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If you want to cut the voltage by 60%, from 120V to 48V, then you’ll have to triple the thickness of all of the conductors in your walls. The costs would be imm
by URSpider94 6y ago
If you want to cut the voltage by 60%, from 120V to 48V, then you’ll have to triple the thickness of all of the conductors in your walls. The costs would be immense, as would the challenge of stuffing such thick wires through the wall.
That said, lots of people use 48V wiring for things like LED lighting and home audio. It makes perfect sense for those applications.
- throw0101a 6y ago> If you want to cut the voltage by 60%, from 120V to 48V, then you’ll have to triple the thickness of all of the conductors in your walls. And that's not even getting into 240V appliances like dryers, ovens, cooktops, and (increasingly) EV chargers. The (e.g.) newly released VW ID.4 can charge at up to 11 kW, which at 240V, would use 45.8A, but (IIRC) you can only use up to 80% of a circuit, so you would need wiring that could handle ~60A. At -48V, we're talking >200A: those are some thick cables (or a busbar). So you need high-voltage (i.e. >48V) into the home anyway.
- dreamcompiler 6y agoAnd most home applications are in that lower-power category. You'll still need 120VAC and 220VAC but only on particular, dedicated circuits. Like maybe one or two per room. Other outlets and lighting would work fine at 48VDC on 12 gauge Romex because 20A is more than sufficient for the majority of loads.