A modern Burlington backyard is its own small electrical project. Weatherproof TV mounted in the pergola, in-deck speakers, a fridge in the outdoor kitchen, a patio heater for the shoulder season, string lights across the yard, gas fire feature with an electric ignition, and the obligatory phone-charging spot on the bar. Treated as a collection of one-off receptacles it overloads the existing outdoor circuit by July. Treated as an integrated design, it works for a decade. Here is how we lay it out.
The starting point: what the existing house gives you
Most Burlington homes have one or two outdoor receptacles on a shared 15A or 20A circuit, GFCI-protected somewhere in the basement or at the receptacle itself. That is enough for the original use case — a lawnmower charger, a string of holiday lights, the BBQ rotisserie. It is not enough for a real outdoor entertainment buildout.
The first decision is whether to extend that circuit (add receptacles to what is there) or run new dedicated circuits (a small subpanel feeding the outdoor space). For anything beyond two new fixtures, the subpanel approach is what we recommend. The marginal cost of a small outdoor subpanel during a buildout is less than the labour of fishing four new home runs from the main panel out to the patio.
The outdoor subpanel approach
A 60-100A subpanel mounted on the exterior wall of the house, fed from the main panel via a properly sized feeder, dedicated to the outdoor entertainment loads. Everything in the backyard runs from this subpanel — receptacles, speakers, TV, heater, fire feature ignition, string-light feeds, exterior lighting transformer.
The advantages over individual home-run circuits:
- One trench, one feeder run. The expensive part of an outdoor install is the trenching and conduit. Doing it once for a single feeder is dramatically cheaper than doing it four or five times for individual circuits.
- Local disconnect. Lock-out at the subpanel for service. The next time the patio heater wants attention, you flip the breaker at the subpanel, not back at the basement main panel.
- Easy future expansion. Add a circuit at the subpanel for the next thing you want (a pizza oven, a hot tub, a pool) without touching the main panel.
- Capacity headroom. Size the subpanel to the foreseeable future rather than the current build.
We typically mount the subpanel in a Cantex outdoor-rated enclosure or in a recessed garage location with a feeder run to the back of the house.
The circuit map: what gets its own breaker
The layout that works on a typical Burlington outdoor entertainment build:
- Patio heater(s). Electric patio heaters are 1500-2400W each. Two of them together pull serious current. Each one or pair gets its own 20A circuit. If the heaters are 240V (the better units are), each gets its own 240V circuit.
- Outdoor TV and AV cabinet. The TV draws relatively little; the AV cabinet with the receiver, the streaming device, and any matrix switcher draws a moderate continuous load. One dedicated 20A circuit, with the AV equipment in a ventilated weatherproof cabinet.
- Outdoor fridge. Compressor cycling. Its own 20A circuit so it does not share with the TV that is on while the game is showing.
- Outdoor kitchen receptacles. Counter receptacles for the blender, the slow cooker, the lighting under the BBQ hood. 20A circuit with GFCI protection.
- Speakers and amplifier. The speakers are low-voltage and connect to the amplifier inside; the amplifier itself wants a clean dedicated circuit. 15A is enough (the amp is not a big load) but dedicated keeps the audio quiet (shared circuits with motor loads pick up audio hum).
- String lights and accent lighting. Low-voltage system on its own transformer with a 20A feed from the subpanel. Dimming via Lutron switch back at the wall.
- Fire feature ignition and pump. If the fire feature has electric ignition and a glass-bead aeration pump, dedicated 15A circuit.
- BBQ rotisserie and convenience. One general-purpose GFCI 20A circuit for the rotating mix of seasonal use.
- Lighting controls. Lutron Caseta or Vive scene controller mounted at the back door — scenes for "evening drinks," "dinner," "watching the game," and "everyone gone home."
The total panel slot count on this layout is about 8-10 breakers. A 60-100A outdoor subpanel handles it with room for future additions.
Weatherproof TV: the part that gets wrong most often
A regular indoor TV mounted under a pergola will fail within two seasons. Humidity in summer condenses inside the housing; ice in winter cracks the panel adhesive. The fixes:
- Buy a true outdoor TV. Samsung Terrace, SunBrite, Furrion, Peerless-AV — purpose-built for outdoor conditions. Yes, they cost more than an indoor TV the same size. They last.
- Or buy an outdoor enclosure for an indoor TV. SunBriteTV and Storm Shell make sealed weatherproof TV cabinets that take a standard indoor TV. Cheaper than a true outdoor TV, but the cabinet itself takes some setup and the sealing has to be inspected periodically.
- Mount with shade. Direct summer sun on a TV screen is brutal. Mount under a pergola, an awning, or in a covered outdoor room.
- The AV cabinet stays sealed. The receiver, the streaming device, any matrix switcher — all in a ventilated outdoor-rated cabinet. Not loose on a shelf under the eave.
Patio heater amperage: the question that catches people out
A common assumption: "I have 20A available at the outdoor receptacle, so I can plug in a 1500W heater." That math works in the abstract — 1500W at 120V is 12.5A. Two heaters at 1500W each is 25A on a single 20A circuit. People plug them in anyway, the breaker holds for a while because the heater elements are inductive and the breaker takes a moment, and then the breaker trips at the worst moment.
The right approach: dedicated 20A circuit per 1500W heater, or step up to 240V heaters which draw less amperage per watt of output and give cleaner electric service. We default to 240V heaters on new outdoor entertainment builds and run a 240V branch out to the heater location during the buildout.
The GFCI strategy outdoors
OESC requires GFCI protection on most outdoor receptacles. The strategy for an integrated outdoor build is:
- GFCI breakers at the subpanel. Cleanest install — the protection is at the source, no GFCI receptacle in the weather to worry about.
- One GFCI per circuit, not nested GFCIs. Nested GFCI protection (a GFCI breaker upstream of a GFCI receptacle) is non-compliant and causes confusing trip patterns.
- In-use bubble covers on every outdoor receptacle. The cover stays closed even when something is plugged in.
Cable, conduit, and routing
The exterior runs go in PVC conduit at appropriate burial depth — typically 45 cm minimum for residential branch circuits, more under driveways. Conduit termination at every box with a proper fitting, expansion fittings where the conduit transitions between buried and exposed (the buried section thermally moves much less than the exposed section, and rigid connection without an expansion joint cracks the conduit over a winter cycle).
Cable inside the conduit: NMWU or appropriately rated conductor pulled with lubricant, with pull strings left in for future additions. Splices are made inside accessible junction boxes, not buried.
What pairs with the build
If we are already on site running conduit and pulling cable for the outdoor entertainment scope, the marginal cost of adding adjacent work is low:
- Pool electrical if a pool is in the longer-term plan — pull the conduit, leave the pull string
- Hot tub electrical — same story
- Landscape lighting transformer location and feed
- EV charger conduit run if the parking spot is on the back of the house
- Generator hookup for portable generator if standby is not on the cards yet
When to call us
If you are designing a real outdoor entertainment buildout in Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton, Waterdown, or Ancaster, request a design consult. We walk the property, lay out the subpanel and circuit map, and quote the install in writing. We do this residential electrical work across the Golden Horseshoe and pair it with landscape lighting on most jobs.