4 ms·

That does make sense, especially for IoT devices (literally anything low power). However, I haven't seen PoE used outside of business use. The problem is that W

That does make sense, especially for IoT devices (literally anything low power). However, I haven't seen PoE used outside of business use. The problem is that Wifi is becoming ever more prevalent (on my network I have 12 devices using wifi, and only my desktop using an ethernet cable - ironically the only device that isn't suitable for PoE).

rodgerd 7y ago
I use PoE UniFi gear, because running a single Ethernet cable to power e.g. a wifi AP gives me a lot more flexibility in placing it cleanly than having to worry about power; that's for residential use. Given the degree of fire risk in houses that's associated with 230V/10A wiring and devices, I do wonder how much safer it would be to have fewer AC/DC transformers scattered around the house with DC wiring.
- maxdamantus 7y ago
  If you're using DC to transmit the same amount of power, you'll probably be using similar voltages (otherwise you're going to need thicker cables). I suspect DC is probably a greater fire risk in this case due to arcing. An arc is less likely to persist on AC since the potential keeps passing through 0 V (hence DC switches are designed to have a bigger air gap). If it's just a matter of providing alternative circuitry for low-power devices, presumably you can already improve safety by just using lower-current circuit breakers.
  - rodgerd 7y ago
    > If you're using DC to transmit the same amount of power, you'll probably be using similar voltages (otherwise you're going to need thicker cables). A good point - I guess I'm mostly thinking about the volume of things in the house that don't really need access to even a fraction of the 2.4kW available; having moved from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, I've got a bunch of unnecessary power supply and per-bulb transformers, for example.

4 ms·

That does make sense, especially for IoT devices (literally anything low power). However, I haven't seen PoE used outside of business use. The problem is that W

by velox_io 7y ago

rodgerd 7y ago
I use PoE UniFi gear, because running a single Ethernet cable to power e.g. a wifi AP gives me a lot more flexibility in placing it cleanly than having to worry about power; that's for residential use. Given the degree of fire risk in houses that's associated with 230V/10A wiring and devices, I do wonder how much safer it would be to have fewer AC/DC transformers scattered around the house with DC wiring.
- maxdamantus 7y ago
  If you're using DC to transmit the same amount of power, you'll probably be using similar voltages (otherwise you're going to need thicker cables). I suspect DC is probably a greater fire risk in this case due to arcing. An arc is less likely to persist on AC since the potential keeps passing through 0 V (hence DC switches are designed to have a bigger air gap). If it's just a matter of providing alternative circuitry for low-power devices, presumably you can already improve safety by just using lower-current circuit breakers.
  - rodgerd 7y ago
    > If you're using DC to transmit the same amount of power, you'll probably be using similar voltages (otherwise you're going to need thicker cables). A good point - I guess I'm mostly thinking about the volume of things in the house that don't really need access to even a fraction of the 2.4kW available; having moved from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, I've got a bunch of unnecessary power supply and per-bulb transformers, for example.