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DOE Level VI is Coming to a Power Supply Near You

posted by martyb on Saturday January 02 2016, @10:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the meets-little-resistance dept.

Whatever you call it, the humble AC adapter, external power supply, plug pack, plug-in adapter, domestic mains adapter, line power adapter, wall wart, or power brick is due for significant changes next month.

From http://electronicspurchasingstrategies.com/2015/04/27/get-ready-for-the-level-vi-efficiency-regulation/

The U.S. Level VI energy-efficiency regulation, aimed at energy savings in external power supplies, goes into force on February 10, 2016, and will impact all OEMs selling into the U.S. market. The European Union (EU) also is expected to harmonize with the new efficiency standard.

This article includes a quote (& pun) from one power supply vendor,

"It's a two-pronged approach," said Johnson. "The regulation addresses active mode when the adapter is powered up and supplying power to the end product. Under the regulation, efficiency is increased by roughly five percent."

But the big change is at no load when the adapter is plugged into the wall – like a cell phone charger – and nothing is connected to it, Johnson added. "Power consumption at Level IV was .5 watt and at Level VI it's decreasing to .1 watt, which when you talk about the millions of adapters in the market it's significant in power savings."

Another article can be found at http://www.metlabs.com/blog/energy-star-2/external-power-supplies-must-meet-level-vi-energy-efficiency-requirements-for-u-s-doe-by-february-2016/

US Department of Energy has an information page with several linked documents
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/28
"Rulemaking for Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies Energy Conservation Standard"

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 02 2016, @01:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 02 2016, @01:09PM (#283665)

    > so wouldn't it have been better to put the converter straight into the device itself

    And double the weight of your phone. And increase the chance of the device failing.

    > or .. damn ... just a little on-off button/switch on the wallwart (with a 'lil lamp that sayz it's on)?

    Lots of wallwarts are squirreled away out of sight out of mind or at least a PITA to get access to. Automating them to do the right thing fixes the problem in all cases because people are lazy.