12v madness

[Fingle]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has tackled the ridiculous issue of running 30 odd AC adapters in the house, all running 12 - 20v items.

Seems to me that there is logic in setting up a 12v syatem and lobbing all the AC adapters in the bin.
Safer and cheaper to run.

The only issue I see is the mass of different ampages and wattages they run.

Any ideas ?

[MKG]

Not quite how it works, Fingle. A 12V DC system, as long as its total current capability is equal to or greater than the sum of all the individual bits of kit you're going to plug into it, will happily supply all of your 12V requirements. The wattage and current ratings are simply a function of that 12V supply. So you could set up a distributed 12V DC system around your house with relative ease. The question is ... how do you get the power into the 12V system? If you run the whole thing from a normal power supply connected to the mains, then you're not going to see any appreciable improvement in energy usage (a transformer, whether one big one or a number of smaller ones) is inefficient - you put power in and get LESS power out). A solar system would be good - but an on-demand system needs storage, you'd need an appreciable area of solar cells etc. etc - not exactly cheap. The same applies to any little wind generator you can set up outside.

On top of that, are you absolutely sure that all of those little chargers you plug into the mains really do provide 12V DC? I have a few that are 4.5V and a couple that are 9V, as well as 12V ones.

And on top of that again, those AC adapters are not necessarily just as simple as all that. Some have current-limiting circuitry to protect the thing you're charging. Some actually have switching power regulators. Some have surge protectors. All of those things would need to be reproduced to some extent in your "universal" 12V supply.

Basically, your proposed system would have to be functionally identical to putting all of your adapters into a closed box and running a plethora of cables to the various charging points.

It can certainly be done, yes, and it wouldn't be all that complicated. But safer and cheaper? I don't see why that should be so.

Mike

[gregorach]

No to mention that some of those adapters doubtless have weird proprietary connectors...

[Fingle]

cables can be cut, the connectors arent an issue its th eother end I have an issue with.

Agree theres no point in adding them all to a big transformer, was thinking of it running from some renewable source of 12v like a water wheel or windmil

[gregorach]

You also need to bear in mind that the typical "12V" system isn't actually 12V without proper voltage regulation... And once you've cut the connectors off your adapters, there's no going back if your system doesn't work.

Personally, I really don't see what the problem is with the AC adapters in the first place, unless you've already got a 12V system with plenty of spare capacity. Seems like a significant investment of time, energy and materials for little to no return. Homebrewed electrics are very rarely safer than anything with a CE mark - and I say that as someone with a modicum of experience of homebrewed and kit-built electrics. A 12V DC system is perfectly capable of burning your house down. And it's almost certainly not going to be cheaper by the time you buy all the necessary gubbins, no matter how you go about it.

[dave45]

it is indeed a shame that 12V is NOT a standard.... in the 90's laptop computers could just about be run off 12V dc. Now they are likely to be something like 19.5V with "smart" transformer-less PSUs that "talk" to the laptop before they start charging... your battery-powered drill could be 18V, your smartphone could be anything above 5V.... you are snookered trying to arrange all these from a 12V supply... DC to DC converters would probably be as inefficient as 240vAC to ?VDC

[stevetc]

Ello mate,

Not quite sure I understood. . . you're living in a house, and lotsa yer appliances are 12v? You're using a sorta transformer-device thang to get 12v?

Not sure that's a very efficient use of power. . . yer gonna lose some oomph in the AC/DC malarky. . .

Me, I'm totally 12v, I reckon it's the way forward . . . dave's right. . . I can help with info on a 12v system, should you decide that's the solution for you . . .