Appliances that use a lower amperage will save the world a bit and they are available eg low energy light bulbs but voltage is only a measurement of how quickly, for want of a better word the electricity is being moved and as voltage drops as a percentage over distance it will very quickly "run out of steam"
2007-10-22 04:45:28
·
answer #1
·
answered by sparky_steve101 4
·
0⤊
2⤋
Probably not. You would need the same amount of energy to produce the same amount of light. If you use 12 volts, then you need higher amps to achieve same amount of power.
It's actually cheaper and easier to keep the voltage higher. The size wire needed is based on the amount of amps that will go through the wire, not the voltage. And the transmission losses are also based on the amps. So it's electrically better if you use 120 or 240 volts rather than 12 volts.
2007-10-22 11:40:54
·
answer #2
·
answered by jplrvflyer 5
·
1⤊
0⤋
it would be impossible to power everything in the home with 12V. The size of the cables needed to power large devices would be impractical. For example to power the average kettle you would need a cable about 3 X 35mm2 instead of the 3X2.5 that is actuall used. Lights use very little power(W) so therefore cable sizes are not affected. It would be no cheaper anyway as a 2000w appliance will still be a 2000W apppliance even on 12V it will still use about 8 amps .
2007-10-22 11:47:23
·
answer #3
·
answered by tom tom002233 1
·
0⤊
1⤋
A 12 volt 50 watt lamp uses just over 4 amps, whereas a 240 volt 100 watt lamp uses 0.4 amps. Cable rating would have to be uprated by a factor of 20 to compensate for the huge currents. Totaly impractical!!
2007-10-22 14:41:39
·
answer #4
·
answered by jayktee96 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
NO.. It would be neither cheaper nor better. In fact it would be just the opposite. It would require 10 times the current to generate the same amount of power.
P(power) = I (current) x E (voltage)
So let's take a 100 watt light bulb as an example:
If the voltage is 120 volts (standard household line voltage) it would take would take 0.833 amps to produce 100 watts of power.
If the voltage is 12 volts, it would take 10 times the current or 8.33 amps to produce 100 watts of power.
So the power companies would have to deliver 10 times more current to their customers.
2007-10-22 11:55:34
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
The longer a cable run is the more voltage drop there is , hence the high voltage pylons you see all over the country, If we had a 12v system in our homes we would be limited to very short cable runs with very heavy cables.
2007-10-22 11:43:45
·
answer #6
·
answered by Max Power says relax 7
·
1⤊
0⤋
I think it has something to do with them having to build a power station in every ones garden that might make this a non starter. 12 volt electricity can only stay at 12 volts over a very short cable.
2007-10-22 11:40:41
·
answer #7
·
answered by john m 6
·
1⤊
1⤋
our lights could be powered from twelve volts. There are many twelve volt appliances but if we use solar and inverters we can use twohundred and forty volts and not pollute the air
2007-10-22 11:49:35
·
answer #8
·
answered by theanswer read it again please 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
that was Edison's original idea, but it was determined there would be a need for a power generator about every three blocks. not quite in everyone's back yard, but still very dirty and inconvenient
2007-10-22 12:19:51
·
answer #9
·
answered by spamhater 5
·
1⤊
0⤋