Wattmeters and Measurement of Power

• Wattmeter: It is a combination of an ammeter and a

voltmeter and, therefore, consists of two coils known as
current coil and pressure coil. The operating torque is
produced due to interaction of fluxes on account of currents
in current and pressure coils.

• Power: it is defined as the rate at which energy is

transformed or made available.
• Power in DC Circuits: In DC circuits power may be measured
either by a wattmeter or by an ammeter and voltmeter, the
product of current and voltage readings gives the power in
the circuit:
𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡
from Ohm’s Law
𝑉
𝐼 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅
𝑅
Substituting these values in above equation we get
𝑉2
𝑃= = 𝐼2 𝑅
𝑅
• Power in AC Circuits: The power at any instant is given by:
𝑝 = 𝑣𝑖 𝑉𝐴
Where,
p is the instantaneous power
v is the instantaneous voltage, and
i is the instantaneous current.
Thus, if both the current and voltage waves are sinusoidal, the
current lagging in phase by an angle φ, and
𝑣 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin 𝑤𝑡,
and 𝑖 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin(𝑤𝑡 − φ)
Then instantaneous power p is given by:
𝑝 = 𝑣𝑖 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin 𝑤𝑡 sin(𝑤𝑡 − φ)
or writing ϴ for wt,
𝑝 = 𝑣𝑖 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin ϴ sin(ϴ − φ)
The mean/average power is given by:
1 2π
𝑃= 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛ϴsin(ϴ − φ)dϴ
2π 0
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 2π 𝑐𝑜𝑠φ−cos(2ϴ−φ)
𝑃= 0
dϴ
2π 2
2π
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 sin(2ϴ − φ)
𝑃= ϴ𝑐𝑜𝑠φ −
4π 2
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑃= 𝑐𝑜𝑠φ
2
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑃= 𝑐𝑜𝑠φ
2 2
Or
𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠φ
Where V and I are r.m.s. values of voltage and current and (cosφ)
is power factor. That is why a wattmeter is used for
measurement of power instead of an ammeter and voltmeter.
• Types of Wattmeters: There are three types
– Dynamometer wattmeter (most commonly used)
– Induction wattmeter (most commonly used)
– Electrostatic wattmeter
• Dynamometer Wattmeter: Figure bellow shows the
connection of dynamometer for measuring power.
• If the coils are connected so that a value of current
proportional to the load voltage flows in one , and a value of
current proportional to the load current flows in the other,
the meter may be calibrated directly in watts.
• For a DC circuit the deflecting torque is thus proportional to
the power.
• For any circuit with fluctuating torque, the instantaneous
torque is proportional to the instantaneous power.
• In this case due to inertia of moving parts, the deflection will
be proportional to the average torque i.e., the deflection will
be proportional to the average power.
• Advantages:
– The scale is uniform for AC and DC
– High degree of accuracy can be obtained by careful design,
hence these are used for calibration.

• Disadvantages:
– The inductance of the pressure coil at low power factor
may cause error
– Stray magnetic field may effect readings.
• Induction Wattmeter:
• It is used in AC circuits only and is useful only when the
frequency and supply voltage are constant.
• Construction: Figure bellow shows the construction:

• It has two laminated electromagnets. The upper

electromagnet (called magnet shunt) has two coils in series
which are wound such that the direction of fluxes setup by
them are same. They are connected in series with a high
resistance across the main supply. Thus these two coils serve
as pressure coils.
• One are more copper shading bands are fitted on the central
limb of the upper electromagnet. The induced current in
these bands setup their own fluxes. The total flux of the upper
electromagnet is the resultant of the main flux and the fluxes
of currents in the shading bands.
• The two coils of the lower electromagnet (called series
magnet) are also in series and carry circuit current. They are
also wounded such that their fluxes are in the same direction.
• An aluminum disk supported by jeweled bearings is mounted
on the spindle. The spindle also carries a hair spring (for
providing control torque) and pointer for deflection.
• Advantages:
– Fairly long scale, free from effect of stray fields, and frequency errors
• Disadvantages:
– Subject to serious temperature
• Electrostatic Wattmeter:
• These wattmeters are used for the measurement of small
amount of power, particularly when the voltage is high and
power factor low.
• This is also used for measurement of dielectric loss of cables
on alternating voltage and for calibration of wattmeters and
energy meters.
• This wattmeter consists of quadrant electrometer used with a
non-inductive resistor R as shown in Fig:
• Measurement of Power:
• There are three methods for measurement of power in single
phase AC circuits:
– Measurement of power without wattmeter
– Measurement of power with wattmeter
– Measurement of power in conjunction with instrument
transformers

• Measurement of power without wattmeter:

Power may be measured using following methods:
– Three-voltmeter method
– Three-ammeter method
• Three-voltmeter method:
• The connections are as shown in Fig:

• V1, V2, and V3 are three voltmeters and R is a non-inductive

resistor which is connected in series with the load.
• From the phasor diagram we have:
• 𝑉12 = 𝑉22 + 𝑉32 + 2𝑉2 𝑉3 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
• 𝑉12 = 𝑉22 + 𝑉32 + 2(𝐼𝑅)𝑉3 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
 𝑉12 = 𝑉22 + 𝑉32 + 2𝑅(𝑉3 𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠∅)
𝑉12 = 𝑉22 + 𝑉32 + 2𝑃𝑅
Or
𝑉12 −𝑉22 −𝑉32
𝑃=
2𝑅
Power factor of the circuit is given by:
𝑉12 −𝑉22 −𝑉32
𝑐𝑜𝑠ϕ =
2𝑅
Disadvantages:
– Supply voltage higher than normal voltage is required
because an additional resistance R is connected in series
with the load Z
– Even small errors in measurement of voltages may cause
serious error in he value of power determined by this
method.
• Three ammeter method:
• The connection diagram and the phasor diagram are shown
as:

• The current measured by ammeter A1, is the vector sum of

the load current and the current that taken by the non-
inductive resistor R, this latter being in phase with V.
• From the phasor diagram
• 𝐼12 = 𝐼22 + 𝐼32 + 2𝐼2 𝐼3 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
 𝑉
But, 𝐼2 =
𝑅
2 2 2 𝑉
𝐼1 = 𝐼2 + 𝐼3 + 2 𝐼3 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
𝑅
Hence, the power 𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼3 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅, is given by:
𝑅
𝑃= (𝐼12 − 𝐼2 2 − 𝐼3 2 )
2
𝐼12 −𝐼22 −𝐼32
Also, 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ =
2𝐼22 𝐼32

• The “advantage” of this method is that the value of power

determined is independent of supply frequency and
waveforms.
• The disadvantages of measurement of power by three-
voltmeter method are overcome in this method.
• Measurement of power with wattmeter:
• Figure shows a wattmeter connections:

• The current coil of the instrument carries the load current,

while the pressure or voltage coil carries a current
proportional to, and in phase with, the voltage. The deflection
of wattmeter depends upon the currents on these upon the
current on these coils and upon the power factor.
• Inductance in the voltage coil circuit should be avoided as far
as possible, since it causes the voltage-coil current to lag
behind the applied voltage.
• A high non-inductive resistance is connected in series with the
voltage coil in order that the reactance of the coil itself shall
be small in comparison with the resistance of whole voltage-
coil circuit and also, of course, to ensure that the current
taken by the voltage coil shall be small.
• Measurement of Power in 3-Phase Circuit:
• The following three methods are used for the measurement
of 3-phase power:
– Three-wattmeter method
– Two-wattmeter method
– One-wattmeter method
• Three-wattmeter method:
• Figure bellow shows the connections for star-connected and
delta connected loads respectively:
• The current coil of each wattmeter carries the current of one
phase only and the pressure coil measures the phase-voltage
of the phase.
• Hence, each wattmeter measures the power in a single phase.
The total power in the load is given by the algebraic sum of
the readings of the three wattmetres.
• Difficulty:
• In case of star-connected load it is not always possible to get a
neutral point which is required for connections.
• In case of delta-connected load, under ordinary conditions it
is not generally feasible to break into the phases of the load.
• Two-wattmeter method:
• The total power consumed by a balanced load can be found
by using two-wattmeters shown as:
• One-wattmeter method:
• The connection diagram is shown bellow:

• The current coil is connected in any one line and the pressure
coil is connected alternatively between this and the other two
lines.
• The two readings so obtained, for balanced load, correspond
to those obtained by normal two-wattmeter method.
• This method is not of as much universal application as the
two-wattmeter method because it is restricted to fairly
balanced load only.