Flat Wire for Low Voltage, Energy Saving Applications

February 4, 2007 – Vol.11 No.46

FLAT WIRE FOR LOW VOLTAGE, ENERGY SAVING APPLICATIONS

Increasingly we’re living in a low voltage, direct current (DC) world. Count all the little brick transformers plugged into wall sockets around the house - the cell phone charger, the iPod, an array of office equipment. They’re converting high voltage alternating current (AC) into low voltage DC and, often warm to the touch, they’re wasting energy in the process.

And, it doesn’t stop there.

Consider your desktop computer. It’s a DC device with a big AC transformer/power supply inside. Wasted heat from it pours out the back. (My cat is happy to absorb it, however.)

Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) - mostly battery packs that power our computers if the grid goes down - are another culprit. They convert AC to DC then make AC current to feed into the computer which turns AC back into DC to run the machine. How lame, and wasteful is that?

Then, there’s all the lighting in homes. Fluorescent lights, compact fluorescents, some halogen lights and upcoming LED lights are all low voltage DC devices.

Throughout the house there is less need for AC any more, with the exception of a few major appliances.

We’d use less electricity, and many devices would be much simpler to build, if we could plug low voltage DC devices into a DC circuit on the wall. But we’d have to rewire the whole house for that, a particularly unpleasant and expensive task.

However, one company may have a solution, at least for some applications. Southwire, a major North American maker of wire and cable has a new product they call FlatWire, the invisible Wire (tm).

(I think you get the idea already.)

FlatWire is a paper-thin two-conductor copper wire on a flexible backing that’s applied to a wall surface like tape. To make it cosmetically disappear it’s covered in fiberglass mesh tape that’s then covered by layers of drywall joint compound, sanded then painted or wallpapered over.

FlatWire is plugged into a typical AC wall socket through a special connector and DC transformer. (Yes, wasting energy, but this in only the first attempt to rewire the world for low voltage power.)

At the other end of the wire the company offers its own set of FlatWire Ready (tm) wall sconces for low voltage, halogen lighting, which themselves use less power than similarly-bright conventional incandescents.

Southwire also makes a kit for using FlatWire with audio equipment.

If there’s a drawback to FlatWire it’s in covering up the wire. Some skill is needed for a good looking job. Tip: Use many coats of drywall compound with a broad drywall knife to feather out a wide area over FlatWire.

(Or, hire a competent plasterer, drywall finisher or painter to do the job.)

Maybe this product is the beginning of a DC revolution for homes. If so, consider the possibilities: A whole-house DC transformer as a source of heat; a DC circuit connected directly to solar panels without an inverter; a connection to relatively inexpensive batteries for emergencies or to capture cheap overnight electricity from the grid for use in daylight hours.

Visit FlatWire at http://www.flatwireready.com/