POWER FACTOR


As an expression of the efficiency of an electrical circuit, Power Factor is "a number from zero (0) to one (1) that represents the amount of AC power that you receive from the electric company that is actually being used effectively (Real Power) in your home or business divided by the amount of Apparent Power that the electric company delivers to your home or business".
A Power Factor of 1.0 is perfect.
The Intelliworks Energy Saver will take a low Power Factor to AT LEAST 0.96=5 or above in most cases!

Power Factor Optimization


Power Factor Optimization is the process of aligning the Power that you actually use in your home or business with the Apparent Power that the Electric Company delivers and charges for.
The electric company determines the amount of power that you use with a watt-Hour instrument that is generally mounted outside your home or business.
This instrument measures the Real Power that you are using.
When Apparent Power is larger than or equal to the Real Power due to certain devices previously mentioned that only temporarily borrow power from the Electric Company, then return it you are wasting Power.
This "borrowing and returning" of electric power occurs 60 times a second. The objective of Power Factor Correction is to insert a wisely selected component into your system that will effectively release energy when your system needs to borrow energy, and store energy when your system needs to release energy.
Hence the Intelliworks Energy Saver - Power Factor Optimization leads to less Apparent Power delivered to your home or business.
The net effect of Power Factor Optimization is that the Apparent Power the Electric Company supplies to you equals the Real Power that you are actually using.
Real Power (average Power): electrical Power that is converted into heat or light.
Reactive Power: Electrical Power that is temporarily borrowed, and returned - otherwise known as "Inrush Current".
This power is only associated with inductive and capacitive devices.
Apparent power: The total (vector sum) of electrical power that is received at the home or business.
This Total Power is composed of Real Power and Reactive Power.

Capacitive and inductive devices can only very temporarily store electrical energy.
A capacitor can and does store this electric energy and makes it available for future use.
This is an example of Potential Energy and it is by managing this Potential Energy that the Intelliworks Energy Saver performs to save you money on your electric bill.


In electric power distribution, capacitors are used for power factor correction.
As a consumer of electricity all you really need to know about Power Factor Correction is the following:
In an electric power system, a load with low power factor draws more current than a load with a high power factor for the same amount of useful power transferred.
The higher currents increase the energy lost in the distribution system, and require larger wires and other equipment.
Because of the costs of larger equipment and wasted energy, electrical utilities will usually charge a higher cost to industrial or commercial customers where there is a low power factor.
Whether or not your electric utility company levies a surcharge on low Power Factor it costs you money because you are buying more power to do the same work!!!

Per Wikipedia - Power Factor Correction



POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC)

Power Factor Correction, explained simply, is acting upon an electrical circuit in such a way as to bring Demand as close to the Actual Power required in that electrical circuit.

This is accomplished by optimizing the electrical circuit.

The net result is that the consumer is paying only for the power required consumed in an electrical circuit.