Now that LEDs are the norm, it sounds like it would make more sense than copper. Would be easier and safer for any random home owner to replace light switches too.
“Maybe”. Ubiquiti did some PoE lighting panels once, I don’t know what happened with them, seem to be out of stock everywhere.
It’s not quite there yet. There are commercial building using them but it’s too pricey for residential for now. Doesn’t make sense to have them unless you are building a new hous or having major Reno to have this.
Ethernet is copper too. And more susceptible to problems than heavy gauge mains wiring.
I think it’s more likely we’ll start seeing some hybrids where certain predictable lighting is PoE (or similar) while traditional stuff will still be mains powered.
Bear in mind that the next big breakthrough is wireless power and the military is already deploying that in some circumstances but it’s all still very much alpha. So if you think about that, your future proofed PoE home could be outdated rapidly.
It’s also worth considering that PoE might get you 24-38v on a high powered hub but if you look at long strings of low voltage/LED lights you can still go beyond that - meaning you need more lines, more ports and likely just as much or more copper than what is needed for mains wiring.
If you can live sitting in the dim glow of 48V at 60W (PoE+) or 100W (UPoE), and paying ÂŁ50 per port, well, maybe?
Personally, I like 240V @ 6A = 1.5kW for ÂŁ20ish per circuit (UK BS7671).
That’s 15x the power for a fraction of the cost.
And that’s not looking at the voltage drop of only using 48V, rather than 240V (P=I2R, so reducing the current by 5x reduces losses by 25x).
The only use-case I can think of is off-grid, where low voltages may offer better system efficiencies from solar panel, to battery storage, to appliance without the losses of an inverter.
Technically, the limitation there is amperage and not voltage, but still a valid point.
Looking at 802.3bt, max power is ~100W. You can easily get over that with long LED strip light runs. Plus what @FloatingBoater beat me to posting while I was writing this about the cost.
Looks like we both read the UPoE 100W spec!
I don’t see this being practical anytime soon, if ever, due to the amperage limitations of PoE. Besides, the installation cost of cabling would go through the roof.
I suspect some day we’ll see a low-voltage lighting standard develop. There may be a few different competing ideas for a while until one takes hold. We’ve had the Edison base light bulb for a long time now.
The ideal would be a “universal” standard, hopefully international instead of regional. It should be easy to replace bulbs, like screwing in a light bulb is now. Without worrying about which manufacturer made the fixture. I’m thinking something like 24 or 48VAC, which would minimize voltage drop in the cabling.
I don’t think we’ll see it for a long time though. Manufacturers have nothing to gain by standardizing. They’ll all want to lock customers in to their ecosystem.
USB-C with some kind of latching connector
Now that you mention it, you can buy all kinds of things which use USB power. We love our little USB powered desk fans. They sell USB desk and reading lights, too.
You’d still need mains power to the outlet though. DC has more voltage drop over longer distances.
“Some day” could be at least 50 years. Power distribution to most homes is still using 19th Century technology. And, in the home, your light bulbs bases are likely E26. The “E” means that it has a 26mm Edison Screw Base. Developed by Thomas Edison in 1881. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a new standard for low-voltage lighting fixtures. Most building codes still require landline telephone wiring to be installed in residential homes.
Forget POE. There is just not enough power available over POE to light a room. The spec for my TP-Link POE switches says: “High PoE power budget with up to 30W for each PoE port and 63W for all PoE ports”. That means 30 Watts to two ports. That’s enough to power two POE Access Points.
Someone, preferably someone like Phillips or GE, will need to establish the physical parameters for a universal socket for lights, open the specification to the public domain then market them heavily. The market would be tiny- much smaller than the current “smart light” market because, for example, how many of us are willing to rewire our homes for low-voltage?
And, you’re the first one in your neighborhood who builds a low-voltage home. Great. What happens if bulb manufacturers decide that there is no profitable market for low-voltage lighting products? When you need to replace bulbs in the future, you are SOL. And, when you’re ready to sell the house, who wants to buy a house where you can’t even change a light bulb?
It’s still a Nature Law ( and always will be ), the lower voltage the higher Amp, the smaller cables the higher resistance
It’s not for nothing most of the world uses 220V, as house holds, in i.e apartment buildings blocks needs extensive length of cable/wiring
Converters who would/should convert to i.e a +2-10000 watt for each household, is quite some investment, beside of above facts, and the potential high danger for fire and electrification accident , when huge amount of Amps running through wall etc.
High resistance in small cables is also waste of energy … unless one “include” it in the house-warming-budget
EDIT: Have anyone seen a Cars wiring, after a severe short-circuit ?