Power factor in residential systems

Quote "How much energy can be saved by power factor correction?"

None. Residences are not billed for a low power factor.

War Eagle! I was not concerned about a charge for a low power factor from the utility company. I am concerned with determining just what my power factor actually is. There are meters to read this. I am trying to find someone with a meter who can check this for me. Thanks for your reply. War Eagle!

The energy saving by power factor (this was covered earlier in a thread)

= the additional copper losses due to the extra current

= (I_tot²-I_active²)R

In exchange, you will have a bit of loss through capacitirs (none of the circuit elements are ideal, so capacitors too have a bit of losses, though very low)

In normal residential wirings

a) The current carried is very low with respect to the conductor size

b) The run (length) of the cables are low

Thereby you are on a low resistance circuit and hence the line losses are almost negligible.

Your savings hence will be too low for you to recover the additional investment, though it is likely that you will be working with quite a few low pf devices (Tube lights, AC, Fridge etc)

Power factor is not a criterion in domestic power tariffs.

Most of the time, the domestic supply cable is well oversized for the job. A domestic supply in the UK may have a capability of 100A. At night, the load could be less than 1A for most of the time (Bedside clock radios, perhaps?) with the 100A capability only being approached by resistive loads such as cookers for short periods during the day.

Correcting power factor is a way of reducing losses in feeders that are approaching their limit. In the case of a domestic supply, the feeder is rarely close to its limit. Therefore power factor correction for domestic supplies is of little value and the domestic tariff reflects that situation.