I'm planning out the new house and it looks as though the underground electric wires will come into the house right at the corner where my first floor den with most of the computer equipment will be located.

Should I be concerned about this?  I've read that data/coax pulls should be at least 6 inches from an electric pull and they should only cross at 90 degree angles and should never run in parallel.  How far do I need to stay from this "main" line?

What is the minimum amount of space that should be between the electric breaker panel and my structured wiring cabinet?

what you might want to do is locate your wiring closet in a central location. since you are building a new home, the cabling wont be as hard, it will be in a good location, and you shouldnt have to worry about power problems.

Jeff Moss
Warwick Communications, Inc
jeffmoss26@adelphia.net

To answer your question, there are some general guidelines for distances between power and data cabling.  6" spacing would be a minimum in my opinion, when wiring a new home I try to stay at least one stud bay away (16") when running down the wall (since this is in parallel with the power cabling).  Whenever you cross power it is good to go at right angles.

We routinely place the structured wiring panel near the electrical panel, at least 36" away, since the utilities services enter in the same area.  

Data wiring is quite particular, phone wiring is relatively particular, coax is shielded and isn't too much of a concern. Keep in mind your circuit breaker box is metal, and hopefully your choice in structured wiring panels is a shielded metal enclosure as well.  All this helps in avoiding interference.

Avoiding the main power service into the building is a tough one in some installations, if you can stay 36" away I wouldn't anticipate any problems.

Hope that helps.

It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com

I agree with both replies just to add my 2 cents. I"d stay atleast a 16" away from your power. Locating you juction point say in a furnace room for both your data & phone has been a pretty good idea for me (bus. or resdential). Run acouple of CAT5 cables and a 90% braid coax to your juction point as feeders from the outside. I realize this might get some of your equipment (hub,switch,etc.) away from your server or main PC but for future changes or additions I've found it worthwhile. good luck

I would suggest using a minimum of double shielded coax.  Usually DS coax has a 100% foil shield topped with a braided shield.  That gets you 100% shielding, if you are quite concerned you could use quad shielded coax, it has foil, braid, foil, braid.

Good Luck!

It is only my opinion, based on my experience and education...I am always willing to learn, educate me!
Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
daron.wilson@lhmorris.com