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Here's what I've been wondering. A transformer provides very efficient wireless power transmission but on a few centimeters. Has anyone considered scaling up a transformer? Would that increase the range?

What if we made a house sized one and buried it under the house? Could that provide wireless electricity to the whole house?

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You're talking about inductive charging, which is basically how electric toothbrushes charge. It's recently been built into new devices (my Nexus 4 supports it) but obviously requires they be placed on a charging mat/station. Perhaps in the future it could be built into desks, so that everything placed on them charges. I would imagine (but I'm no EE/physicist) that these get terribly inefficient when you scale them up.

I've heard the palm-pixi charging stand (which can be easily hacked to charge many other cell phones[1]) gets roughly 70% efficiency.

[1] http://hackaday.com/2013/06/19/adding-wireless-charging-to-a...

You'd still be battling the inverse square law. Wireless power is just too inefficient to ever be used for serious appliances.

You wouldn't if the whole house is metallic would you?

I don't think that would really make any difference, aside from causing lots of issues for you. You'd be safe from lightning strikes though.

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