Home & workshop Electrical

Three phase power calculator

Last reviewed 23 Aug 2026
Supply
Line voltage
V
Line current
A
Power factor
Resistive loads are 1; motors are 0.8–0.9
Real power 22,170.3 W
P = √3 × 400 × 32 × 1
Kilowatts 22.17 kW
Apparent power 22.17 kVA
Reactive power 0 VAr
Horsepower 29.73 hp
Current check 32 A
P = √3 · V · I · pf

In a star-connected system the line voltage is √3 times the phase voltage, because the two phase voltages you measure between are 120 degrees apart rather than opposite. That geometry is why 230 V phase-to-neutral gives 400 V phase-to-phase — 230 × 1.732 = 398. The same factor then appears in the power formula, and in the voltage-drop formula for the same reason.

Estimates for planning and study. Fixed wiring must be designed and installed to the wiring regulations that apply where you are, by someone competent to do it.

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320 × 100

Three-phase real power is √3 × line voltage × line current × power factor. At 400 V, 32 A and 0.9 power factor that is 19.95 kW real from 22.17 kVA apparent. The √3 comes from the 120-degree phase relationship between lines.

How to calculate three-phase power

1 Enter the line-to-line voltage — 400 V in most of Europe, 208 or 480 V in North America.
2 Enter the line current, which is what a clamp meter reads on one conductor.
3 Set the power factor from the equipment nameplate.
4 Read kW for energy cost and kVA for supply sizing.

Three phase exists because it moves far more power down the same copper. The return currents in a balanced system cancel, so there is little or no neutral current and the conductors carry only what they need to. That is why industrial motors above a few kilowatts are almost always three phase, and why long-distance distribution is. The practical catch for anyone specifying equipment is balance: an unbalanced load puts current back in the neutral and the efficiency advantage starts to evaporate.

Questions

P = √3 × V(line) × I(line) × power factor for a balanced load. Apparent power drops the power factor term.

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300 × 250
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