what is different between watts and va?

Question

also which one is the true electric being used

Answer 1

They are both a measure of power and since Power = Voltage x Current they are essentially the same thing. A Watt is really a measure of true power.

If you are talking about DC, they are exactly the same.

For AC, there can be a difference in the timing when the current peaks and the voltage peaks (reactive power), so AC power is not a direct calculation of peak voltage times peak current, so the VA measure is used.

Try the explaination here as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volt-ampere

Answer 2

Only that a watt is a joule per second, a generic unit of power, while a volt amp is specifically electrical power.