Will, I don't mean entire household. I mean, dual outlets. Today, most US households have a split system, which delivers 110-120V AC to most of the outlets, but can deliver 220-240V AC to specialized outlets for washer, dryer, dish washer, and generally, the HVAC system is also on a separate circuit. Also, the 240V is split into 2 110-120V 180-degree out of phase circuits.
What I suggested that that (future households) either do one of the following:
1) install "dual outlets" where one of the plugs can deliver DC. Probably by splitting off a circuit at the breaker box and doing the conversion there.
2) buy UPS/Powerstrips which do the conversion once, and from which they can plug all their electronic perphiperals.
For PC and cellphone, it's easy to get pure DC transformers, but for many of types of devices, vendors will have to offer versions which can DC and don't have built in AC/DC converters.
The efficiency of AC/DC conversion goes up with the amount of potential used. Most 400 Watt PC PSU's are said to operate the majority of the time (e.g. when not running benchmarks or games) at about 20% capacity. This yields a horrible 50% AC/DC conversion efficiency.
Just like today, most houses have separate outlets for heavy duty motors (220-240V) and regular appliances (110-120V), they should also supply DC power distribution inside the house as well, preferably to the "tech center" (home office) or home theater.
The biggest problem with power consumption is:
1) consumers have no way to monitor their usage in real time. It's only when the bill comes. All households should have power meters, say, with a digital readout, and perhaps ethernet port with mini-webserver.
2) utilities should be allowed to charge rates which reflect and track true power costs. If the price of oil, coal, or gas goes up, it takes a *long time* before regulators allow utilities to raise prices. This means, people don't pay the true costs of power, it is artificially subsidized by government price controls, which distorts economic behavior away from conservation.
If home electricity could be monitored by home owners as easily as you could monitor your gas mileage, and if prices could fluctuate like gas, you'd like see conservation behavior be influenced much more than it is today.
What I suggested that that (future households) either do one of the following:
1) install "dual outlets" where one of the plugs can deliver DC. Probably by splitting off a circuit at the breaker box and doing the conversion there.
2) buy UPS/Powerstrips which do the conversion once, and from which they can plug all their electronic perphiperals.
For PC and cellphone, it's easy to get pure DC transformers, but for many of types of devices, vendors will have to offer versions which can DC and don't have built in AC/DC converters.
The efficiency of AC/DC conversion goes up with the amount of potential used. Most 400 Watt PC PSU's are said to operate the majority of the time (e.g. when not running benchmarks or games) at about 20% capacity. This yields a horrible 50% AC/DC conversion efficiency.
Just like today, most houses have separate outlets for heavy duty motors (220-240V) and regular appliances (110-120V), they should also supply DC power distribution inside the house as well, preferably to the "tech center" (home office) or home theater.
The biggest problem with power consumption is:
1) consumers have no way to monitor their usage in real time. It's only when the bill comes. All households should have power meters, say, with a digital readout, and perhaps ethernet port with mini-webserver.
2) utilities should be allowed to charge rates which reflect and track true power costs. If the price of oil, coal, or gas goes up, it takes a *long time* before regulators allow utilities to raise prices. This means, people don't pay the true costs of power, it is artificially subsidized by government price controls, which distorts economic behavior away from conservation.
If home electricity could be monitored by home owners as easily as you could monitor your gas mileage, and if prices could fluctuate like gas, you'd like see conservation behavior be influenced much more than it is today.
