Setting Up Your Entertainment Center: Electrical Tips

When you have a home entertainment center in your home, you can sit back and relax as you enjoy a movie with your family and friends, sing along to music as you clean the home, or root for your favorite sports team while enjoying your favorite snacks. However, a media center must be set up properly in order for its potential to be maximized. Keep reading to learn how to plan and organize your home entertainment center's setup while maintaining safety and protecting your equipment.

Plan the Arrangement of the Center

First and foremost, you need to take the time to plan how you want all of the furniture and equipment arranged. These decisions will ultimately determine where the wiring and speakers will be placed. Make certain that the space has a sufficient number of electrical outlets that can be accessed with ease. If you need more, you will want to reach out to an electrical contractor to have them added in the appropriate places.

Take Control of the Wiring and Cabling

When it comes to an entertainment center, the wiring and cabling can easily become a huge mess of tangled cords if everything is organized poorly. Consider using solutions like raceways, runners, and clips to keep the wires and cables in place and organized. Zip ties and sleeves can also be used in terms of color coding, allowing you to know which wires and cables go to which electronic device.

Install Surge Protectors

It is imperative that all electronic devices used in the media center are plugged directly into a surge protector. This will ensure that the devices are protected in the event of any significant electrical fluctuations. While power surges do not occur frequently, when they do happen, they can result in expensive damage to your electronics. Therefore, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Avoid Overloading the Electrical Circuits

One of the most effective ways to keep your circuits from becoming overloaded is to disperse the power draw over multiple outlets in the media center. The last thing that you want to do is to plug all of your electronic devices into one outlet, as this can overload the circuit. You should determine how the circuit breakers in your home control the outlets of your media center, as this will ultimately help you determine the outlets that your equipment should be plugged into. An electrician can help you if you are uncertain how to go about doing this.

When setting up a home entertainment center, the aforementioned tips can help ensure that you get the most out of your center. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to an electrician to ensure that you are not overloading your circuits.