New House With Limited Electrical Sockets, CAG recs?

[ChernobylCow]

Hey guys, the new place I'm moving into has very few electrical sockets per room (1-2) and to top it off, the rooms have window A/C units that'll occupy those slots. Seeing how its the dead of summer (in Texas, no less), I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations towards some good cheap ass gamer options for power strips. Or even if you have any warnings concerning the A/C units that would super helpful. I'm just not an electrician and this seems like a situation gamers encounter quite often.

 

[crunchb3rry]

Mom and pop hardware stores will sell these dirt cheap. Probably Walmart, etc. too.

 

[dmaul1114]

Yeah surge protectors are the way to go.

Or if you find those too ugly, you can get those 6 outlet adapters where you take off the wall plate, plug in and screw them in place to give you 6 outlets instead of 2.

Both still limit your options as to where to put stuff that needs plugged in as you still only have outlets on 1-2 of the four walls in the room in your situation.

 

[mtxbass1]

Is this a house you own?

If so, I would call an electrician. Putting surge protectors on an already stressed system is only going to lead to problems.

 

[BigSpoonyBard]

Just out of curiosity, how is the overall power setup for the house? Unless it's new and the builder just didn't like power outlets for some reason, you may want to make sure the house can handle plugging in a lot of stuff on each circuit. Not having a lot of power outlets or central air makes it sound like it's an older house, which could mean an older power box, which would mean popping a fuse every time you try to watch a movie and microwave some popcorn at the same time.

 

[ChernobylCow]

[quote name='BigSpoonyBard']Just out of curiosity, how is the overall power setup for the house? Unless it's new and the builder just didn't like power outlets for some reason, you may want to make sure the house can handle plugging in a lot of stuff on each circuit. Not having a lot of power outlets or central air makes it sound like it's an older house, which could mean an older power box, which would mean popping a fuse every time you try to watch a movie and microwave some popcorn at the same time.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the responses guys. Much better than "buy a powerstrip, duder".

It's my sister-in-law's house and is very, very old. So I'll ask her husband to see what the power set-up is like.

@Spoony, what you brought up was my concern really. I just don't want to have to worry about my PC popping a fuse or getting shut off because all the ACs were running at once or something.

Anyone have specific numbers in mind that I should ask about as to how much energy I can have pulling on each outlet?

 

[QiG]

I'm NOT an electrician, but I had the same issue when I moved into my apartment and I was VERY limited in outlets to plug in my TV, 3 current gen game systems, receiver and subwoofer.

Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but here's my VERY basic understanding: If the power supply running into your house is the standard 120v, you can multiply the fuse/breaker AMPS by 120 and find out how many watts of appliances you can run on it? For example, assuming my apartment is 120volts, and the outlet by my TV is 15A, I can 1800 watts "safely"?

 

[Allnatural]

[quote name='QiG']
Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but here's my VERY basic understanding: If the power supply running into your house is the standard 120v, you can multiply the fuse/breaker AMPS by 120 and find out how many watts of appliances you can run on it? For example, assuming my apartment is 120volts, and the outlet by my TV is 15A, I can 1800 watts "safely"?[/QUOTE]
Residential circuits are typically rated at 15A, but that's peak. You shouldn't draw more than 12A continuously (about 1440 watts). Keep in mind that there will usually be multiple outlets and/or lights on each circuit.

 

[DrSodaberg]

This thread just reminded me of how many surge protectors I have hooked up in my apartment. You're lucky, this place has maybe 3 outlets in total!

 

[DuelLadyS]

Our house has a split eletrical setup (one for the 'main house', one for an addition put in later.) My stuff's on the older system, and we have popped the switch a few times. The buliding I work in's pretty old and done the same, too. My tips:

Only ONE power strip/surge protector per outlet. Putting one into each slot on the outlet is too much stress.

Put the air conditioners on outlets without strips- they draw a lot of power by themselves.

Have the air conditoner turned way down when you turn it on, and turn it up gradually... the sudden jump from nothing to full-tilt can be too much for the system to take.

Lastly- know what's good to unplug/move if you find yourself popping the same circuit over and over. Sometimes, just moving to a different outlet can re-distribute the power enough to make a difference.