Choosing the Right Home Theater Wall Plates for Your Home

When building a new home, it’s the perfect time to think about the pros & cons of installing a home theater. Attempting to renovate the home to include a theater at a later time is more complex and likely to be problematic. Instead, completing the work right when the home is being built has a number of benefits. Installing a home theater system during construction will save time, money, and frustration. The best way to make sure that the home theater will meet the needs of the family is to take some time before building to complete a planning session. This will allow the homeowners and the builders to sit down together, and draw up plans. These plans can include the location of home theater wall plates, and areas for plugs & the entertainment system. Planning ahead can also ensure that the layout of the theater is optimal. This is also the best time to plan for necessary outlets and wire organization. These plans will help the homeowner keep their theater neat and looking its best.

Planning a Home Theater Is the Most Important Step

It is impossible to overstate the importance of planning when designing a home theater. All of the details are important. Even the chairs and layout of the room and the types of home theater wall plates that you select will play a huge role in how the room functions. The usefulness and comfort of the room will determine whether or not it gets the use that you think it will.

Even if a home theater’s design is perfect, the homeowner and his family will not use the space very often if it has problems. Wiring that does not work properly, or unsightly visible wires can be distracting. These issues will keep homeowners from enjoying the room as much as they would like. Homeowners should be proud of their home theaters but will not want to bring guests over for a movie when rooms are cluttered with extra wires and are not well-planned or organized.

Hire an Expert to Help Install Your Home Theater System

While it’s fun to plan out your home theater, hiring an expert builder as well as an electrician is important. These experts will help to ensure that the room is as functional as it is attractive. For example, the builder and electrician can work together to make sure that the necessary wires aren’t lying around the room. Experts will also make sure the correct components are used. Options are complicated for home theater technology. When making such a significant addition to your home, it’s best to consult someone who has experience.

Angie Hicks, of Angie’s List, interviewed Jeff Rodgers, owner of an audio/video installation company. According to Jeff, homeowners call him after they try to install their own home theaters, with disastrous results.

Organizing Home Theater Wires with Wall Plates

One of the best ways to organize audio/visual wires is to place them behind the wall or by using home theater wall plates to ensure that all of the cables and wires are neatly organized, correctly labeled, and easily accessible. Over time, wires may fail and need to be replaced. If these wires are not clearly labeled, then it can be very difficult for this job to be completed quickly and easily. A well-organized home theater system will allow changes without requiring unnecessary holes in the walls.

Documentation for Home Theater Wiring

Another important consideration when planning your new home theater is to keep all necessary documentation about the electronics and the wiring that your builder or electrician uses. Before finishing the walls, you will want to work with your electrician on diagramming. You should have a clear and labeled diagram that shows exactly how the wiring connects. This is important so that if there are any issues with the wiring or electrical components of the home theater, another electrician can easily resolve them. The video and audio connections need to be shown separately on this diagram. This separation prevents any confusion about how the whole system is set up.

Choosing a Combo Audio Wall Plate

Quality home theater wall plates, such as the ones that you can buy at Buyer’s Point, are very useful and offer a number of benefits for the homeowner. Rather than having to buy both an audio and a video wall plate for connection your theater, when you choose a combination plate, you will have all of the wires and cords connecting to the same location. In addition, there are plates available that serve as HDMI connectors as well. HDMI connectors provide both audio and video signal – they look a little like a phone charging cord. There are a dizzying array of HDMI options available; you can read more about these options, from color to cord length and more at the Home Cinema Guide.

 

Whether you’re connecting audio cables, video cables, or HDMI, being able to connect everything to the same wall plate makes it easier. A wall plate can really help homeowners control the mess and confusion that comes with having a lot of cords running along the floor in a home theater.

Combo Wall Plates: Easy to Install

One of the other main benefits of combo audio wall plates is how easy they are to install. Dealing with multiple plates can be complicated and difficult. To install multiple plates, you first have to find places where each plate is accessible but not so visible as to be in the way. Then, you have to fight through a difficult installation process for each. Instead you’ll find that the right kind of home theater wall plates are very easy to install. This is especially the case when the work is completed as the room is first being built.

Install combo wall plates with a low-voltage bracket for mounting. It’s easy to install these plates using color-coded thumbscrews and matching binding on the back and front. These actions will ensure a clean and professional appearance for your home theater wires. Installing a wall speaker jack port directly in the plate is another option to improve the appearance of your home theater. This helps keep a mess of wires from being slung along the floor. Homeowners without wall plates also tend to tuck wires up against the baseboard in an attempt to hide them.

How Many Power Outlets Will You Need?

In addition to having home theater wall plates installed in the room, you will also need to consider how many power outlets the room will need. Obviously, the more components that you are going to be running at one time in your theater, the more power outlets that you will have to have installed.

In general, you will need multiple outlets for the room, as each piece of equipment will need to be plugged in.

Consider the location of the home theater wall plates in your room. It’s important to think about where the outlets will be most accessible. You should also keep in mind which locations will make the outlets easiest to use without stretching wires and cables across the room. Exposed wires and cables are not only unattractive, but can also be very dangerous.

It’s important that the electrician who is helping your builder with this project is aware of the different devices that you will be running. These devices will need a lot of power and the home theater may have to be wired with that in consideration. The electrical system in your home, and its connection to your home theater system, is very complex. If you’d like to read up on how everything in your home’s electrical system interconnects with your home theater, check out this overview by Acoustic Frontiers.

Recommendation: Don’t connect the outlets to a wall switch. Although some people like having a wall switch to control their home theaters, this is frustrating if you accidentally hit the switch while someone else is using the room. A wall switch can also accidentally turn off the power so you are not able to record something on TV.

A Dedicated Circuit Breaker for a Home Theater

Most rooms in a home will not automatically have all of the power that is necessary to run a home theater. For this reason, this room will benefit from being on its own circuit breaker. This is a good idea even if you think that your spare room can handle providing the necessary power. The last thing you want is to lose power to other important areas of the home if you have a problem with the home theater. A dedicated circuit breaker or power strip will also give you the option of shutting off all power when the room is not in use. This can provide energy savings, according to Popular Mechanics – considering the amount of resources a home theater uses.

Home Theater: Details Matter, so Hire Experts

When designing a home theater room and system, it’s important to remember that all of the components need to work together seamlessly. This will provide the best viewing experience possible. This will ensure that the room both looks great, and is functional as well. This is why it’s important not only to plan ahead but to rely on experts who can help with planning and making decisions.

Experts, such as electricians and home builders, can help you make sure your home theater is functional as well as attractive. This is important no matter what your plans for your home. Whether you’re building a man cave, or making a well-defined area in your home for TV and music, an expert can help.

Experts should take care of all wiring jobs. Electricians and wiring specialists can guarantee not only that they completed the work correctly but that they left the wiring neat and orderly. When this happens, the theater room or renovation will add a lot of value to the home. This is great in the future when it comes time to sell

the property. Most homeowners want to get the most money possible for their homes. Tim McKeough, in The New York Times emphasized the value of a well-designed home theater. He says, “…not all home theaters are created equal. The better the design and components of your theater, the more likely it will increase the value of your home.”

Best Home Theater Wall Plates

The right home theater wall plates, when professionally installed, keep the home theater area neat and orderly. The wall plates help homeowners organize wires for ease of future upgrades, and improve the value of the home. An orderly installation will ensure ease of operation for the home theater. This level of organization will also make it easy to deal with any electrical problems in the future. When the homeowner doesn’t install wall plates, it is very common for frustration to result. Trying to manage and maintain a home theater without wall plates can make wires disorganized. Homeowners may also struggle with making sure that they have everything connected neatly and correctly within their home theater system.

Take the creation of your home theater step by step. Prepare the space, and plan ahead with the help of an expert. An electrician can help you ensure that all wiring is safe and correct. Always consider the wiring, low voltage, and electrical needs as well as how to organize any of the necessary wires in this room of the home. Careful planning will ensure that there is enough power to the room. An extra circuit will make sure you don’t cause any problems for the rest of the house. You can also conserve power by flipping off the breaker when the room is not in use. This is an important consideration as home theaters generally do use a lot of power. This power consumption can be costly if you don’t put the right precautions into place before finishing the room. When you are done, your home theater will be a space that you will love for years.