From a thermodynamic standpoint, yes, but nobody with an honest face will claim that makes measuring wasted energy as efficiency a bad measurement.
In cases of heating, resistive is 100% efficient as you loose none of the energy put in to waste heat, only effective heat, while a gas oven or heater will loose heat to it's exhaust gases, thereby being less efficient.
I wouldn't say this is "high school level" circumstances. The waste heat in the wires of your house feeding into the heater will also heat up, no?
The only energy lost is outside the system we're trying to measure, hence, not relevant.
I think you are conflating active and reactive loads. Reactive load is basically EM, not heat.
Yes, reactive current is still current and any series active load (wiring) will experience that current and heat up. The reactive load itself is "imaginary".
I'm aware it's EM but I'm pointing out it's dissipated as heat through wire current. I'm aware it's imaginary, doesn't mean it doesn't produce electrical load in the wire.
Besides, for any reasonable heater arrangement, this loss will be negligible compared to any other heating mechanism.
In cases of heating, resistive is 100% efficient as you loose none of the energy put in to waste heat, only effective heat, while a gas oven or heater will loose heat to it's exhaust gases, thereby being less efficient.
I wouldn't say this is "high school level" circumstances. The waste heat in the wires of your house feeding into the heater will also heat up, no?
The only energy lost is outside the system we're trying to measure, hence, not relevant.