I have farther than 24" to get into the panel, so i dont get the nipple exception to my conduit. Since they're required to be 20A (except the lughing circuit?) i dont have any room for derating.



Is my only choice to run three separate EMT 3/4" and drill new holes in the side of my panel?



Edit: would a junction help me at all?
      

hi everyone.



i am installing 4" recessed lighting throughout my main floor.  my house was built in the 40's and the previous owner installed drywall over the existing lath and plaster ceiling.  so I've cut a trench down the center of my room to drill floor joists to run wiring and cut my holes for the new lights.

the lights are fire rated and do not require insulated cans for a traditional installation in a drywall ceiling.



question i have is with the additional 1/2 to 3/4" of lath and plaster above the drywall, should these lights now have insulated cans or should i be fine with the cans I've got?  there is no insulation in ceiling.



any suggested would be appreciated.



thanks

d
      

i have 3 switch sets in my house that are giving me absolute fits.



#1  kitchen switch, controls the light over the outside door




    Code:

   

3 sets of lines coming in,



line from the breaker panel (power)



line to the ceiling lights 



line to the outside porch light.

i cannot get this 3 line to work without tripping the breaker every time i turn the switch off



#2 bathroom switches




    Code:

   

power feed line



line to the light over the medicine cabinet



line to the second switch to control the exhaust fan.

same issue as the first set, flip the switch and trip the breaker (different breaker from the kitchen switch)



#3 living room switch and plug controlled via switch




    Code:

   

 power feed line



outside porch light line



line to wall switch to control the lower wall outlet

flip switch, trip breaker



the switches i have are "1 pole" am i using the wrong switches for this job?
      

I have a 2 story house, I just had the drop ceiling in the kitchen removed and it will be raised up 12".

Right above the kitchen is the master bedroom. When the new drywall goes up that space becomes inaccessible.



I assume I cannot install "new construction" type recessed lights in the kitchen?
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!