i have a kill a watt meter should i measure in watts or va?

Question

Va reads more electric than watts which is right va is volts*amps

Answer 1

A Watt is a VA... or Volt-Amp.

The VA is more or less exclusively used in electrical engineering.

The VA in AC circuits is a measure of the "reactive power". It is not the real power. Loads such as induction motors, do not act like pure resistors, but like inductors.

Capacitors and inductors drain current but also feed current back into their power source.

Answer 2

It depends on what you're trying to measure. The watts reading should tell you the actual power consumption. Power is nominally volts times amps, but inductive loads (motors, primarily) put the power out of phase, so that maximum current does not occur at the same time as maximum voltage.

The VA setting on the meter gives you rms volts x rms amps. This should be the same as power in watts if all you are running is resistive loads such as incandescent lights. But if there are electric motors running, the VA reading will be higher. The VA value is used by engineers to determine the required capacity of the power service. If you just want to see how much power you're using, use watts.

Answer 3

I guess u meant a kilowattmeter, it measures watt, i.e., power in kilowatts. While, VA (or volt-amperes) is a rating which also constitutes the complex power along with the real power.

Answer 4

I think you might mean "kilowatt meter," kilo- being the prefix meaning "thousand." Therefore, your meter is designed to read wattage, in thousands of watts. As to the rest of your question, the grammar is so wonky I can't make heads or tails of it, sorry.

Answer 5

I think you mean kilowatt meter. It is a measure of watts in units of one thousand.

Answer 6

My meter reads Kw.