Faulty Readings of Static Energy Meters Caused by Conducted Electromagnetic Interference from a Water Pump

Abstract

Conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) can affect the energy readings of static energy meters. Lower readings of static energy meters have been reported in many publications, and higher readings were found when lighting equipment in combination with a dimmer was used as a load. In this paper it is shown that by using an off the shelf water pump as a consumer, faulty deviations on the static meters with respect to a reference meter can be found. In the most extreme case, using a standard mains supply, deviations between -61% and +2675% were found. When an ideal power supply with a standardized mains impedance was used deviations between -19% and +483% were shown to exist.