Will AC power distribution become obsolete?

[IanB]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.
(Kenmore BU1018).
Of course, such a cleaner is used in every room of the house.

Related to that, my house was wired with some fairly isolated 20 A circuits in hallways and central areas, with daisy-chained 15 A circuits around the walls for lights and things. If I plug a vacuum cleaner in one of the 20 A sockets it can reach the corners from there.

One difference between countries is that in the UK, for example, it is common to have entirely separate lighting circuits and power circuits, while in my USA house there is no logic, with lights and power outlets often on the same circuit.

[johansen]

(16 AWG wire would suffice for 8A). It would also eliminate the 120 Hz flicker in today’s poor-quality mass-market LED lights.

You can still keep your 50A and 30A 240V branches for things like BEV charging and the 20A 120V kitchen branches for appliances, including tea kettles.

16 gauge is 4 ohms per 1000 feet.

.4 ohms times 8 amps is 3.2 volts drop per 100 feet.. and you're easily 100 feet of conductors even from a central 48 volt supply for your whole house.

so add 8% losses on top of your 95% efficient 48v supply? all to get rid of 120v flicker?

[vad]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.
(Kenmore BU1018).
Of course, such a cleaner is used in every room of the house.

Hmmm. I just checked the Dyson vacuum charger - it’s labeled as 34W output (30.45V, 1.1A). The Roomba chargers are labeled as 26W (20.5V, 1.25A).

[TimFox]

Of course, a charger can charge for a longer time than a typical operation.
The outlets in my house work from 15 A circuit breakers (120 V), except for the kitchen (20 A).

[nctnico]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.
(Kenmore BU1018).
Of course, such a cleaner is used in every room of the house.

Hmmm. I just checked the Dyson vacuum charger - it’s labeled as 34W output (30.45V, 1.1A). The Roomba chargers are labeled as 26W (20.5V, 1.25A).

But these are not real vacuum cleaners. Good for bread crumbs and small pop-corn spills, but not for doing a thourough job.

[themadhippy]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.

And here in the good ole nanny state were not allowed anything above 900w since 2017

[TimFox]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.

And here in the good ole nanny state were not allowed anything above 900w since 2017

What about the infamous British electric teakettles?
Of course, the duty factor on a household vacuum cleaner (especially for us lazy people) is extremely low.

[coppice]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.

And here in the good ole nanny state were not allowed anything above 900w since 2017

What about the infamous British electric teakettles?
Of course, the duty factor on a household vacuum cleaner (especially for us lazy people) is extremely low.

People in power in the EU was talking about restricting kettle power, but I think someone might have told them it was making them look like the morons they clearly are.

Vacuum cleaners are a messy one. They were going up to stupid power levels, with terrible inefficient noisy and unpleasant motors. Now they are quieter, cooler running, and clean just as well. Sounds like a move forwards, until you consider the duty cycle issue. They just don't use enough energy to really matter.

[TimFox]

The unit in my example is "extra strong" for households with pet hair problems, but otherwise normal for US full-size vacuum cleaners.
I remember the Monty Python sketch where Beethoven is at the piano, trying to write a symphony, while Mrs. Beethoven (fictional) starts to run a noisy vacuum cleaner in the music room.

[Gyro]

Things are taking a big old loop from earlier in the OP's troll threads, including the kettle and the vacuum cleaner.

[IanB]

There's definitely an efficiency question with vacuum cleaners. My (normal) cleaner says 120 V, 12 A on the nameplate, but it is also a very powerful fan heater. I would imagine if the motor was more efficient, it could generate the same suction with much lower power consumption.

[Xena E]

Vacuum cleaner motors are very inefficient and the rules about limiting the power are perhaps more aimed at manufacturers improving that efficiency.

The Tea kettle being a resistive load and possibly as efficient in its function at 3kW as 1.5kW has no real efficiency advantage being the lower power, they just take proportionally longer to boil. I'm surprised that more US homes were not equipped with a 230Volt biphase outlet from the supply that is often available in the kitchen to run cooking ranges. So that fast boiling kettles and similar can be powered.

A friend of mine who lives in MS is addicted to the fast boiling of water for his tea and has been gifted not only the kettle but the receptacle for the ubiquitous BS1363A plug to run it, it's the
fascination  of the neighbourhood...

X

[IanB]

A friend of mine who lives in MS is addicted to the fast boiling of water for his tea and has been gifted not only the kettle but the receptacle for the ubiquitous BS1363A plug to run it, it's the fascination  of the neighbourhood...

I have the kettle, but I removed the BS plug and fitted a NEMA 6-20 plug instead, since the 6-20 receptacle is compatible with the existing wall box and faceplate dimensions. No need to mess around with the wall making different size holes in the drywall.

[nctnico]

A typical power requirement for a household vacuum cleaner in the US is 12 A at 120 V = 1440 W.

And here in the good ole nanny state were not allowed anything above 900w since 2017

What about the infamous British electric teakettles?
Of course, the duty factor on a household vacuum cleaner (especially for us lazy people) is extremely low.

People in power in the EU was talking about restricting kettle power, but I think someone might have told them it was making them look like the morons they clearly are.

Vacuum cleaners are a messy one. They were going up to stupid power levels, with terrible inefficient noisy and unpleasant motors. Now they are quieter, cooler running, and clean just as well. Sounds like a move forwards, until you consider the duty cycle issue. They just don't use enough energy to really matter.

I remember that. It was insane. 3500W vacuum cleaners. Sometimes madness has to be stopped even for the wrong reasons. I don't agree on the energy wasted being insignificant though. A hour of vacuuming using 3000W consumes the same enery a 3W LED lamp can work on for 1000 hours.

[Xena E]

A friend of mine who lives in MS is addicted to the fast boiling of water for his tea and has been gifted not only the kettle but the receptacle for the ubiquitous BS1363A plug to run it, it's the fascination  of the neighbourhood...

I have the kettle, but I removed the BS plug and fitted a NEMA 6-20 plug instead, since the 6-20 receptacle is compatible with the existing wall box and faceplate dimensions. No need to mess around with the wall making different size holes in the drywall.

A sensible alternative, but a missed opportunity to be a local celebrity. 

MS Gregs installation was replacing the cooker switch point with one incorporating the receptacle.

I actually like the US biphase system though, as it introduces a further level of theoretical safety to the statistically most dangerous room in the house.

X

[RJSV]

   Oh yeah:  SAFETY !     In the kitchen, with our aging world population, and memory lapses,  I do believe that if regulators wish to look good and responsible, then pass some sort of stove-top shut-off system.
   One kitchen FIRE, and all the efficiency in the world isn't going to compare, loss-wise.  So I think, first, to make stove-top shut down automatic, in cases where tea or other water boiling isn't supervised.

[Someone]

I remember that. It was insane. 3500W vacuum cleaners. Sometimes madness has to be stopped even for the wrong reasons. I don't agree on the energy wasted being insignificant though. A hour of vacuuming using 3000W consumes the same enery a 3W LED lamp can work on for 1000 hours.

A little earlier Australia changed the building regulations to stop over illumination that was rampant:
https://build.com.au/bca-lighting-restrictions
People putting a dozen or more 50W halogen downlights in their open kitchen/living and them leaving them on whenever occupied, >=1000h a year times 600+W

[IanB]

A sensible alternative, but a missed opportunity to be a local celebrity. 

But I do still have guests asking how I manage to have 240 V in a wall outlet when America has 120 V electrics.

MS Gregs installation was replacing the cooker switch point with one incorporating the receptacle.

Not for me. For one thing, my oven is hardwired back to the breaker and has no accessible isolation switch. Something which I think is required by UK regulations.

I actually like the US biphase system though, as it introduces a further level of theoretical safety to the statistically most dangerous room in the house.

A further level of safety is that the exposed metal body of the European sourced kettle is connected to the earth/ground pin on the plug. Whereas all the American stainless steel kettles I have bought have two pin plugs and rely only on insulation to stop the kettle electrocuting you.

[Xena E]

   Oh yeah:  SAFETY !     In the kitchen, with our aging world population, and memory lapses,  I do believe that if regulators wish to look good and responsible, then pass some sort of stove-top shut-off system.
   One kitchen FIRE, and all the efficiency in the world isn't going to compare, loss-wise.  So I think, first, to make stove-top shut down automatic, in cases where tea or other water boiling isn't supervised.

It's why I like my induction hob, it does all that for you. No pan, no heat, it even senses if a pan boils dry, eventually. Of course leaving flamables on it, drying cloths etc, won't activate it, and there's not even enough residual heat from the pan on the glass top to set a cloth alight, so it really has been forgiving of senior moments, or junior ones for that matter.

X

[calsytech]

My Racaldana universal timer  9906 counter
Time is not matching
What could be the problem

[Analog Kid]

My Racaldana universal timer  9906 counter
Time is not matching
What could be the problem

I think you posted your question in the wrong place.

[vad]

The Tea kettle being a resistive load and possibly as efficient in its function at 3kW as 1.5kW has no real efficiency advantage being the lower power, they just take proportionally longer to boil. I'm surprised that more US homes were not equipped with a 230Volt biphase outlet from the supply that is often available in the kitchen to run cooking ranges. So that fast boiling kettles and similar can be powered.

According to climate alarmists, heating anything with a resistive load contributes to a climate catastrophe. It’s time to listen to Greta and her fellow climate scientists. It’s time to change. It’s time to ban tea kettles by 3035. New technologies could bring in climate-safe, heat pump-based kettles that warm a cup of green tea to 75°C overnight, freeing up power for recharging a neighbor’s BEV.

[tautech]

It’s time to listen to Greta and her fellow climate scientists.

Not about to be lectured to by a teenager that has zero experience of the world.

She's just another that's swallowed hook line and sinker, Al Gore's Convenient Lie.

[Analog Kid]

She's just another that's swallowed hook line and sinker, Al Gore's Convenient Lie.

So you actually think AGW (anthropogenic global warming) is some kind of hoax cooked up to mess with people like you?
Really?

[tautech]

She's just another that's swallowed hook line and sinker, Al Gore's Convenient Lie.

So you actually think AGW (anthropogenic global warming) is some kind of hoax cooked up to mess with people like you?
Really?

And not you or anyone else ?

The agenda has been set for many to benefit from it yet many will not and the science constantly changes in order to support the lie.