[rescue] SGI Challenge L systems available in Denver

[Nathan Raymond]

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004, Phil Stracchino wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 17, 2004 at 10:39:36AM -0400, velociraptor wrote:
>> In the household, though, a lot of the energy efficiency
>> gains of switching to LEDs (and in using other DC devices)
>>  is lost in the inefficiency of the AC-to-DC converters.
>
> However, I'd think this is a surmountable problem.

First of all, there are new AC->DC mini converters that are a lot more 
efficient, but not as common because they cost a bit more (and they cost 
a bit more partly because the economy of scale hasn't kicked in to the 
degree it has for the older, less-efficient more common design).  You see 
those most often on recent cell phones.

What's really needed is a large AC->DC converter in the basement and new 
DC outlets alongside AC outlets in houses, and devices that work with the 
new DC outlets.  A large AC->DC converter can be made much more 
efficiently than a small one.  The net energy savings would be *enormous* 
if the US switched to a solution like this.  The amount of power lost on a 
national scale to low efficiency AC->DC conversion is somewhere on the 
order of 30-40% of all power.

- Nathan