K-factor

K-factor relates the heating effect of a distorted current in a transformer to a sinusoidal current with the same RMS magnitude — it describes a transformer’s ability to serve non-linear loads without exceeding rated temperature rise limits.

The K-factor is equal to the sum of the squares of the harmonic currents multiplied by the squares of the harmonic order. The meter uses the following equation to calculate K-factor:

Where K is the K-factor, h is the harmonic order and Ih is the true RMS current of harmonic order h.