Thanks everybody! really helpful responses!!!
What about a permanent solution?
Is it possible to rewire the place, or have someone rewire the place, so that you have additional outlets in appropriate places and surge protection at the source?
Apologies if I'm stating the obvious and you've already ruled that out.
I’ve thought of that a bit, but not sure if thats the best route. I’m on a tight budget, and it seems like a big project, right? Would prefer a fast, cheap easy solution if possible
The problem is not so much how long the extension cords are, but how much current you are pulling from one outlet. You can certainly daisy chain power strips one after another as long as you don't overload the outlet.
I run everything off one outlet. I have one power strip with surge protection that supplies a uninterruptible power supply and lights (LEDs - low current demand). The ups supplies everything for audio and computers. There are several power strips coming off the ups to add additional outlets to power everything. All in all, I'm probably pulling about 8 or 9 amps out of the outlet when everything is powered up.
You can buy more power strips and/or heavy duty extension cords. Just be sure total power consumption doesn't exceed the rating of the outlet. In fact, be sure you don't exceed 75% of the outlet for peace of mind.
Oh thats interesting! A few followups:
1. How do I know/find out what the rating of the outlet is? I just moved in a few months ago and have no idea what it is.
2. How do you know that your UPS is able to handle all of those devices coming out of it? Is there some stat to look into for the UPS, like an amp amount its rated to or something?
3. I’ve just heard about IEC cords- is that what you mean by "heavy duty extension cords”? Or is that something different?
And is there any difference between going with power strips/surge protectors and heavy extension cords?- I mean in both cases its just a matter of seeing what it is rated to and, if the rating is good, it can be safe to daisy chain either out of a surge protector or UPS? Right?
My entire studio runs off of a single outlet...and as some of you know, I have a lot of gear hooked up to it.
Of course, I installed a 20 Amp outlet, 20 Amp line and 20 Amp break in the main box.
I actually have two of those...but the second was only put in as a spare...so the entire studio runs off the one outlet....with voltage regulator, balancd power unit and lots and lots and lots of power strips.
As long as the meters on my voltage regulator and balanced power units are showing less than 20 Amps usage...it's all good.
Not to mention, having it all tied to a single source is good for the grounding scheme....because if you have many outlets in a room, they may not all be the same line, but just 'cuz a room has 3-4 outlets...odds are, they are all tied together to one line anyway.
Keep in mind that most home lines/outlets are only rated for 15 Amps.
I’m a bit confused, this goes beyond my very limited electrical knowledge lol. You changed the outlet in your studio to allow for more amps? So outlets are usually rated for 15 amps but you upgraded to 20, right?
And to do that, you also needed to install a 20 amp “break” (not exactly sure what this is), in the main electrical hub for your house/building, AND reroute a wire that could handle 20 amps for that to your outlet- is this correct?
This seems like a big project, right?
Also:
1. What is a voltage regulator and a balanced power unit? Should I look into getting these?
2. What do you mean by "having it all tied to a single source is good for the grounding scheme”? I’ve never thought about a grounding scheme before and I don’t know if its tied to a single source (or what exactly that means).
I have 4 different outlets in my room that have surge protectors on them- so that means that I should check to see if they are all on the same line from the main electrical box downstairs, then (if they are all on the same line) add up the amps being used by ALL the devices in the room (on every surge protector), to make sure that is below the 15 amps (or whatever my outletsallow, once I figure out how to measure it)?
AND I would need to figure out the amp line and amp break ratings too, to make sure that they are all capable of handling the amps from all the devices in the room? Is this correct? If so, how do I do this?
And how can I see if all the outlets in my room are all on one line or if there are multiple lines?
I did a major cleanup on mine a while ago. Now a 'local strip mounted under the mixer and gear stack' table, so the floor's cable mess got a lot cleaner.
Anywho.. In the process also found and bought a few different optimized length and IEC and Edison spliter combos so the plug count at the strips also went down.
All goes back to one plug, but also some of the gear hits their own switched strip. (preamps stay off if I'm not tracking.. Nice. :>)
Extension Cord Accessories
I’d never heard of any of those before today, they seem like they could be helpful! So you plug one of the Is there a difference between the IEC and Edison splitters or are they the same thing?
It doesn’t seem like any of the plugs on that website have switches (unless I’m missing something)- What do you mean by "some of the gear hits their own switched strip”? So you have everything coming out of one surge protector/UPS, THEN that main surge protector/UPS has other surge protectors/power strips (with switches) coming out of it, and THEN you have the splitters coming out of the surge protectors/power strips? Is this correct?
Also- GENERAL QUESTION - whats the best way to measure all of this stuff? I just heard about the P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor - is that the best way to measure it or are there other devices/apps/techniques that are better? And could it measure everything that I need to measure- i.e. the power usages and ratings of the outlet, main line, breaker, individual surge protectors, extensions/splitters and devices? As of now, I have no idea how to measure any of it.
Thanks again so much!