Why and how do you create a power plan for AV on location?

The short answer

A power plan maps out how much power all your AV equipment draws and how you spread it across the power circuits available on location. You create it by adding up the consumption of your equipment, comparing it with the available circuits and distributing the load intelligently. This prevents an overloaded circuit from failing and your picture and sound going down at the same time.

Why a power plan is not a luxury

Power is the silent link behind every event. As long as everything works, no one thinks about it. But the moment a circuit becomes overloaded and the fuse blows, all equipment on that circuit goes down at once. That can mean your picture, sound and light all go black at the same time, in the middle of a presentation.

• A failed circuit affects multiple devices at once
• Recovery costs minutes while the audience watches
• The risk is entirely avoidable with advance planning

A power plan therefore belongs to every serious technical preparation. It fits seamlessly into the approach from the guide to technical event planning.

Step 1: map your consumption

Start with an overview of all equipment that draws power: screens or projectors, sound equipment, lighting, laptops and peripherals. Every device has a power rating that you add together into a total.

• Note down all AV equipment that runs on power
• Do not forget peripherals, such as chargers and signal amplifiers
• Add up the consumption to a total requirement

The technical partner knows the consumption of the deployed equipment and can add it up. What information is needed for this is covered in the article on information for your AV partner.

Step 2: investigate what the venue offers

Besides the requirement, you need to know what is available. Ask the venue how many power circuits there are, how heavily they may be loaded and where the connection points are located.

• Number of available power circuits in the room
• Maximum load per circuit
• Location of the connection points relative to your setup

This survey belongs to the technical inspection of the venue. You can read about the approach for this in the article on technically inspecting a venue.

Step 3: distribute the load intelligently

Now you lay the requirement and supply side by side. The art is not to concentrate heavy consumers on a single circuit, but to spread the load so that no circuit is at its maximum.

Points of attention when distributing

1. Spread heavy equipment across different circuits
2. Keep a margin, do not load a circuit to the edge
3. Take other suppliers on the same circuits into account
4. Record which device is on which circuit
5. Make sure critical equipment is not all on the same circuit

Do not forget that catering, heating and room lighting often draw on the same circuits. A complete power plan takes this into account.

Have the whole thing supervised

Drawing up a power plan and monitoring it during setup takes experience. The technical supervision service makes sure the power distribution is correct and that someone keeps an eye on things during the event, so that a blown fuse never gets a chance.

In short

A power plan weighs the power requirement of your equipment against the available circuits on location and distributes the load with a margin. Map your consumption, investigate what the room offers and spread the load intelligently. Then the silent link behind your event stays exactly that: invisible and reliable.