A smart home is mostly invisible. The wiring, switches, dimmers, network backbone and switchboard automation hub are what make it work — the apps and voice controls are the surface. Millar Electrics installs the electrical infrastructure for smart home systems across Melbourne's eastern suburbs, working alongside builders, AV integrators and home automation providers from the design stage through to commissioning.
The right time to wire for smart home is at rough-in for a new build or major renovation. The conduits, end points and switchboard space cost a fraction at plaster-on of what they cost to retrofit later. Even if you're not commissioning the actual automation system for years, getting the cabling in now means the option is always there.
What we wire at rough-in
A smart home rough-in covers a network backbone (Cat 6A to every key room and to ceiling-mounted access points), zoned lighting (separate switched lives for each zone, with the switching done at the board rather than the wall), conduit for automated blinds and motorised gates, distributed audio cabling to ceiling speakers, intercom and door entry cabling, and switchboard space for whichever automation hub you eventually commission.
Working with integrators
Most Melbourne smart home installations involve a separate AV or home automation integrator who designs and programmes the system. We work to their specifications — installing the cabling, wiring the controllers, terminating the cabinet and lodging the COES — and they handle the programming, app setup and ongoing user support. Where you haven't chosen an integrator we can recommend providers we've worked with on previous projects.
Retrofit smart home
Retrofitting smart home into an existing home is more involved but feasible — particularly if the home has accessible roof space and a reasonably modern switchboard. We can install dimmer modules at the board, run network cable through ceiling and wall cavities, and replace existing wall switches with smart equivalents (Z-Wave, Zigbee, Shelly relays) without major plaster work. The result won't be as clean as a rough-in install but covers most of the practical use cases.
Standards we work to
The fixed wiring side — switchboard automation hub, zone wiring, dimmer modules, switched lives to the smart actuators — is installed to AS/NZS 3000 (the Wiring Rules), with cable sizing per AS/NZS 3008. Network and control cabling (Cat 6A backbone, KNX bus cable, C-Bus pink, RS-485 runs) is customer cabling under AS/CA S009, so it has to be done by a registered cabler — which is a meaningful share of why smart-home rough-ins go better when one team does both sides. Where the automation system controls dimmable lighting, fittings have to meet AS/NZS 60598 and the dimmer-to-driver pairing has to maintain compliance under all dim states.