Demand factor

In electrical engineering the demand factor is taken as a time independent quantity where the numerator is taken as the maximum demand in the specified time period instead of the averaged or instantaneous demand.

${\displaystyle f_{\text{Demand}}={\frac {\text{Maximum load in given time period}}{\text{Maximum possible load}}}}$

This is the peak in the load profile divided by the full load of the device.

Example: If a residence has equipment which could draw 6,000 W when all equipment was drawing a full load, drew a maximum of 3,000 W in a specified time, then the demand factor = 3,000 W / 6,000 W = 0.5

This quantity is relevant when trying to establish the amount of load for which a system should be rated. In the above example, it would be unlikely that the system would be rated to 6,000 W, even though there may be a slight possibility that this amount of power can be drawn. This is closely related to the load factor which is the average load divided by the peak load in a specified time period.

${\displaystyle f_{\text{Load}}={\frac {\text{Average load}}{\text{Maximum load in given time period}}}}$

• Capacity factor
• List of energy storage projects
• Diversity factor
• Utilization factor

•  This article incorporates public domain material from Federal Standard 1037C. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. (in support of MIL-STD-188).