Number of mains sockets behind a TV?

[Mathew Newton]

When it comes to rewiring I follow the school of thought that you can't have too many sockets... With this in mind I have always been fairly generous when it comes to sockets in a lounge for a TV so as to cover all the extras: STB, BR/DVD, surround sound etc.

The thing is; even putting in, say, three doubles, I've found the need to use a multi-way extension lead anyway and so for my next rewire I'm thinking I might just put one double socket in and then use short extension leads for everything given that they are all relatively low powered consumer electronic devices (i.e. not space heaters). This will then free up wall space for other sockets I generally need e.g. surround sound terminals, lighting points, Ethernet sockets etc.

I was curious what others think/do? Perhaps rather than 'you cant have too many sockets' it should be more 'you cant have too many socket *locations*'?

[Tim Streater]

I've got 4 doubles behind my TV.

[Tim Watts]

Nothing wrong with treating the media stack as a single device with internal (extension lead) power distribution - I do it all the time.

You can even use IEC bars for extra compactness (at the expense of sticking new plugs on everything)

[DerbyBorn]

Yuo end up with a miss match of different plugs and wall warts (at one time I would have been anal and changed them to look the same. Now - I would go with a multiway strip and try to hide it.

[nothanks]

I only have one double, but I use a master-slave adapter so that everything (woofer, TV, Blu-ray box, chromecast, WIFI AP) turns-on when I switch-on the AV amp. I think the only thing that's permanently connected to power is the freeview receiver.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Mathew Newton laid this down on his screen :

Locations are my priority, you cannot beat having at least on outlet where you need it, so as to minimise on long extension leads. If multiple outlets are needed in one location, then they will be certain to be low power needs, so a plug in multi-adaptor is usually fine. Says he who at a rough count 50 actual outlets or more, scattered round the house, my two workshops the garage and the garden.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well...

I have managed to entirely get rid of all the clutter by the simple expedient of having a smart TV ethernetted to my home network with ALL the DVDs and, as of today, ALL the CDS on the server..

OK I probably need to add an amp for the speakers, but the TV can play everything, so no need for a tuner or CD player.,.

So: My Pcs play music and watch vidoes by te simple expedient of having access to the file store of them.

My main Hifi since last weekend has a raspberry Pi accessing the network AND radio across the internet, and feeding it to a hifi amp and speakres. Web interface controls that so a mobile phone works OK as a 'remote'.

The TVS get radio off air, and get music and videos from te server via DLNA.

I suddenly have shelves for CDS and DVDS that I simply don't need....

And only one socket needed at the TV, or if I add the big amp and speakers, 2...

[Tricky Dicky]

I put in three double sockets and currently only have one socket free which will eventually be used when I can afford a sound bar. To make the row of sockets as compact as possible I arranged the back boxes so that the front plates fitted side by side. To achieve this I riveted the sockets onto two strips of metal with 14mm between them and mounted the whole lot as one unit this ensured easy levelling and accurate spacing.

Richard

[Andrew Gabriel]

There's a good wiring regulation in many of the US states. You must be able to plug in an appliance positioned anywhere around the edge of the room with a 6' lead, without the lead crossing a doorway.

[ARW]

Accurate spacing until someone wants chrome sockets fitting.

OK. So not at your place but many of the places I have worked at :-(

[Steve Walker]

How strict are they on that? For instance to do that in my living room would require one of the sockets to be positioned right where is the obvious location for a radiator.

SteveW

[newshound]

I have six spreaders just at the back and side of my computer desk. It's a two person desk from back in the days of clerks in offices, two pedestals and a top about 1.8 by 1.2 metres. Two "tower" desktops, two laser printers, A4 scanner, negative scanner, Microserver and still plenty of room for a laptop or two plus working space.

[Steve Walker]

Stereo has its own socket, with strip extension fixed to the back of the stand.

TV/Blue-ray/Freeview/Satellite/Firestick/Soundbar/local Ethernet switch, use another strip within the TV stand. That means only one power lead, one antenna lead, three satellite cables and one ethernet cable to the unit, allowing it to be wheeled far enough to clean behind or access the back of the TV. Individual power leads would make it too unwieldy.

It also means that I can swap the lot to the other end of the room if required - as has been done a couple of times when we decided to rearrange the room - although that does mean losing one satellite connection, which isn't really necessary anyway.

SteveW

[Vir Campestris]

I have a trailing lead mounted on the back of the TV stand.

Everything else is plugged in there, so you can't see the wallwarts.

There's only one wire going to wall socket.

Oh, and a UHF lead. And an Ethernet cable!

Andy

[Harry Bloomfield]

A very sensible rule. Has a minimum, every room in my home has as a minimum two outlets, in opposite corners so there should be no need for trailing wires. Most have more, kitchen has around 16 outlets, some of which are double.

In the past, when ever I felt a need for another socket, I would add one as part of decorating process.

[Mathew Newton]

Sounds sensible, and a worthwhile rule of thumb to consider.

Thanks everyone for the comments. It seems there's near unanimous agreement that short multiway extensions leads for AV/etc kit are the way to go!

[2987fr]

What you are proposing, plug boards where there are multiple devices.

Yes, but I knew that when I designed and built the house. Socket locations in all chunks of wall and in more than one place on long walls, tho I don?t have many long walls, only really with the one long kitchen wall. Its got 10 socket locations, half of the under the benchtop for the dishwasher, those bar fridge sized freezers I no longer use much etc.

[The Other Mike]

Two double wall sockets but only one double in permanent use. One with a 12 way IEC socket adaptor the other with a 10 way 13A extension socket mainly for wall warts (10 way because with the offset bodies you can only manage to fill around half of them)

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[Andy Burns]

I knew it'd involve a multi-way socket in any case, so just put 1x mains (plus 4x coax, 2x ethernet, 1x phone)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sockets for mine are on their own radial.

Some things - like say a PVR - may have room for an unswitched IEC outlet on their back panel. Or even two.