Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaymoss
A lot of people now have LED bulbs using next to nothing
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And there's the rub. LED lamps rated at 18w actually need the power companies to pump out around 22w due to their pF (power factor) being less than 1.
We are presently billed per kilowatt-hour, so only pay for 18w. But smart meters can measure in kilovolt-amps, so we could be charged for the whole 22w.
Inductive loads such as the motors in fridges, freezers, washing machines and fans tend to have poor pF, as do the switched mode PSU's in computers.
A home with a total pF of 0.5 can use exactly the same amount of kwh as a neighbour with a pF close to 1, but be slapped with DOUBLE the bill if kvA was the billing unit.
If you're bored, and have lots of coffee, get your head around pF.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor