What's The Difference Between Watts and Volt-Amperes?
What's The Difference Between Watts and Volt-Amperes?
What's The Difference Between Watts and Volt-Amperes?
Both watts (W) and volt-amperes (VA) are units of measurement for electrical power. Watts refer to real power, while volt-amperes refer to apparent power. Usually, electronic products show one or both of these values to provide information about how much energy they will consume or how much current they will draw. Each of these values can be used for various purposes.
Table Of Contents
1. What Are Watts? 2. How Are Watts Calculated? 3. What Are Watts Used For? 4. What Are Volt-Amperes? 5. How Are Volt-Amperes Calculated? 6. What Are Volt-Amperes Used For? 7. Summary 8. References
W = Vdc x Idc
(1)
The concept for calculating the real power for ac circuits is straightforward, though performing the calculation is much more difficult. To get the power in watts, you need to know the instantaneous voltage with time, v(t), and the instantaneous current with time, i(t). When you multiply these together, you get the instantaneous power with time, p(t). Since this instantaneous power is changing over time, we need to get an average value, so we integrate the power over a period of time and divide by the time period to get the average. That gives us the watts dissipated by the device in a circuit with voltage v(t) across it and current i(t) through it for the period of time evaluated. Assuming that the voltage and current are both periodic waveforms of period T, the strict mathematical way to express the power calculation for a periodic waveform of period T is:
So while this may be easy to visualize, it is not easy to calculate. Even the measurement of real power in watts for ac circuits requires specialized equipment (a wattmeter) because the voltage and current waveforms must be measured over a precise period of time, the measurements must be simultaneous, and the average must be calculated over the measurement time period. A standard multimeter cant make this type of power measurement.
or ac devices, you can just add up the individual power ratings in watts of each device to get the total power (watts add linearly).
The apparent power for dc circuits is the same as real power for dc circuits (for dc, VA = W). For ac circuits, VA are the product of the RMS voltage (VRMS) times the RMS current (IRMS): VA = VRMS x IRMS (4)
You can calculate the apparent power in volt-amperes for ac circuits by multiplying the measured RMS voltage times the measured RMS current. A standard multimeter usually can make both of these RMS measurements.
wires and associated circuitry supplying this product accommodate at least 2.5 ARMS.
Electronic products typically list information such as their ac power ratings, ac line voltage, frequency, and maximum VA ratings.
To combine the apparent power of multiple dc devices, volt-amperes add linearly. However, to combine the apparent power (or current) of multiple ac devices, there is no straightforward way to get an exact total because the currents for each device are not necessarily in phase with each other, so they dont add linearly. But if you do simply add the individual VA ratings (or currents) together, the total will be a conservative estimate to use since the actual total will always be less than or equal to this value. Another term that is useful in this discussion is power factor (PF). The power factor is defined as the ratio of W to VA: Power factor = PF = W/VA (5)
Power factor is always a number between zero and one because the watts drawn by a device are always less than or equal to the volt-amperes. Note that it is possible for a circuit to have a large voltage across it and to draw substantial current, but consume no energy (dissipate zero watts). While this seems counterintuitive, it is true if the circuit is purely reactive (a pure capacitor or pure inductor). The circuit will do no work and produce no heat, so it is drawing (and dissipating) zero watts. Yet it can draw substantial current, resulting in substantial VA.
In this case, the power factor is zero. This is possible because the phase relationship between the voltage and current waveforms is such that the circuit is alternately absorbing real power and giving that real power back, so the net real power consumption is zero.
Summary
W and VA are both units of measurement for power, but thats where the similarity ends. Watts do work or generate heat, while volt-amperes simply provide you with information you need to size wires, fuses, or circuit breakers. Watts add linearly, while volt-amperes doe not. And to measure W, you need a special wattmeter. You can calculate VA by using a standard multimeter to measure VRMS and IRMS and finding the product (see the table).
References
For more articles focused on ac and dc power-related topics, visit Agilent Technologies power blog, Watts Up? at http://powersupplyblog.tm.agilent.com/.