clifto wrote:
A bit off topic, as it has to do with house wiring. But how does power factor
affect dissipation in the conductors? I'm wondering, for example, if a 1500
watt capacity and a 30% power factor would overload #14 wire.

For heating wire, the I-squared-R losses are what matter. Same for most
small circuit breakers.

1500 watts at 120 volts would be a RMS current of 12.5 Amps, if the
load was purely resistive.

With a power factor of 30%, the RMS current might be 40 Amps. That's a
lot more than the 15 Amps that electrical codes allow on 14-gauge wire.
But you'd be tripping breakers if you really were putting 40 Amps
through that circuit and it's house wiring AND it's up to code AND the
breaker was Ok AND (yadda yadda yadda).

But I don't know what a "1500 watt capacity" is. I don't think you're
really talking about 1500 watts. Maybe you meant Volt-Amps (VA).

Tim.