More and more, Americans are adding value to their home and spending more time together outdoors by adding decks to their homes. These outdoor living rooms have become social gathering places where we can cook, lounge, play, and hang out for much of the year.

Even without electricity, decks greatly enhance our quality of life and keep us moving and engaged.

But adding electricity can really boost your deck experience.

The simple, but ugly way to add electricity to your deck

Probably the simplest way to add electricity to your deck is by screwing an outlet into your light bulb socket. A simple $3 switch will allow you to run an extension cord from your light socket, while still powering a light.

There are several significant downsides with this approach.

First, it’s ugly. The space where you entertain friends and hang out with your family is too important to treat like the garage floor.

Second, a wire hanging down from ceiling and going across your deck is unsafe. Hopefully you’ll be walking across that space carrying meals or your favorite beverage, or your children may run through there in a game of tag.  having an extension cord hanging down and across a pathway set up the potential for an accident could cause an injury or damage to the house.

The simplest professional option

Having an electrician install one outlet in the exterior wall of your house is probably the simplest professional option. With no need to add extra wiring or protection, and linking the outdoor outlet directly to existing wiring, you can be ready to go pretty quickly.

Again, you will want to avoid wires, so you will need to put a table or something next to this outlet to hold whatever you are going to plug in.

The professional option

Let’s face it, we need electricity wherever we go these days. Whether you are sitting in the sun listening to music or browsing the web, you can’t depend on batteries to get you through.

This is why your deck would benefit from having multiple outlets, and a dedicated circuit.

This way there are options for plugging in your speaker, charging your phone, running the blender, or setting an electric skillet next to the grill. And there is not worry about tripping. Each outlet can have its own waterproof cover.

And having its own circuit means that even if something does go wrong during a water balloon fight or weather event, the circuit protects you and your investment, and is easily fixed when the weather passes.

If you need professional eclectic work done on your deck or other new space, call Price Electric, a trusted name for over 25 years.