The power dissipated as heat in the magnetic core of an alternating current device, primarily transformers and motors. It consists of hysteresis loss from the continuous reversal of the magnetic field and eddy current loss from induced circulating currents in the core material. It occurs continuously as long as the device is energized, regardless of the load.
Heard on the job
We specified low-loss amorphous metal transformers to reduce continuous core loss on the distribution network.
Insider tip
Utilities pay close attention to core loss because it represents a permanent, 24/7 energy drain on the grid, unlike copper losses which only scale with customer load.
Also heard as
- iron loss
- no-load loss