A backyard can be much more than a patch of grass behind your home. With the right setup, it can become an outdoor extension of your living space – a place for family dinners, weekend gatherings, watching the big game, or simply relaxing on a comfortable evening. But creating a functional backyard entertainment area involves more than choosing furniture and installing a television. Electricity is an essential part of making the space comfortable, convenient, and practical.
From outdoor lighting and televisions to refrigerators, speakers, fans, and other equipment, today’s backyard entertainment spaces can have surprisingly significant electrical demands. Planning those needs before construction or installation begins can help you avoid relying on extension cords or discovering that you don’t have enough power where you need it.
For Los Angeles homeowners, working with a qualified electrician from Phase Electric can also help ensure that the electrical work associated with an outdoor living area is properly planned and installed.
Start With a List of Everything You Want to Power
Before adding outlets or other electrical equipment, think about how you expect to use the space. Will you have an outdoor television? A refrigerator or beverage cooler? Speakers? Ceiling fans? Landscape lighting? A grill with electrical components? Perhaps you want outlets for charging phones or plugging in small appliances during gatherings.
Making a list of everything you might want to operate is a good starting point. You can then consider where each item will be located and where its power source should be positioned.
Planning for your current needs is important, but it can also be worthwhile to think about future additions. Leaving yourself some flexibility can make it easier to expand the entertainment area later.
Think About Outlet Placement
An outdoor entertainment space needs convenient access to electricity, but outlet placement shouldn’t be an afterthought.
Consider where people will actually use electrical equipment. An outlet located far from the seating area may technically provide power, but it may not be very useful in practice. Similarly, placing all of your outlets in one location can lead to cords crossing areas where people walk or gather.
A thoughtful electrical plan from Phase Electric can put outlets where they’re most useful while helping minimize the need for extension cords.
Don’t Forget Outdoor Lighting
Lighting can completely change the atmosphere of a backyard after sunset. It can also help illuminate areas where people will be walking, cooking, eating, and socializing.
Your electrical plan might include power for overhead fixtures, wall-mounted lighting, outdoor fans with integrated lights, landscape lighting, or other illumination. Thinking about lighting early allows you to consider where fixtures should go and how they will connect to the home’s electrical system.
Different areas may also benefit from different types of lighting. A dining area may need practical illumination, while a seating area might benefit from softer accent lighting.
Plan for Outdoor Appliances and Entertainment
Modern outdoor spaces often include many of the same conveniences found indoors. An outdoor kitchen might include a refrigerator, lighting, outlets, and other electrical equipment. A covered patio might feature a television and sound system.
Each of these additions needs to be considered as part of the overall electrical plan.
Instead of adding equipment one item at a time and trying to figure out the electrical requirements afterward, consider the entire space as one project. This can help you and your electrician develop an electrical setup that makes sense for the way you intend to use the area.
Safety Matters Outdoors
Outdoor electrical installations require careful attention to safety. Electrical equipment used outside is exposed to weather and moisture in ways that indoor equipment isn’t.
Properly selected and installed outdoor electrical components are important for protecting people and property. Depending on the design of your entertainment area, your electrician may also need to consider appropriate protection for outdoor receptacles and circuits.
This is one reason electrical work for a backyard entertainment space shouldn’t simply be treated as a DIY extension-cord project. A professional electrician from Phase Electric can evaluate the existing electrical system and determine what is appropriate for your planned improvements.
Consider Your Existing Electrical System
Before adding several new electrical loads to your backyard, it’s important to understand what your home’s existing electrical system can accommodate.
If you’re adding multiple appliances, entertainment equipment, lighting, and outlets, your electrician can evaluate your current electrical setup and determine whether additional circuits or other electrical work may be necessary.
Planning this before construction can help prevent costly surprises later.
Build Your Backyard With the Future in Mind
A great backyard entertainment space should work for the way you live today while leaving room for tomorrow. Maybe you only need lighting and a few outlets right now, but you may eventually want a television, outdoor kitchen, ceiling fans, or additional entertainment equipment.
Discussing those possibilities with your electrician during the planning stage can help create a more flexible electrical system.
If you’re creating or upgrading an outdoor entertainment space, contact Phase Electric for a consultation today. We provide residential and commercial electrician services in the Los Angeles area and can help you plan the electrical side of your backyard project with your current and future needs in mind.
