A home theater is the ultimate in
home entertainment. You get to sit in comfort, with munchies and goodies that
came from your fridge (not wallet), and watch something you’d like to see when
you want to see it. But unless you have a professional installer like Just One
Touch putting your home theater together, there’s a number of things you must
do in order to have a safe environment for watching So here’s 5 tips for a safe
DIY home theater:
1. USE
NEW CABLES AND WIRES - Don’t scrounge around for the Ă„cables and wiring that
might be on hand, but instead use new ones. This will not only insure you’re
meeting the latest standards for video and audio transmissions, but also
avoiding any chance of electrical issues.
2. PROTECT THE FURNITURE – Snacks and drinks are always
a good idea when watching, except when they end up on your furniture. That
means you’ll be doing the cleaning. Having a TV tray or end table designated
for putting drinks or snacks onto them works better than your lap.
3. GLOW IN THE DARK STRIPS – A fast way to
tell where the light switch or wall is located can be done with a simple and
(mostly) unobtrusive glow in the dark strip or sticker.
4. DON’T OVERUSE THE ELECTRICAL OUTLETS - with
everything in the home theater running on electricity, there’s a tendency to
just plug everything into any outlet and expect the best. But with power outages
and brownouts happening regularly (and not just in the summer), having a power
conditioner interceding between the electricity hungry devices and the electric
grid will keep everything working smoothly and better even (since “bad”
electricity introduces interference to degrade video/audio). Also, no extension
cords unless they are heavy duty and made for home theater use.
5. 5. DON’T
THE USE OF SMARTPHONES/TABLETS - It shouldn’t seem odd to not be looking at a
phone/tablet when a movie is playing. But besides being just plain rude with potential
phone calls, it also introduces light into the room as well as creating a less friendly
environment for those who have to put up with it.