The folks who decide such things are finishing up the specs for the next generation of USB (Universal Serial Bus). This is going to fundamentally change your life.
Back in the early days of electricity (1890s) there was a tug of war over whether we would use Direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). AC has lots of benefits for long distance high voltage transmission, but its value in your house is not so obvious. TV and clocks were built to rely on the 60 hertz (Hz) flip flop and AC motors sync to the 60 cycles.
But look at that power strip behind your computer. Everything in your computer and connected devices runs on DC and each device needs its own transformer, with no standard on voltages or polarity.
By now you likely have some devices that use the feature of USB that allows devices to draw several watts of power from the computer – illuminated keyboards, optical mice, desk fans – but the low power of USB makes it difficult to do things like power an external USB hard drive.
In addition to the blinding speed, the next generation will support power consumption up to 100 watts, with the power supply negotiating demands for power if one device has a temporary demand that would overload the power supply.
What this means is in the future your power outlets will likely be USB ports with one central AC to DC transformer. Devices that use 100 watts or less and don’t need the AC time sync will be built to plug into USB, and this USB will be a global standard. No more 110 vs 220 volts, 50 vs 60 hz.
No more crashing your web server when you accidentally pull the power plug off your disk drive 😉
It will save lives – it takes about 10-20 times as much DC current to kill you as it would with 60 Hz.
It will be more efficient for battery backup power not having to be converted to 120 V AC and then back to DC to power your electronics.
Unfortunately, it will probably take 100 years before homes receive a DC feed rather than the 60/50 Hz feeds found throughout the world today.
The story I read pointed out that a DC wired house is much more friendly for solar or wind power (or off-peak grid power). Since you don’t need an AC inverter, you can charge up your lithium-ion battery packs when power is available and/or cheap and use it when you need it. The idea would not be to change the “grid” to DC, only the house.
Of course, heavy use appliances like dishwashers , ovens and heat pumps will still need the type of power only the grid can push through (does anyone make a natural gas powered dishwasher?).
Since USB is also a computer communications transport method, it’s easy to see how the “smart grid” could then control your appliances, and turn on the RFID reader in your refrigerator to see what you ate today.
First there has to be a demand for the grid to change, and that would start with the homes. The whole grid would not change, but just the “last mile”…. and probably not for 100 years.
Charging your batteries using solar seems intuitive, but it is probably better to sell the daytime power back to the utility and charge your batteries with nighttime power. Solar is exceptionally expensive, but often justified as a means to meeting peak demand without building new power plants.
Most utility companies offer an on-peak/ off-peak rate structure to encourage consumption when they have surplus power.
Art wrote: “Of course, heavy use appliances like dishwashers , ovens and heat pumps will still need the type of power only the grid can push through (does anyone make a natural gas powered dishwasher?).”
One could make a natural gas powered dishwasher, but why? A more logical option would be to purchase a readily available natural gas or propane powered generator that would power all the heavy appliances from one central source. You could direct feed AC to the appliances that need it and leave the rest of the house running on DC. Not too much different than what we have today with 230V and 115V circuits.
The house I grew up in had a peculiar thing – a natural gas refrigerator (my uncle was in the business).
A natural gas dishwasher could heat the water and do the drying without the electricity.
Installing a generator is not an option when you live in a condo.
One thing the Soviets did right, was heat Moscow with the steam generated by the electrical power generation plants…. not saying it is a good solution for Miami, but more mini-generation from natural gas that did the same thing at the building level.
China pipes hot water heat around its northern cities as well – why heat a river when burning coal to make electricity when you can heat homes?
Lansing Michigan does the same thing – the city runs the power company and uses the steam to heat buildings downtown. I’m not sure if that’s still true – the downtown power plants were very old and had pollution issues
http://www.lbwl.com/company.facilities.aspx
The old power plant is still there, but being replaced by a natural gas run plant. They also buy power from Detroit Edison and have a newer plant on the edge of town not involved in steam heating.
In upstate NY, power is created from waste from a Greek Yogurt plant.
Gas powered dishwasher – Gas powered refrigerator? Internal combustion motors burning propane? Sheesh. I bet the enviro-whackos have a field day with such a concept. Switching to DC, however, only needs Obo to wave his magic wand. All hail Green.
Obo-wand can-no-be.
Interesting that DC has come up frequently lately…a regional trucking company is building a new office complex and has gone all DC in it to help create a green office
http://triblive.com/business/headlines/5048061-74/power-current-direct#axzz2kf7PKC1q
Look for trucking companies (and maybe even railroads) to jump on the natural gas express. The economics are just getting too persuasive – of course, that raises the problem that natural gas doesn’t pay highway use taxes.
Neither does heating oil…. so they mark it so it is illegal to use for road vehicles. Could do the same for natural gas – use a different odor to indicate it was taxed for road use.
Now that I don’t live there anymore. In CT there was a “farm” across the street that also ran a business (outside of view from the street, but not from Google maps) that purported to sell diesel fuel to farmers. Based on the number of tanker trucks going in and out, it was hard to believe there was so much demand to plow fields in January.
The end game is already being built. With the growing demand for higher efficiency cars, electric and natural gas – in the future you’ll pay a road use “user fee” based on a black box. In addition to charging for mileage, it can also implement “congestion pricing”, charging more in central city areas or on freeways (oxymoron?) during peak traffic times
You get taxed for going to work, or you can get a big check for staying home and watching TV.
I agree with CC. Git me sum that Obama-money.
stay at home & eat cheetos
I’ll just put the Pinto on blocks and let it run in reverse, like Ferris Bueller. Screw that black box crap.
Danke Schoen,
parrott
Parrott – Get yourself an Obamaphone… and remember: “Romney? … He suck!” 😉
Edison (DC) wins out over Westinghouse (AC) after all. I can’t wait to dust off my old Lionel O-gauge trains and wire the train set directly to house current! 🙂
DC is the way to go, 2 problems though, it takes a ton of copper wire and DC appliances. Most folks who are really serious discover the very 1st thing one needs to do is figure out what they NEED to live without in order to Go Green!
This is only for in home use using USB – not long distance power transmission or distribution. LED or CFL lights could easily be accommodated. One of the reasons incandescent lights wear out so fast is the 60 hz on/off action. A DC light doesn’t have the same stress on the filament.
I remember as a kid reading about this thing where you bought a round thing you inserted onto the base of a lamp socket – it contained a diode that crudely got rid of the AC with the idea it made lights last longer.
I thought it was a resister to lower the voltage and generate heat. 😉
I have always wondered if those lamp socket diode discs worked…did you ever actually see one? I just did a quick search to see if they are still available…no quick search find.
Well, I did some looking too. My sense is it was probably one of those “as seen on TV things” that don’t work.
The diode doesn’t convert AC to constant state DC voltage. It chops off one side of the AC cycle – so it still flickers, just for half of the time there is no current flowing. Energy consumption goes down 40% but light output goes down 70%. I saw a 1995 patent where someone used two opposite polarity diodes and joined together the outputs so it was closer to DC.
Closer to DC in one sense, but further in another. Instead of 0 Hz (DC) or the 60 Hz it started with, it changes it to many higher frequencies (although at a lower amplitude) that together approximate a “square wave”.
A true rectifier puts a capacitor in the output side and that gets rid of the choppy nature of the AC and smooths it out. A zener diode makes sure that voltage spikes don’t get past it.
I wonder if I could pass my “Ham” amateur radio license test now.
Sure you could http://www.glassgiant.com/geek/morse/
The morse code requirement was ended in 2007 for all license classes.
Does this help?
http://www.vacuumtubes.net/How_Vacuum_Tubes_Work.htm
😉
I can test a 6SJ7 with my eyes closed