Volt AMPS vs watts
- Thread starter domnic
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gar
Senior Member
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- Ann Arbor, Michigan
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- EE
14102032 EDT
The answer depends upon whether the appliance is a pure resistive load or not. Does this help you?
.
The answer depends upon whether the appliance is a pure resistive load or not. Does this help you?
.
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- Placerville, CA, USA
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- Retired PV System Designer
For appliances with a federally mandated energy label the number there is watts.
The manufacturer's label with volts and amps cannot give you watts as the product of those two numbers if they are different from VA, since that would require misstating the amps.
The manufacturer's label with volts and amps cannot give you watts as the product of those two numbers if they are different from VA, since that would require misstating the amps.
Gar is right.
All it tells you is VA.
The watts will be the same or less.
For a simple electric heater they would be the same.
For an electric motor, the VA will be greater than the watts.
The ratio of watts to VA is called power factor.
It is never greater than 1.0.
As a general rule, anything that has a motor or a wound component will be lower than 1.0 and sometimes considerably lower.
Assuming you are referring to AC of course.
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