- #1
w0z
- 4
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Apparently my modern electronic home electric meter uses a 'current transformer' to measure the current in order to calculate the wattage I am using.
My question: is the flux generated in the current transformer also proportional to the reactive part of the current as well as the in-phase current or is the reactive power somehow ignored?
Accepted wisdom seems to that power companies do not charge homeowners* for reactive (apparent) power, but only for real power, so how do the modern electronic meters discriminate between the two.
(*I understand that the power companies reserve the right to adjust their charges for factories and industrial users etc. who have persistently poor power factors, because they still have to generate the reactive power)
Thanks, w0z
My question: is the flux generated in the current transformer also proportional to the reactive part of the current as well as the in-phase current or is the reactive power somehow ignored?
Accepted wisdom seems to that power companies do not charge homeowners* for reactive (apparent) power, but only for real power, so how do the modern electronic meters discriminate between the two.
(*I understand that the power companies reserve the right to adjust their charges for factories and industrial users etc. who have persistently poor power factors, because they still have to generate the reactive power)
Thanks, w0z