[aloisklink]

Commercial spaces and some houses in the UK already have 12V DC lighting and sockets for spotlights using the GU5.3 socket. It lets you have smaller and cheaper light-bulbs.

They're not great to have as a renter, though; many of the AC/DC converters were designed for Halogen light-bulbs, and have a minimum wattage requirement, so the more power-efficient LED light-bulbs don't work. Plus, since the fittings are less common than E27, the choice of light-bulbs is much lower.

If solar power and home electric storage batteries become more common, we might start having DC run directly into houses, to avoid the DC/AC conversion from the battery, then AC/DC back to computers/light-bulbs/TVs. But that seems years away!

P.S. smart light-bulbs need to have individual micro-controllers if you want to have colour control. I rarely use the funky colours like green/blue, but I do love being able to go from white light in the morning, to a warmer/orangish light at night.

[JKCalhoun]

12V DC is the way to go. There is a marine/RV ecosystem that uses 12V DC already in the market.

I'm picturing my future home though, festooned with "cigarette lighter" outlets throughout the house.

[marcosdumay]

For lighting? Maybe.

But you won't replace all the 15A/30A lines on your home with 12V lines. it's not viable.

[JKCalhoun]

You're right.

But I have a van that I converted to an RV and it has a 12V fridge, 12V fans, 12V pump (for the water), 12V chargers for my phones and of course 12V lighting.

I think a good deal of electronics in a home could be run on 12V DC.

[kwhitefoot]

The Tesla Powerwall is 400V so you still need to step the voltage down for LED lighting.