Hydronics meets Cat6

[Nofossil]

I'm in the process of replacing all of the kludged network wiring in my house with Cat6 using wall plates and patch panels. One problem that I have is that I don't want to damage the vapor barrier in the outside walls. Outlets are in 3/4" shallow boxes in the baseboard trim. I came up with this solution to mount a network jack in an outside wall. My son thinks it may be the first gigabit baseboard.....

 

[rowerwet]

is it still a working baseboard?
cool anyway

 

[pybyr]

For full technological awe-inducing effect, needs a "do not push this button" button.

 

[Nofossil]

is it still a working baseboard?

Absolutely still a working baseboard. Also a working network port. I just needed a place to mount a network jack, and the baseboard end panel had enough space behind it. Maybe this is the first in a series of dual-function components....

 

[DaveBP]

My son thinks it may be the first gigabit baseboard…..

Along with the Alice in Wonderland wallpaper, it does make one wonder if everything is quite what it seems in this house.

 

[woodsmaster]

I figured it was hooked to a sensor to collect data from the baseboard.

 

[Nofossil]

Actually, it's a test setup for my 'Heat Over Ethernet' concept. Simply encode BTUs in IP packets and send them over the network. Unpack at the other end and release the heat energy. Pretty sure that's what Gore had in mind when he invented the Internet. Why hasn't anyone done this before?

Nothing is as it seems here, for sure.

Really, it's just a convenient (if unusual) place to mount a network jack. Nothing more.

 

[DaveBP]

Pretty sure that’s what Gore had in mind when he invented the Internet.

Or what Tesla had in mind when he invented whatever he didn't quite finish inventing.

 

[goosegunner]

Very good idea!

I ran Cat6 a few years ago but didn't even think about heat loss.

Do you use plenum rated cable?

Just wondering how much cable is exposed to the heat of the baseboard. Toxic fumes?

gg

 

[Donl]

From my understanding of cat 6 capabilities I think it will be a poor choice for moving packets containing large amounts of btu's. If you have a need for a lot of btu's I really think fibre is the way to go! see chart

barb wire ---> 100 btus
telephone wire ----> 150 btus
extention cord ----> 250 btus
cat 3 -----> 300 btus
cat 5 -----> 400 btus
cat 6 -----> 450 btus
single mode fibre ---> 600 btus
multi-mode fibre ---> 800 btus


Don

 

[Nofossil]

Very good idea!

I ran Cat6 a few years ago but didn't even think about heat loss.

Do you use plenum rated cable?

Just wondering how much cable is exposed to the heat of the baseboard. Toxic fumes?

gg

I'm a fanatic about vapor barrier integrity. Normal Cat6 is happy at 160 degrees, and this cable won't see that - it doesn't touch the copper at all. The Cat6 is just tucked in behind the end cap.

@Don: Never thought of trying it with barbed wire!

 

[goosegunner]

From following your posts for some time now, I knew that you throughly researched all possibilities.

I wish I would have found this site some time ago. The vapor barrier in my house has too many penetrations. Can feel the cool air coming through certain outlets & switches.

House is 13 years old. Built when people were wrestling with construction is too tight and causes indoor air issues. I even had people tell me to cut the vapor barrier above ceiling drywall before insulation. Luckily I did not listen to them.

gg

 

[pybyr]

This thread topic fits perfectly with a news item I received from a friend just last night:

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found
traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that
their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.


Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a
California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a
story in the LA Times read: "California archaeologists, finding 200 year old
copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced
high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New
Yorkers."


One week later, a local newspaper in Vermont reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Craftsbury, VT
Ezekiel Magoon, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely
nothing. Ezekiel therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Vermont had
already gone wireless."

 

[ewdudley]

...

One week later, a local newspaper in Vermont reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Craftsbury, VT
Ezekiel Magoon, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely
nothing. Ezekiel therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Vermont had
already gone wireless."

Yes indeed, an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing WLAN runs through it.

--ewd (Former Head of the Hosmer Champion)

 

[BrotherBart]

The hydronics add a whole new dimension to the term Network Attached Storage.