Linked by David Adams on Mon 26th Oct 2009 19:32 UTC
The "wall wart" is one of humanity's worst inventions (not counting all of the inventions that are actually intended to kill and maim each other, I'll admit). AC-plug power supplies are a cheap workaround to various engineering, economic, and regulatory problems that manufacturers face, and they solve those problems by pushing them off onto end users. So what can we do about it? OSNews takes a look at an ingenious workaround to the Wall Wart problem, and some hopeful trends that might make them a thing of the past.
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Member since:2007-01-19
Man, that's a really good idea. About half the stuff we have in the home could run off of a low amperage 12V DC circuit, though I'd suggest a 3 prong plug - ground, +5VDC and +12VDC so lower power devices wouldn't have to down convert.
A former colleague of mine equipped her newly-buildt house with a 12V grid, as well as the standard 230V grid. Worked like a charm.
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Member since:
2006-03-18
Why can't each house have a large AC -> DC inverter hidden away in the basement and have the outlets output DC? Normal outlets would probably be at about 12 V. Special outlets for things like ovens that require more voltage would be needed, but this would eliminate "wall warts", and probably improve efficiency.
Man, that's a really good idea. About half the stuff we have in the home could run off of a low amperage 12V DC circuit, though I'd suggest a 3 prong plug - ground, +5VDC and +12VDC so lower power devices wouldn't have to down convert.
Though I think it would be better to build these into the outlets themselves. Just put a high quality converter in the plug, and have it shut off if there are no devices plugged in.
Which bring to mind an excellent product idea - a replacement outlet plug that has 4-5 USB ports in it that just provide 5V to devices that charge via USB.