What Can You Learn About Power in a Mug of Root Beer?

Power factor charges can have a significant impact on your energy bills. However, power factor can be difficult to understand. If you’re a little fuzzy on the concept of power factor, let’s sit down with a mug of root beer, and we’ll try to explain.

Explaining power factor

To understand power factor, you need to learn about the concepts of real power, reactive power and apparent power.

Real power (in kilowatts, or kW) is power that performs work in electric equipment where it's 100% efficient. It's measured in kilowatts (kW). Think of real power as the liquid in a mug of root beer.

Reactive power (in kilovolts-amps reactive or kVAR) is the extra or wasted power needed to operate a device or facility due to inefficiency, magnetic fields and other factors. Reactive power is like the foam that tops off your mug.

Apparent power (in kilovolt amps, or kVA) is the sum of real power plus the reactive power needed to power a device or facility. It’s like the total amount of root beer and foam in your mug.

Your power factor is the amount of real power used compared to the amount of apparent power. Think of it as the amount of root beer in your mug compared to all the root beer and foam combined, or PF = kW/kVA.

Root beer analogy

Correcting power factor

Facilities with low power factor draw more reactive power causing additional strain on the electric grid. That's why your electric bill may include an additional charge for power factor if it's too low. It's just like your mug; the more foam you have, the less root beer there is to quench your thirst.

Correcting low power factor can help reduce your energy costs. Here’s how to make it happen:

Install capacitors in your alternating current (AC) circuit to decrease reactive power
Set synchronous motors to a leading power factor mode
Minimize the operation of idling or lightly loaded motors
Operate equipment only within rated voltage
Replace standard motors with energy-efficient, variable speed or electronically commuted units.

So, improving your power factor reduces the amount of reactive power you draw, lowering your power factor charges and energy bills. Just like less foam means more root beer to drink. Enjoy.

We’re here to help you get stared with all your energy-saving efforts. Contact us and see how we can help.