How Many Power Points Do You Need? A Room-by-Room Guide
How many power points you need is the question to ask before a build or renovation, because adding them later costs more than getting them right the first time. How many power points depends on the room and how you use it. Here is a room-by-room guide for a Perth home.
Plan by how you live
There is no single answer to how many power points a home needs, because it depends on how you actually live, how much you plug in, where, and how it changes over time. The trick is to plan each room around its real use, then add a little for the future, rather than guessing.
A rough guide to how many power points per room
- Kitchen: plenty along the benches for appliances
- Living room: enough for the TV, media and lamps
- Bedrooms: doubles on each side of the bed
- Home office: several for computer, screens, chargers
- Laundry: for the washer, dryer and bench
- Outdoors: weatherproof outlets for tools and entertaining
Kitchens need the most
The kitchen is where how many power points matters most. Benchtop appliances, the kettle, toaster, microwave, coffee machine and chargers all want a socket at once. Plan for more than you think, spread along the usable bench, so you are not unplugging one thing to run another in the busiest room in the house.
Bedrooms and the bedside
In bedrooms, think about how many power points sit within reach of the bed. A double on each side covers lamps, phone chargers and a fan, without a lead trailing across the floor. Add one or two more around the room for other uses. Bedside outlets are the ones people most often wish they had more of.
Home offices
Working from home has changed how many power points an office needs. A computer, monitors, a laptop charger, a desk lamp, speakers and a phone all draw at once. Plan several outlets at desk height, so the space works without a tangle of power boards under the desk that trip you up.
Do not forget outdoors
Outdoor areas are easy to overlook when working out how many power points to fit. A weatherproof outlet or two on the patio or alfresco covers entertaining, tools and the pressure washer. It saves running leads out through a window, and it is far easier to add during other work than later.
Doubles count double
When counting how many power points you need, remember a double outlet gives two sockets for barely more than a single. Specifying doubles as standard is the easiest way to get the numbers up without extra wall plates. In busy spots, two doubles side by side give four sockets where you need them.
Plan for the future
Whatever you decide on how many power points, add a few more than you need today. Homes only ever plug in more over time. The marginal cost of an extra outlet during a build or renovation is small, and it saves the far bigger cost and mess of adding one into a finished wall later.
Renovations are the moment
If walls are already open for a renovation, that is by far the cheapest time to get the numbers right and add outlets where you want them. Adding a point into a finished, painted wall later means patching and mess that open walls avoid entirely.
Think about placement, not just count
How many power points matters, but so does where they are. Two outlets in the right spots beat four in the wrong ones. Walk each room and picture where things will actually plug in, then place the outlets there rather than spacing them out of habit.
Why use a licensed electrician
Installing power points is licensed work, and an electrician can help you plan how many power points each room needs and fit them safely. The state’s Building and Energy sets the standards involved.
Planning how many power points your Perth home needs?
ACS Electrical helps you plan and installs across the metro. Explore our power point installation service, adding power points guide or double power points guide. Call 0419 967 838.
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