Picture the following scenario. It’s a hot and sunny day and the weather is absolutely scorching. Just then, you are offered 2 glasses of beer – one foamy and one non foamy.

Which glass of beer would you choose?

 Most people will choose the foamy glass of beer because it looks so refreshing – but did you know that actually the foam does nothing to quench your thirst? The beer inside the glass is the main thing that quenches your thirst, however you must pay for the entire glass of beer – foam or without.

This analogy is the same with your electricity, in terms of the power factor. The entire glass of beer that you paid for, in this case represents the apparent power measured in kVA; while the one that is used to fulfill the power requirement is the active power measured in kW.

The left over is the foam which is the reactive power measured in kVAR. The ratio between apparent power and real power is known as power factor; which ideally equals to 1 – which means that the glass is full of liquid without foam.

Beer Glass Analogy & Power Triangle

Of course, the question is – how do you know your kVA, kW, kVAR and other electricity terms? How do you see this hidden valuable information from your electrical system? The answer is you need a good monitoring device!

Phoenix Contact has a wide comprehensive range of monitoring devices to suit your needs – be it a basic ampere monitoring device to an advanced power meter with optional wireless logging system. By being able to understand your electricity characteristics, it will help you to give you the data and decide what you need to do in order to improve your energy efficiency.

Phoenix Contact Monitoring Devices

Interested to find out more? Get in touch with us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!