[IP] Re: Are CFL's Designed to Make Us Pay More on Our Power Bills?

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "David Lesher" <wb8foz@panix.com>
Date: August 18, 2008 11:03:44 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net (David Farber)
Subject: [IP] Are CFL's Designed to Make Us Pay More on Our Power Bills?

An interesting mix of truths and untruths, Prof. F.

Only trouble with the story is the Thomson meter on your house does bill
you for kilowatt-hours, i.e. true watts * hours. Not volt-amps, but
watts.

So the poorer Power Factor of CFL's is the utility's problem [to a minor
extent] not yours.

I've never seen a utility that billed for usage in VAH's. It is true  
that
in large industrial environments [pump station. factory, etc.] they may
charge a penalty if your PF is too poor, but it is detailed as such on
the bill.  [And the factory usually adds capacitor banks to compensate.]

Also, I've not heard of a residential user being billed for poor Power
Factor.  [But then, who'd have thought the day would come when American
Airlines would charge for sodas; so I suppose such *is* possible,
somewhere..]

You can read about meters at <http://watthourmeters.com> and Wiki's
Electricity_meter entry.

That said, the EU has regulations about poor PF but their concern  
started
with PC supplies, not CFL's. [But I'm sure they are covered as well.]

If the OP really is getting billed for KVAH, not KWH's, CFL's are a  
small
part of his problem. He should look at the power factor of his PC and  
air
conditioning system.




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