should plugs be standardised globally?

Looking for electronics from international sellers can often mean finding the right product at the right price but with the wrong power cable for your country meaning you need to keep it near an adaptor at all times or if not possible pass on the product. Now that we're in the 21st Century is it about time an effort were made to standardise the means by which we power our electrical products i.e plug type and voltage? If so then it would mean developing something new that would be efficient and low cost to implement and preferably more energy efficient, what would it be?

energy global power

asked Jun 13 '12 at 05:02

mutley2209
761●110●126●133

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And put thousands of people out of work by closing all the adaptor manufacturers?

If you want to be more energy efficient, don't buy products from overseas. The carbon footprint on international freight shipping is enormous! There are no obvious gains to be made from standardisation of voltages or plug configurations even if the cost (both ecological and economic) of completely modifying all the existing power grids and home/workplace wiring of entire nations were not itself prohibitive.

For as long as power sources are external to the product it simply doesn't pay to even consider standardisation. Of course, if you've secretly solved the cold fusion problem in your garage and can supply every single product with its own internal power source making the 'connection' irrelevant ...... !

answered Jun 13 '12 at 10:19

dunfiddlin
1.2k●4●18

Indeed, it's not just a matter of swapping out outlets in everyone's houses. Some power grids function at certain voltages that are set at a much lower level in their system. Working towards standardization will likely occur naturally over time, but that will be a long time because it's an in-effective goal to pursue alone at the moment.

(Jun 13 '12 at 13:30) Kris

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