We don't need DC sockets as they dont solve any problems. The stupid simple AC mains distribution system is well tested and proven. Who cares that they provide up to 3kW. The "last meter" problem is perfectly solved using AC-DC wall warts and bricks. If the power supply dies, you buy a new one and just plug it in. No electrician required. Putting things in wall or central distribution is not a solution to any existing problem and introduces needless cost and complexity.<p>A better solution would be to get everyone on board with a single DC voltage and connector. Then we can buy larger multi socket bricks that are just AC-DC power strips. You can then add batteries and give it UPS functionality. But good luck getting everyone to agree on a single standard.
It seems like USB A/C are going to be that. You can already buy outlets that have both mains and USB ports, there are even dual USB C outlets now, that can do 30 watts:<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PTWG5DV" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PTWG5DV</a>
Is "Digital Electricity" a real thing? Its billed as an alternative to AC or DC. This may be as good a place as any to ask this question, but I am a hotel developer, and we've had a few people reaching out to us trying to sell "digital electricity" that sends high voltage over cat5 (up to 2000w per the Belden materials) by essentially sending high voltage for very brief blips with the ability to switch off before any damage occurs if a short is detected. they claim it is supposed to be significantly more efficient, doesn't require electricians to run cables, and its safer. I declined... but im still curious. basically every device in the room is connected via lan to a power server.<p><a href="https://www.belden.com/blog/smart-building/digital-electricity-5-things-you-need-to-know" rel="nofollow">https://www.belden.com/blog/smart-building/digital-electrici...</a>
I dont think DC wall socket is the problem - its the small electronics that each have their own power pack.<p>Ideally to me every led lamp, settop box, alarm clock, phone, laptop would not come with a power supply box. It would just take a USB cable or similar standard. Then you could buy a good quality power supply adapter that you can reuse for lots of products - and avoid the abundance of random adapters everywhere.
Interesting idea, but running an extra set of cables is a non-starter. The cost/benefit analysis would never make sense for existing structures, and newly built structures wouldn't do it unless it was almost certain to become a universal standard. This is a classic chicken-and-egg problem.<p>You would also still need something similar to a wall-wart to step down the voltage to whatever your device actually uses (e.g. from 12 V to 5 V to charge your phone), so its not clear how much benefit there would really be from such a system.<p>Whatever specs we adopted would probably also end up not being appropriate for some future devices, so we'd probably go back to a substantial number of devices bundling their own PSUs anyway.<p>Interesting idea, unlikely to ever be worth the cost. If wall-warts really bother you, then just invest in some wall outlets with integrated USB sockets - there are many good options on the market.
The solar/RV/golfcart world has and entire ecosystem of standardized 12v DC power distribution and the appliances that use it if you really feel the need to have DC. Works pretty good...last year wired up a friends mountain cabin with 12v solar, batteries, inverter for AC, led lights, fans, dorm room sized DC fridge. Different manufacturers and everything popped together fine.
I think that with low power LED lighting, as well as all rechargeable devices, there is a case for some (not all) 12VDC sockets around the house (and cars/vans/RVs). Actually, I think mobile applications will be first: in an RV, it makes no sense to have a big inverter to take your 12V batteries to 120V AC, just to plug in wall warts to charge to camera, phone, etc.<p>I have a friend who installed 12V in parts of his house, backed by a solar charged battery system. See my previous comment for some details:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21109247" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21109247</a><p>Talking to this friend, we discussed the same problem as the OP. In RVs that are wired for battery power, they use wall-mounted cigarette lighter plugs, and you can buy some small appliances that use them. They are ugly and take up too much space, it would be so much better to have a plug of a regular shape and size. Of course it has to be polarized for DC, so something like ( - | ).<p>There is also the problem of breaking the arc in DC, so one prong needs to be longer and making contact further in so it can't arc outside the plug. Or maybe it needs some internal mechanism such as plastic slot covers that close and break the ark (like child-protected sockets have now). Anyway it definitely needs some research and design, but I think it would be cool to have a new 12VDC standard plug, then people could start designing products that use it to get the whole ecosystem started.
> ...and incorporate a fuse to protect the appliance cable from fire. Those British BS1363, fused-mains-plug habits die hard.<p>Lots of car barrel connectors have fuses inside. I'm not seeing much reasoning behind not using the car barrel connectors, aside from 'it was designed for cars, not as a general purpose connector'.
Crazy, USA needs higher voltage AC, not DC...<p>People in the 240V world get to pull 3KW from their wall sockets, I'm jealous.<p><a href="http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2012/04/16/why-kettles-boil-slowly-in-the-us/" rel="nofollow">http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2012/04/16/why-kettles-boil-slow...</a>
I have to deal with this problem constantly and I haven't figured out a good solution yet. I'm not sure this is particularly meaningful in a normal mains-connected environment but as someone who's base power source is a finite amount of 24v DC, I hate eating the inversion losses when I could save ~7-16% using switching supplies off the main bus.<p>Currently everything I have is connected up with a hodgepodge of those green pluggable terminal blocks. It's not an elegant solution but it's hard to standardize on something, especially when I have devices that run off 5, 9, 12, 24 and 48 volts. I still run an inverter most of the time (I have two, pure and modified depending on the load).<p>I think it's possible to devise a decent solution here, I like the XLR based designs but I'm afraid of plugging things into the wrong voltage. I think maybe the good solution is to make a color-mapping for the common voltages up to 48v (past that you require an electrician to do wiring in the US iirc) and then make cables that are XLR on one end, and whatever-plug on the other end with an LED that lights up corresponding to the voltage. That way you know if your barrel jack is 12 or 5. It doesn't have to be foolproof, or even customer friendly really. People setting up DC buses to run all their electronics should be able to accept the responsibility of frying something if they give it too much juice.
The telecom industry has 48 volt as a de-facto standard, bur never came to a mechanical standard.<p>Thus you see daisy chains of mechanical adaptors in telecom closets.
If none of the current plugs are usable, can we have a low-power plug standard based on PoE?<p>Having both ethernet and low power from one socket would be perfect for IoT devices, save people from having to run Ethernet wiring themselves afterwards, and cut down on wireless spectrum use.<p>And your 'smart fridge' would just plug into both outlets and use a relay to cut 230V if the motor doesn't need to run.
Yeah, we are kind of running low on actual high power devices to plug into residential outlets these days. Those that remain are pretty much confined to specific parts of specific rooms. Various stand alone cooking things on the kitchen counter. Hair dryer in the bathroom by the mirror. The vacuum cleaner seems to be the exception and there is a tendency toward built ins.<p>Heck, I don't know that there is even much need for high power ceiling lighting any more. Everything that people want to see with any detail is self illuminated these days. Just scatter some low power LEDs around (you don't even have to provide a way to turn them off) and you are done. If you actually want to read a paper book or do some knitting then an appropriate lamp is not going to take hardly any power as it would only have to illuminate a small area.
More than a low voltage plug (which I’d love) is the need for in wall smart plugs that have a wired connection rather than wifi. I can’t believe I’m the only person that wants this and while I’ve found a few in wall smart plugs, I’ve never found a wired one.
> USB C meanwhile requires active cables, sockets, and devices, sacrificing any pretence [sic] of simplicity.<p>Passive USB-C cables should be fine up to 60 watts. Beyond that you need a chip to certify safe construction but that's a good thing.
A DC solution is WAY overdue. Put your hand on your AC->DC converter, or your wall-wart. Above ambient room temperature? Wasted energy. "It's only 2-10 watts." Multiply by 5 units (underestimated) per 100 million households. That's >= a gigawatt. 8700+ GwH / year.<p>That's aside from the environmental costs of making & disposing of these pernicioius devices. Time for that decades-old solution to retire.
I don't see how going to 12 V would help simplifying devices. Most chips don't run on 12 V, so one will anyway need a switch-mode power supply or linear regulators with big heat sinks inside each device. The added expense of a rectifier and mains-capable transformer is minimal.<p>On the other hand, at least fewer people would be electrocuted by their crappy Amazon USB chargers.