VA=watts

[Timboe]

I have a plug in transformer that is 120v primary and 24v secondary. The rating stamped on it says 20va. I know this means apperant power but I was told that a good estimation is to think of VA as watts as in 20 watts. Does this mean that i should not put a load on this that is more than 20 watts?

 

[Dennis Alwon]

That is correct. 20 watt maximum.

 

[rattus]

I have a plug in transformer that is 120v primary and 24v secondary. The rating stamped on it says 20va. I know this means apperant power but I was told that a good estimation is to think of VA as watts as in 20 watts. Does this mean that i should not put a load on this that is more than 20 watts?

It means,

Pa-max = 20VA = 24V*Iload-max

then,

Iload-max = 20VA/24V = 0.833A

You may overload the transformer if you treat apparent power as real power.