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Golf Simulator Electrical: 1,200 Watts, One Circuit
I tripped a breaker in the middle of a simulated round at Pebble Beach and my projector went dark with a 12-foot putt left. It was not a power shortage. It was me plugging a gaming PC, a projector, a launch monitor, and a space heater into the same outlet as my garage door opener. The breaker did its job. I had done no planning.
Every simulator build starts with the same question: “do I have enough power?” The answer is scattered across Foresight PDFs and 2023 forum threads, and installers will happily sell you dedicated circuits you do not need. Add up the real wattage component by component and their quotes fall apart.
The Short Answer
A home simulator peaks around 1,200 watts total. A standard 15-amp circuit on US 120-volt power delivers 1,800 watts, and you should stay under 80 percent of that for continuous load, so roughly 1,440 watts. One properly wired 15-amp circuit runs an entire simulator. You only need a second circuit if you add high-wattage extras like a space heater or a window AC unit on the same line.
What Each Component Actually Draws
| Component | Typical Draw | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Launch monitor (radar or camera) | 5-20 watts | USB-powered. Negligible. |
| Projector (lamp-based) | 250-400 watts | The single biggest draw in most builds. |
| Projector (laser or LED) | 100-250 watts | Newer units draw less and run cooler. |
| Gaming PC | 300-600 watts | 100-150 idle, 300-500 under sim load. |
| Motorized impact screen | 100-200 watts | Only draws when the motor moves it. |
| Speakers or AV receiver | 50-100 watts | Small bookshelf speakers, near nothing. |
| LED lighting | 20-60 watts | A strip of LEDs is trivial. |
Add up a worst case: a 400-watt lamp projector plus a 500-watt gaming PC plus a motorized screen kicking on, and you are around 1,100-1,200 watts. That is inside the 1,440-watt budget of a single 15-amp circuit.
The catch is the surge. A projector lamp and a gaming PC both spike when they power on. If they are on the same circuit as your garage door opener or a refrigerator, that surge is what trips the breaker, not the steady load. That is why the real fix is outlet placement, not more circuits.
Outlet Placement Matters More Than Circuit Count
One dedicated 15-amp circuit for the sim gear. Not three. One. Put the gaming PC and projector on it, and keep it off the garage door opener, the fridge, and anything with a compressor motor.
A second existing circuit for the extras. Space heater, dehumidifier, window AC, mini fridge for the drinks. These are the things that actually blow breakers. They do not need a new circuit, they need to not share one with your projector.
A single quad outlet behind the hitting area. You want four receptacles within 6 feet of your PC and monitor so you are not running extension cords across the floor. This is where the electrical spend is actually worth it: one new outlet run, not a whole subpanel.
The installer who quotes you a 100-amp subpanel and three dedicated circuits is selling you a commercial build for a residential space. Your total draw is a hair over a hairdryer.
Surge Protection Is the One Thing to Actually Spend On
A $6 power strip will not save your $1,500 gaming PC when lightning hits or the grid flickers. Buy a proper surge protector with a joule rating of at least 2,000, and plug the PC and projector into it. A whole-home surge protector at the breaker panel runs $300-500 installed and is the better long-term move if your sim lives in a garage that shares a panel with the rest of the house.
Skip the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for the PC unless you lose power constantly. A UPS adds $150-250 and only buys you a graceful shutdown. It will not let you finish your round.
Wire and Breaker Basics (so you can check the quote)
US homes run 120-volt circuits at either 15 or 20 amps. A 15-amp circuit uses 14-gauge wire. A 20-amp circuit uses 12-gauge wire and gives you 1,920 watts (1,536 continuous). If your panel already has a spare 20-amp breaker and the run is short, a 20-amp circuit is a nice upgrade and costs about the same as 15-amp to install. It is not required.
Check the existing outlets first. If your garage already has a 20-amp outlet on a circuit that is not shared with the fridge, you are done. Plug in and play. Most people discover they already have exactly what they need and never needed to call an electrician at all.
Three Mistakes That Trip the Breaker
The space heater on the sim circuit. A 1,500-watt space heater and a 1,200-watt sim on the same 15-amp circuit is 2,700 watts on a 1,800-watt line. It trips the instant both run. Put heat, AC, and dehumidifiers on a different circuit from your projector and PC.
The extension cord daisy chain. Running the PC and projector through a 16-gauge indoor extension cord is a voltage drop and a fire hazard, not just a trip risk. Use a 14-gauge or thicker cord for any run over 10 feet, or better, install a proper outlet near the hitting area.
The “everything on the garage circuit” assumption. Most garage circuits are shared with the opener, a fridge, and sometimes outdoor outlets. Find the breaker, test what turns off with it, and move the sim off anything with a compressor motor. The motor’s startup surge is the number one cause of mid-round blackouts.
What I Would Actually Do
I run a camera-based Rapsodo MLM2PRO ($600), a lamp projector, and a mid-range gaming PC off one 15-amp garage circuit, and I moved the space heater to a different outlet on a different circuit. It has never tripped since. My entire electrical spend was a $40 surge protector and an hour of moving plugs around.
The number to remember: 1,200 watts peak, one 15-amp circuit. If you have that, stop planning the electrical and start measuring your room. The power is the easy part.
Where to Buy
- Rapsodo MLM2PRO $600 at Amazon.
- Garmin Approach R10 $500 at Amazon.
- Rapsodo MLM $200 at Amazon.
- Carl’s Place DIY Enclosure from $999 at Amazon.
Prices verified September 2026. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Electrical components (breakers, wire, surge protectors, projectors) are commodity items and are not affiliate-linked; the links above cover the simulator hardware only.