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Boss lesson · The Utility Audit
Exam-hall rules, one feeder
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Exam-hall rules, one feeder

This is the boss. No calculator — today 3=1.73\sqrt{3} = 1.73, the number every electrician keeps in their head, and the values are chosen to fit in yours. One feeder, one long problem, and every answer feeds the next: the real power on the line, then the month's kilowatt-hours, then the dollars at 10 ¢, then the capacitor bank that would trim the reactive leg away. Write each line down as you go — one early slip rolls all the way to the invoice.

One gift, already in the numbers: at a power factor of 0.80 the triangle is the 3-4-5, so tan⁡φ=0.60.8=0.75\tan\varphi = \dfrac{0.6}{0.8} = 0.75 exactly. The last line needs no trigonometry at all, only that fraction.

Everything in the chapter rides on this one feeder — the √3, the meter, the tariff and the triangle. 5★ under par here is the chapter crown. Clock in.

MPVLILPF

P=3 VLIL PFP = \sqrt{3} \, V_{L} I_{L} \, \text{PF}

  • PP= Real power (power)
  • VLV_{L}= Line-to-line voltage (voltage)
  • ILI_{L}= Line current (electric current)
  • PF\text{PF}= Power factor
Three-Phase Real Power solver →
EPt

E=PtE = P t

  • EE= Energy (energy)
  • PP= Power (power)
  • tt= Time (time)
Electrical Energy (E = Pt) solver →

Ce=E peC_e = E \, p_e

  • CeC_e= Energy cost (money)
  • EE= Energy consumed (energy)
  • pep_e= Energy rate (cost per energy)
Energy Cost from a Utility Rate solver →
QcPF₁PF₂P

Qc=P(tan⁡φ1−tan⁡φ2)Q_{c} = P \left( \tan\varphi_{1} - \tan\varphi_{2} \right)

  • QcQ_{c}= Correction reactive power (var) (power)
  • PP= Load real power (power)
  • PF1\text{PF}_{1}= Existing power factor
  • PF2\text{PF}_{2}= Target power factor
Power-Factor Correction kvar solver →
no calculator in the boss room — the numbers are chosen to fit in your head