We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
A wall-mounted TV is still an incredible look for a home theater, but this kind of setup can quickly become unsightly if there are a lot of exposed wires involved. Fortunately, there are several ways to tidy up messy wires, with one of the best options being an in-wall power kit with built-in wire management. You can find these products from a number of manufacturers, both online and in stores, and installing one yourself is a pretty straightforward process.
Most in-wall power kits come with everything you need right in the box, including a handy drywall saw attachment for a power drill, or a manual saw you can use to cut the drywall by hand. Technically, you don’t even need a drill to get the job done, but if you own one or can borrow a friend’s, it makes punching through drywall that much easier and cleaner.
Amazon’s top-rated EchoGear In-Wall Cable Management Kit comes with the drill attachment and even features a wire passthrough for running low-voltage cables like HDMI and RCA leads. Alternatively, you could use a wireless HDMI transmitter for your home theater setup, if your budget allows. Running power cables down a stud bay often requires strict adherence to electrical code throughout the U.S., and an in-wall power kit is an ideal solution for skirting around these restrictions. How exactly? We’ll explain below, and we’ll also provide you with a few cable clutter alternatives.
In-wall power kits vs. cord covers
Should a nail or stray staple snag on the jacketing of a traditional power wire, the exposed copper could pose a serious fire hazard to your home or business. When you use an in-wall power kit, there’s only one non-metallic sheathed cable (usually a Romex wire) running between the top portion of the kit — which is where your TV plugs in – and the bottom.
In most jurisdictions, it’s safe to run a Romex cable through a stud bay, as this is how most modern homes and businesses are wired to begin with. And the only other connection to worry about is the male-to-male jumper cable that the kit comes with, which supplies voltage to the Romex when you plug it into an existing AC outlet. Power kits aren’t just for wall-mounted TVs, either; depending on the footprint of your TV furniture and how wide or tall your TV is, it’s also a great way to hide cables when using specific TV stands.
That said, not everyone might want to dig into drywall to make a TV setup look nicer, and in-wall power kits are generally more expensive than using a cord cover kit. You can find these products in stores and online, and they’re even easier to install than an in-wall kit. Most of these coverings feature a peel-and-stick adhesive for placing the back portion of the cover on the wall. Once you’ve connected all your cables, you’ll use the top portion of the cover kit to clamp them into place for that final, hidden wire look. Cord covers can often be painted to match the color of your wall, too.
Small fixes, big impact
Velcro wraps and zip ties go a long way toward improving the look of a cluttered home theater setup, and you can use them in combination with an in-wall power kit or cord cover kit, if you’d like to bundle up any excess wiring. And if zips or velcro are all you can afford — or you simply don’t want to install any type of cable management system — a strand of bundled-together wires is still a cleaner look than cables jutting every which way.
Depending on your TV setup, you may also be able to mount a power strip to the back of your TV furniture, which will help lift power cables off the floor. You could also go for the Sleek Socket Power Strip that both hides power cords and doubles down as an outlet concealer. As a bonus, you could also invest in a strip with built-in surge protection and/or line conditioning to safeguard your electronics from voltage spikes, electrical noise, and surprise surges.
Whether you go all in on a power kit with built-in cable management or simply introduce some zip ties to your existing home theater setup, achieving a clean look for your TV-watching space doesn’t take much effort, and the payoff is immediate.
