Game Room Electrical Planning

Updated 2026-08-17 Researched from published specs, not tested in person

The short answer

A pool table, a light and a dehumidifier run on an existing 15 A circuit. Add a kegerator, a beverage fridge and arcade cabinets and it will trip, because compressors draw a large surge on start. Budget $200 to $600 for one or two dedicated 20 A circuits, put refrigeration on one and entertainment on the other, and run it while the ceiling is open.

Electrical is the first thing to do and the last thing people think about, and the cost of getting the order wrong is disproportionate. Cable and ceiling boxes go in while a ceiling is open. Adding them afterwards means opening a finished ceiling, which is a different and much more expensive job than running the same cable a week earlier.

Separate refrigeration from everything else. A kegerator and a beverage fridge on one 20 A circuit, and the cabinets, pinball machine and screen on another. Compressor surges are what trip a shared circuit, and they do it at unpredictable moments, which in practice means the evening you have people over.

What each thing actually draws

Item	Running load	Behaviour
Kegerator	70 to 120 W	Compressor draws a large surge on start.
Beverage fridge	85 to 120 W	Same surge behaviour, smaller.
Dehumidifier, 50 pint	450 to 600 W	Runs for hours at a time below grade.
Full size arcade cabinet	150 to 300 W	Screen plus computer. Steady load.
Home arcade cabinet	60 to 120 W	Small screen, small draw.
Pinball machine	200 to 400 W	Solenoids spike briefly on every flip.
Air hockey table	100 to 250 W	The blower runs continuously.
Recessed LED lighting, 12 cans	100 to 150 W	Negligible on modern LED.
Pool table pendant	30 to 60 W	Negligible.
Television and soundbar	150 to 300 W	Steady.
Projector, short throw	250 to 400 W	Plus a fan cycle after shutdown.

Running loads are not the problem: a 15 A circuit at 120 V carries about 1,800 W, and a full game room of steady loads sits well inside that. The problem is inrush: a compressor starting draws several times its running current for a fraction of a second, and two compressors plus a dehumidifier all cycling at once is what pushes a breaker over.

The circuit plan

Existing circuit: lighting and one anchor game. Recessed LED lighting, a table pendant and a pool table between them draw almost nothing. If that is the whole room, stop here and spend the money elsewhere.
Dedicated 20 A circuit one: refrigeration. The kegerator and the beverage fridge . Compressors together on their own circuit means their surges do not affect anything else.
Dedicated 20 A circuit two: entertainment. Arcade cabinets, the pinball machine, the screen and a projector. Steady loads that add up.
Dehumidifier on whichever has headroom, or its own outlet on the existing circuit. It is a large steady load rather than a surge, so it is easy to place.
GFCI protection where the code requires it, which below grade is generally most of the room. Your electrician will know the local requirement.

Where the outlets go

Behind the bar, at least two, for refrigeration. A bar cabinet with built-in outlets reduces how many you need visible.
At the arcade wall, one per cabinet position plus one spare. Cabinets stand shoulder to shoulder and a shared extension lead behind them is a fire risk rather than an inconvenience.
Behind the screen position, at mounting height rather than at skirting height, so no cable runs down a wall. A full motion mount needs slack in the cable, which is easier from an outlet behind it.
Behind any powered seating. Power recliners need an outlet behind them, and planning it before the flooring goes down avoids a lead across a walkway.
Near the dehumidifier and its drain, which wants to be near a floor drain or a condensate pump.
One at each end of the room for vacuuming and for whatever you have not planned. Outlets are the cheapest thing to add while a wall is open.

Never run a game room on extension leads. A row of cabinets fed from one outlet through a chain of strips is both an overload risk and a trip hazard in a room where people walk backwards to line up shots. If the plan needs more outlets than the room has, the answer is more outlets rather than more strips.

The pendant box, which is the expensive mistake

A pool table light hangs with the bottom of the shade 30 to 36 inches above the cloth, which puts it 5 ft 1 in to 5 ft 7 in from the floor. That is the easy part. The hard part is horizontal position.

Mark the table footprint on the subfloor in painter tape, at full size, in the exact position the table will occupy.
Find the centre of that rectangle and mark it.
Drop a plumb line from the intended ceiling box position and check it lands on the mark. The centre of the room and the centre of the table are almost never the same point, and this is the moment to discover that.
Then cut the hole. Not before.

A fixture on an adjustable chain is worth the small premium if the room will also be used for table tennis on a conversion top, since a pendant at that height sits directly in the path of a rally. Full figures in the light height chart.

Switching

Ambient recessed lighting on a dimmer, so the room can go from playing to watching a film. Recessed cans should be specified as dimmable, which most are and not all.
Table pendant on its own switch, separate from the ambient lighting.
Accent lighting on a third, ideally with a remote, because perimeter strip is what people actually want on late in the evening.
A switched outlet at the arcade wall is a genuinely useful luxury: one switch turns every cabinet off at the end of the night rather than six power buttons.

Do it in this order

Plan the layout and tape the table footprint on the subfloor.
Electrician runs circuits, outlets and the ceiling box, while the ceiling is open.
Ceiling closed and finished.
Flooring laid, wall to wall, before anything heavy.
Lighting fitted and dimmers set.
Slate table delivered and levelled. See installation costs.
Everything else, in any order.

Complete rooms with the electrical line priced in are in the full buildout and the basement buildout. The lighting side is in the lighting guide, and the appliances that drive the circuit decision are in the kegerator roundup and the arcade cabinet roundup.

Frequently asked questions

Does a game room need a dedicated circuit?

Only if refrigeration and arcade equipment are both in the plan. A pool table, a light and a dehumidifier run happily on an existing 15 A basement circuit. Add a kegerator, a beverage fridge and two arcade cabinets and it will trip, because compressors draw a substantial surge on start and they do it at unpredictable moments. Budget $200 to $600 for one or two dedicated 20 A circuits.

How many circuits does a game room need?

One existing circuit is enough for lighting and a single anchor game. Two dedicated 20 A circuits is the right answer for a full buildout: one for refrigeration, meaning the kegerator and the beverage fridge, and one for entertainment, meaning the cabinets, the pinball machine and the screen. Splitting refrigeration from everything else is the single most useful thing you can do, because compressor surges are what trip a shared circuit.

Where should outlets go in a game room?

Behind the bar for refrigeration, at the arcade wall for cabinets, behind the screen position, behind any powered seating, near the dehumidifier and its drain, and one at each end of the room for vacuuming and for whatever you have not thought of yet. Outlets are the cheapest thing to add while a wall is open and among the most annoying to add afterwards.

Where does the ceiling box for a pool table light go?

Centred on where the table will actually sit, not on the centre of the room, and those are almost never the same point. Mark the table footprint on the subfloor with painter tape, drop a plumb line from the intended ceiling position and check it lands on the centre of the marked rectangle before anyone cuts a hole. This is a twenty dollar mistake before the drywall and a four hundred dollar one afterwards.

Should game room lights be on a dimmer?

The ambient lighting, yes, and the table pendant on its own separate switch. A game room does two different jobs: playing, which wants bright even light, and watching a film or sitting with a drink, which wants very little. A room that cannot dim its overheads only does the first job, and a dimmer is trivially cheap at installation and annoying to retrofit.

Do I need an electrician for a game room?

For anything involving a new circuit or a new ceiling box, yes, and it is not the place to economise. Beyond the safety argument, work done without permits and inspection can complicate an insurance claim and a house sale. Adding outlets on an existing circuit is a smaller job. Budget $200 to $600 for one or two dedicated 20 A circuits including the ceiling box, done while the ceiling is open.

Measuring your own room before anything is delivered? The Game Room Layout Planner is the paid version of these pages: 8 printable worksheets you fill in with your own numbers, plus the full PDF, $29.

How we work: we compare published manufacturer dimensions, the governing playing standards for each game, and reviews from owners who live with the equipment. We do not test games in person, and we say so on every page. Clearance figures here are researched guidance for planning a room, not professional advice: measure your own space, and have a slate table delivered, assembled and levelled by an installer rather than moving it yourself.