Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Surge protector compatible with a 20 amp circuit?

It's a big honking amp. Check the plate on the back; it should say how many amps it draws--actually most electronics should.

I just called Emotiva, and all of their products have built-in surge protectors, power conditioners etc. etc. The technical guru at Emotiva said that using two separate circuits is a good way to go but I have to watch that I don't get a ground loop. I'm plugging the amp into one of the plugs of my 20 amp circuit and a surge protector into the other plug for my TV, then I'm going to plug another surge protector into the other outlet for the rest of my components that don't draw much. Now I just have to figure out what to do about my subwoofer. I know for sure I'm not plugging it directly into the wall.

My Denon would draw the most out of the rest of my equipment.

The dirty truth - all my stuff is plugged into a 6-gang and into the wall... on a shared 15 amp circuit - the only thing I did when we moved it was remove the dimmers from the lights.

I know you want to do the best by your equipment and go "the extra step"... but it's probably unnecessary.

Although on This Old House, they did show how to save energy by putting your A/V equipment on a power bar - the draw on "standby" electronics was actually fairly high. The frustration of resetting clocks and timers and resetting your TV picture every time you turn them on is probably greater.

Bren R.

I think i have two for my dryer and possibly the oven.
But the HT? The whole room runs off of a single breaker and it certainly is no 20A.

Cam, AV equipment is relatively low power(e.g. stuff like hair dryers and hotplates is far more demanding), so no, special circuits for that aren't necessary. The power supply sections in AV equipment are built to handle most power surges routinely and special protectors are of limited use(none in my case)for a surge which would be too strong for the equipment yet not so strong(e.g. a near direct lightning strike)as to defeat the protector. Judging from your various posts you may be unnecessarily concerned over power supply factors.

Thanks guys. In Emotivas manual it says it requires a minimum of 10 amps at 120 volts with both channels driven into 8 ohms, and also says a big screen TV should be plugged into a separate circuit (cd players are ok). My Denon manual says it draws 7 amps. My TV, DVD, and CD are all measured in watts which doesn't help. I know I'm okay. Just want to be sure.

If your Denon draws 7 amps... that's with all channels driven, right? You're not using any of those channels, so you can probably cut that waaaaaay way down. However, with such a large power draw from the Emotiva, I'd be really careful about putting it all on one strip. Most 20 amp strips I've seen are actually only rated for 16, which says to me that 15 amp strips are probably rated for 12.