What is the difference between resistive and inductive loads?
A load is any device that consumes energy in an electrical system. Appliances, and electrical devices in general, are divided into two big groups of loads: resistive and inductive. Resistive loads are simply those in which the electricity is used to produce heat and not movement. Typical loads of this kind are incandescent lamps or electric heaters. Inductive loads are generally those in which the electricity flows through coils. They are usually motors, such as fans or refrigerators; or transformers, that are present in most electronic devices, such as TVs, computers or fluorescent lamps.
