Too much plugged into the wall?
Hey guys, I'm not an electrician and I'm fairly certain that I (among others here) would be an electrician's worst nightmare (or perhaps wet dream). I currently have about 16 or so cables plugged into a single outlet (two plugs behind my TV), and I just want to make sure I'm being safe and realistic about it.
I have a power bar with surge protection and all that jazz, and it's done great so far to fit all my stuff. Buuuut the ever growing console collection demands yet another sacrifice and I am now out of places to plug things in. The current setup looks like this:
Wall socket -> Bar w/ 3 plugs -> 1 thing plugged into each
Wall socket -> Bar w/ 12 plugs -> 1 thing plugged into each
I want to buy another 12 plug bar and put it into the top socket in the wall, to effectively add another 9 potential things plugged in.
Now obviously, the majority of the things plugged in are never on at the same time as the rest. Typically, the active power looks like this:
TV, Surround sound bar, Bass, Gaming console
There's a PS2 and Xbox One in there always sucking on the power, but in a sleep state, so should be minimal.
All that lead up for what is probably a simple and silly question, I just don't know the answer myself:
Is it ok to have a ton of shit plugged into the wall if not all of it will ever be on at once?
I have a power bar with surge protection and all that jazz, and it's done great so far to fit all my stuff. Buuuut the ever growing console collection demands yet another sacrifice and I am now out of places to plug things in. The current setup looks like this:
Wall socket -> Bar w/ 3 plugs -> 1 thing plugged into each
Wall socket -> Bar w/ 12 plugs -> 1 thing plugged into each
I want to buy another 12 plug bar and put it into the top socket in the wall, to effectively add another 9 potential things plugged in.
Now obviously, the majority of the things plugged in are never on at the same time as the rest. Typically, the active power looks like this:
TV, Surround sound bar, Bass, Gaming console
There's a PS2 and Xbox One in there always sucking on the power, but in a sleep state, so should be minimal.
All that lead up for what is probably a simple and silly question, I just don't know the answer myself:
Is it ok to have a ton of shit plugged into the wall if not all of it will ever be on at once?
Comments
Add up the voltage, wattage and amperage of how much all of your electronics take up. If it is below or close to equal of your power strip's specifications, than you're fine.
So it doesn't matter the specs of the wall outlet, just as long as I am below that of the power strip?
Add up the voltage, wattage and amperage of how much all of your electronics take up. If it is below or close to equal of your power strip's specifications, than you're fine.
So it doesn't matter the specs of the wall outlet, just as long as I am below that of the power strip?
Kinda, but I wouldn’t look at it that way. It depends on if your strip has overload protection as well surge protection (two different things) if at all. It might just be a multioutlet strip with an on/off switch.
The circuit rating (15a/20a) and what other loads are also on the same circuit are the limiting factor.
Add up the voltage, wattage and amperage of how much all of your electronics take up. If it is below or close to equal of your power strip's specifications, than you're fine.
So it doesn't matter the specs of the wall outlet, just as long as I am below that of the power strip?
Kinda, but I wouldn’t look at it that way. It depends on if your strip has overload protection as well surge protection (two different things) if at all. It might just be a multioutlet strip with an on/off switch.
The circuit rating (15a/20a) and what other loads are also on the same circuit are the limiting factor.
This is the specific strip I have: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000J2EN4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It does claim to have overload protection.
Just avoid things like space heaters, vacuums, or other things with motors.
It is good to know how strong the wiring is for your outlet, but again modern outlets typically have slightly higher specs than any power strip. However an easy way to tell if your outlet is not strong enough to handle all of your electronics is to simply know if it has grounding plug or not (it if doesn't have one then it's not supposed to have a high amount of watts/amps/voltage used from it).
Also I was thinking the same thing empire wrote, not all of your electronics will be turned on all at once at any given time save for the very small amount of wattage standby modes use. MrWunderful is also right about the circuit rating too. I'm no expert technician, I'm just speaking from years and years of my own experience with electricity inside my own house and others' houses as well as my own research too.
Electronics you should be fine with, you arent playing everything at once.
Just avoid things like space heaters, vacuums, or other things with motors.
Yeah nothing like that. Literally everything in the wall here is tied to my TV in some way.
But if you want to be on the safe side, just keep an eye out. Invest in getting one of those UPS devices just in case.
Unless it's a very outdated wall outlet, it will typically have higher specs than almost every power strip. So if your power strip can't handle the volts/watts/amps you have on it, it will start to burn the prongs on the power cable of the power strip while plugged into your wall outlet. I know this from experience because it actually happened in my room's outlet when I was kid because I didn't know any better, I had an air conditioner and a computer plugged into a cheap $5 power strip.
It is good to know how strong the wiring is for your outlet, but again modern outlets typically have slightly higher specs than any power strip. However an easy way to tell if your outlet is not strong enough to handle all of your electronics is to simply know if it has grounding plug or not (it if doesn't have one then it's not supposed to have a high amount of watts/amps/voltage used from it).
Also I was thinking the same thing empire wrote, not all of your electronics will be turned on all at once at any given time save for the very small amount of wattage standby modes use. MrWunderful is also right about the circuit rating too. I'm no expert technician, I'm just speaking from years and years of my own experience with electricity inside my own house and others' houses as well as my own research too.
Grounding has nothing to do with circuit ampacity, it is there to give any "dead shorts" the direct, easiest path to ground to trip the breaker. Knob and tube wiring in many cases can handle higher loads than modern wiring, it just is nowhere near as safe when it comes to shorts/overloads in grounded homes. You should be careful about the advice you give, especially when it comes to electricity.
And just so everyone else knows, you never want to "trip" you breaker. You are actually supposed to replace them after they have been tripped, because it will lose a tiny bit of AIC rating. Residential Breakers arent switches, they are not designed to be turned on and off. Nobody ever does though (including myself) just an FYI.
You would never want to be relying on your home circuit to trip to warn you of an overload, you would want the overcurrent protection device to do that.
Unless it's a very outdated wall outlet, it will typically have higher specs than almost every power strip. So if your power strip can't handle the volts/watts/amps you have on it, it will start to burn the prongs on the power cable of the power strip while plugged into your wall outlet. I know this from experience because it actually happened in my room's outlet when I was kid because I didn't know any better, I had an air conditioner and a computer plugged into a cheap $5 power strip.
It is good to know how strong the wiring is for your outlet, but again modern outlets typically have slightly higher specs than any power strip. However an easy way to tell if your outlet is not strong enough to handle all of your electronics is to simply know if it has grounding plug or not (it if doesn't have one then it's not supposed to have a high amount of watts/amps/voltage used from it).
Also I was thinking the same thing empire wrote, not all of your electronics will be turned on all at once at any given time save for the very small amount of wattage standby modes use. MrWunderful is also right about the circuit rating too. I'm no expert technician, I'm just speaking from years and years of my own experience with electricity inside my own house and others' houses as well as my own research too.
Grounding has nothing to do with circuit ampacity, it is there to give any "dead shorts" the direct, easiest path to ground to trip the breaker. Knob and tube wiring in many cases can handle higher loads than modern wiring, it just is nowhere near as safe when it comes to shorts/overloads in grounded homes. You should be careful about the advice you give, especially when it comes to electricity.
And just so everyone else knows, you never want to "trip" you breaker. You are actually supposed to replace them after they have been tripped, because it will lose a tiny bit of AIC rating. Residential Breakers arent switches, they are not designed to be turned on and off. Nobody ever does though (including myself) just an FYI.
You would never want to be relying on your home circuit to trip to warn you of an overload, you would want the overcurrent protection device to do that.
I just always took them for stronger outlets in a makeshift kind of way.
Nonetheless I'm by no means questioning your knowledge, you certainly seem to be the expert here no doubt.
However, he mentioned he's not plugging in air conditioners, space heaters, vacuums nor power tools just as you asked so he should be fine no doubt. But you can never be too careful with this stuff, so this topic isn't a waste of time (not that anyone said that).
Just your posts alone already taught me more.
That sounds crazy.
At least make sure your power bars are turned OFF when you're not using them. Even then, powering up 12 things to only use 2-4 outlets, depending on the system, seems a little much...
I'm no electrician either, but having EVERYTHING plugged in all the time is just a waste of energy. I have one power bar... and unplug it when I'm not using it. If I had more, I'd probably do the same, but if was was to the point of not having easy access to the plugs, I'd just turn the power bar off when not in use.
The whole unplugging power bars and electronics that aren't being used to save power is a bit overblown, they really don't draw much.
Exactly, they're only going to draw a very small amount of wattage (I don't know what he has exactly, so I'm going to say around maybe 2-5 watts from the standby modes).
I heard somewhere, don't remember from whom and when, that constantly powering on and off a computer actually draws more power than leaving it in sleep mode. Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong though by all means.
Most video game systems draw in the milliampere range usually anywhere between 60 to 600, I'm not sure about your audio system stuff and newer tv's draw very little as well. It sounds like your setup is like Mr. Griswolds from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
The whole unplugging power bars and electronics that aren't being used to save power is a bit overblown, they really don't draw much.
Exactly, they're only going to draw a very small amount of wattage (I don't know what he has exactly, so I'm going to say around maybe 2-5 watts from the standby modes).
I heard somewhere, don't remember from whom and when, that constantly powering on and off a computer actually draws more power than leaving it in sleep mode. Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong though by all means.
The might not use a lot of energy, but NES Power blocks warm up when plugged in. Probably not good practise to have a unit from the 80's plugged in and warming up all the time.
With the power bar, you don't have to unplug it, you can just get one that has an off switch.
As long as it isn't set up like this, you should be fine.
ah crap.
I also get crazy weird about paper or clothing items being around power strips and things (risk starting fire?) - maybe I've watched too many movies or maybe it's good that I'm this way!!!
Oddly enough as well, most of my power strips are elevated and not even on the floor.
You can turn off any of the ports that aren't being used, then turn on when needed.
You guys are doing this wrong. You need to get one of these:
You can turn off any of the ports that aren't being used, then turn on when needed.
Man! Why the hell aren't these more common? I have a good variety of power strips in new and vintage styles, and the only thing I've seen like this is a big flat thing made to sit under a CRT computer monitor (and, ideally, on top of a horizontal computer) and provide power for said monitor, computer, and attendant peripherals like printer, modem, and speakers; in other words, oldschool AF
You guys are doing this wrong. You need to get one of these:
You can turn off any of the ports that aren't being used, then turn on when needed.
Man! Why the hell aren't these more common? I have a good variety of power strips in new and vintage styles, and the only thing I've seen like this is a big flat thing made to sit under a CRT computer monitor (and, ideally, on top of a horizontal computer) and provide power for said monitor, computer, and attendant peripherals like printer, modem, and speakers; in other words, oldschool AF
I have no idea, my thoughts as well. In Taiwan, they are quite common, you can get them at any of the usual type stores that sell this sort of thing.
My mom loved them (mine) so much, I even got her a few as part of her Christmas / birthday (I forget which) gift a few years back, when she was visiting. Not exciting, I guess, but she is one of those people who basically has everything she needs / wants at her age.
You guys are doing this wrong. You need to get one of these:
You can turn off any of the ports that aren't being used, then turn on when needed.
Man! Why the hell aren't these more common? I have a good variety of power strips in new and vintage styles, and the only thing I've seen like this is a big flat thing made to sit under a CRT computer monitor (and, ideally, on top of a horizontal computer) and provide power for said monitor, computer, and attendant peripherals like printer, modem, and speakers; in other words, oldschool AF
Because newer electronics tend to need to be “always on” so something similar wont sell well. I just made my own.
You guys are doing this wrong. You need to get one of these:
You can turn off any of the ports that aren't being used, then turn on when needed.
Man! Why the hell aren't these more common? I have a good variety of power strips in new and vintage styles, and the only thing I've seen like this is a big flat thing made to sit under a CRT computer monitor (and, ideally, on top of a horizontal computer) and provide power for said monitor, computer, and attendant peripherals like printer, modem, and speakers; in other words, oldschool AF
Because newer electronics tend to need to be “always on” so something similar wont sell well. I just made my own.
I am quite curious what you mean here. I can understand why turning (and thus everytime setting) an alarm clock would not be proper, and likewise could understand the necessity of keeping a fridge plugged in. But other appliances, I honestly have no idea, is there something I'm overlooking? wifi would be another, I guess.
But tv, stereo, game consoles, etc., honestly not necessary.
The whole unplugging power bars and electronics that aren't being used to save power is a bit overblown, they really don't draw much.
Exactly, they're only going to draw a very small amount of wattage (I don't know what he has exactly, so I'm going to say around maybe 2-5 watts from the standby modes).
I heard somewhere, don't remember from whom and when, that constantly powering on and off a computer actually draws more power than leaving it in sleep mode. Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong though by all means.
The might not use a lot of energy, but NES Power blocks warm up when plugged in. Probably not good practise to have a unit from the 80's plugged in and warming up all the time.
With the power bar, you don't have to unplug it, you can just get one that has an off switch.
I use a laptop power supply (12V, 3amps) for my NES and the same laptop power supply is plugged into my SNES using 2-in-1 power cables and a polarity converter (and a SNES power cable converter from console5). Saves space and an outlet. I also use another laptop power supply (the same exact type as the one for my NES & SNES) for my Genesis-32X-Sega CD setup, with two polarity converters and 3-in-1 power cables. I have no problem with leaving them plugged in because they're far newer than the phat power supplies from all of those consoles. So in total I'm saving at least 3 outlets and space on my power strip thanks to them
Also here is the power strip I use if anyone was curious: https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Metal-Power-Strip-Protector/dp/B000BVC0WO
I bought it from home debot for $30 around 4 years ago, it's intended for power tools. I needed its thick 15 foot power cable since my wall outlet is on the complete opposite side of my room from where my computer desk is.