Do you remember the time you pulled your blanket over yourself and snuggled into bed… and then realised that you wanted the fan a little faster… and the regulator was across the room on the opposite wall?

Do you remember the time you found the perfect corner for your study table… and then realised there are no plug points there for your desk lamp, laptop or charger?

Do you remember the time you bought that beautiful piece of artwork for your wall… and then realised that a focus light on it would have made it look so much more glamorous?

Having a good electrical plan adds greatly to the comfort and aesthetics of your home. So once we finalised the interior layout of Project Comeback, we worked on the electrical plan.

Electrical plans look very complicated and scary…

But they are not! So take a deep breath, and here goes…

5 Things to Remember While Making Your Electrical Plan:

1. Plan early:

The first thing you need to work on after you finalise the layout is the electrical plan. This happens before you actually start work in your home. All the wiring goes through the walls, floors and ceilings. So you want your wiring laid before your walls are plastered, flooring is laid out and the false ceiling is fixed.

2. Use your interior layout as the starting point:

Place your light, fan, AC switches around your entries and exits. Place plug points close to tables and counters. Plan the big stuff – where are the washing machine, home theater, computer and printer placed? Plan their points, switches and wiring accordingly. Having a good home lighting design can give your home the designer look, so give some thought to your lighting. You can make your own lighting design keeping these basics in mind.

3. Plan for ‘more’:

Renovating your home involves huge expenses. So you’ve probably postponed the purchase of your fancy home theater by a few months. Or to next year perhaps? Put the wiring in now. To pull the wires through the walls and the ceiling later on will be extremely disruptive, and a big expense in itself. Plan for extra plug points around the kitchen counter and bedside and study tables. You’ll realise the value of those when mom, dad, boy, girl and dog, all want to charge their tablets and cellphones, all at once. (Ok, not the dog! But you get the drift?)

4. Split ACs:

I have noticed that installation of split ACs always requires a lot of planning, especially in apartments. Split ACs come with outdoor units. These need to be placed outside the apartment. And usually there is no provision made to place them anywhere!

Project Comeback was no different. The most obvious thing to do is to place the indoor unit on an external wall, so that the pipes will go directly out through holes in that wall. Here, we have balconies in all the bedrooms. This would mean that the outdoor unit would sit in the balcony, in direct view… ugly!

We worked on this early on and figured out where to conceal our outdoor units and marked holes for the ducts to go through. We also realised there were places we had to put in extra boxing, or change the ceiling design, to conceal all the ducts and wiring.

5. Walk through your electrical plan:

Once you have finalised your plan take a printout, hold it in front of you, and walk through your home with it. Get a feel of the space and how you plan to use it. Add anything you might have missed onto your plan.

That’s it. We’re ready to roll. And now… so are you!