Musings on the futility of Life, the Universe, and the term "Low Voltage"

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thanks to stillp for enlightening us
And myself, I'll admit. I've had a lot of dealing with the so-called "Low Voltage Directive", which does start at 50V, and I would also have thought the definition of LV excluded ELV.
 
It's all relative. Use the correct terminology to talk to whoever you're trying to talk to.
This is what happens when you try to use terminology designed by and for the electricity distribution companies. As far as they're concerned 230v is as low as it gets.
Ask someone who's only ever lived in a domestic property or works in maplins and the range they know of is 1.2v battery up to 230v mains.

If you happen to work for a dno and are confused by posters on here then feel free to remember who you're trying to communicate with.:rolleyes:
 
It's all relative. Use the correct terminology to talk to whoever you're trying to talk to. .... If you happen to work for a dno and are confused by posters on here then feel free to remember who you're trying to communicate with.:rolleyes:
Exactly.

As BAS has pointed out, virtually no-one who communicates with 'buyers', all the way from supermarkets up to electrical wholesalers and lighting specialist suppliers would dream of interpreting a request for a 'low voltage' light (or fan or whatever) as referring to 230V.

Also, as I've said before, I would/do worry about attempts to 'educate' the general public to use the 'correct' terminology, since so many of that general public regard 'low voltage' as meaning 'safe/harmless'.

Kind Regards, John
 
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And myself, I'll admit. I've had a lot of dealing with the so-called "Low Voltage Directive", which does start at 50V, and I would also have thought the definition of LV excluded ELV.
Yes, it's very odd, and I think a shock to all of us. Do you regard it as a 'mistake'?

The definition of LV is, in fact, hardly a definition. Not only does it not have a lower bound, but it goes no further than saying that the upper bound (for AC) is 'usually' 1000V. What sort of definition is that?

Kind Regards, John
 
"but i'm a bit worried how they can be safe if not low voltage [,] can these be left outside for good "

Can you answer that without explaining what low voltage is?

Easy. As they are over 1000v don't even consider putting them outside or anywhere near your property.
 
As BAS has pointed out, virtually no-one who communicates with 'buyers', all the way from supermarkets up to electrical wholesalers and lighting specialist suppliers would dream of interpreting a request for a 'low voltage' light (or fan or whatever) as referring to 230V.
Could that be the fault of the manufacturers who label only 12V lights as low voltage? Why did that start?
 
Could that be the fault of the manufacturers who label only 12V lights as low voltage? Why did that start?
I imagine that it started (I would say very reasonably) when lights appeared which used a much lower voltage than had previously been used for almost all domestic/commercial lighting.

It's not really any different from 'low fat', 'low sugar', 'low energy', 'low emission', 'low residue'.'low odour', 'low cost', 'low maintenance' etc. etc. etc. Whenever something appears which has a characteristic which is 'lower' than the historical norm, the word 'low' usually gets used.

Kind Regards, John
 
I imagine that it started (I would say very reasonably) when lights appeared which used a much lower voltage than had previously been used for almost all domestic/commercial lighting.
... and that would be because they did not know lamps were already low voltage.

The question was rhetorical but your fabled understanding and tolerance does not excuse ineptitude.

It's not really any different from 'low fat', 'low sugar', 'low energy', 'low emission', 'low residue'.'low odour', 'low cost', 'low maintenance' etc. etc. etc. Whenever something appears which has a characteristic which is 'lower' than the historical norm, the word 'low' usually gets used.
So, you are saying the correct wording should have been 'lower voltage' or 'extra-low voltage'. That may be the crux of the matter.

Obviously the definition of 'low fat' etc. is dependent on whether the previous version was 'high fat'.


'Unleaded petrol' means that none has been added. It does not mean it contains no lead.
 
Yes, it's very odd, and I think a shock to all of us. Do you regard it as a 'mistake'?
No, I suspect it was originally derived from insulation standards, wherein it made sense to only separate voltages into LOW and HIGH, then later some people needed to deal with other measures for protection against electric shock, including ELV.
 
So, you are saying the correct wording should have been 'lower voltage' or 'extra-low voltage'. That may be the crux of the matter.
That's not the usual formula. Although one sometimes comes across descriptors such as 'lower fat', 'lower energy' etc, it is far more common for the worded adopted to be 'low'.
'Unleaded petrol' means that none has been added. It does not mean it contains no lead.
Indeed, but I see no anomaly there. 'Leaded' means that lead has been added, so 'Unleaded' means that it hasn't. If it contained no lead, the term would probably be 'Lead-Free' (just as, for example, with sugar-free or gluten-free foodstuffs).

Kind Regards, John
 
Yes, but like the voltage, people don't realise what it actually means.
Maybe, but those who know what"Unsweatened" means ought to also understand "Unleaded".

As for voltage ("what it actually means"), I don't think we ever saw people being 'corrected' for using an inappropriate word to refer to 230V. We did see an awful lot of people being 'corrected' (or worse) for describing 12V as "Low Voltage" but, as we now know, they were actually using the term 'correctly' (at least, as far as IEC is concerned), even though they meant something more than 'just LV'.

Kind Regards, John
 

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