More than one. I was hearing it from so many people, it was becoming embarrasing to discuss it. I thought I was in the rabbit hole for sure. It just did not add up.
Seriously?
a watt is a universal measurement of power, it don't matter if its from a lightbulb,a opower station,a cb output be it ssb,am or otherwise, a watt is a watt.
In a standard legal US cb with 4w carrier, when adding 100% modulation you get 6w on an average reading meter,as both sidebands at 100% modulation have 1/4 the power of the carrier, so both sidebands and carrier show as 6w on an average meter, or 2.6 x that on a P.E.P meter which is 16w P.E.P.
A single SSB transmitter has carrier and one sideband suppressed, (both sidebands carry mirror images of the voice and are modulated either upwards in usb or downwards in frequency on lsb by the amount of frequency the audio tone is supplied at the microphone socket.) So all the available power is left for one sideband,now if that sideband signal is set with a constant tone and an output of 16w P.E.P its using the exact same energy as your constantly 100% modulated AM signal.
In normal use that isn't quite the case,as sideband only works when you actually apply an audio tone/s like the voice,the power fluctuates and the gaps between words,sentences etc,any pause,the transmitter will stop and cool down, so from that point of view a 16w P.E.P ssb radio is more efficient than an equivalent energy 4w carrier 16w swing AM radio, infact its about 30/50 % the duty ratio of a constantly modulated AM signal,
but the voice doesn't constantly modulate so would be nearer 50% or more as AM don't swing till you talk either so ain't constantly modulated, but always has the carrier heating the transistors/tubes/fets whatever, but its not empty watts, may well be watts on an unwanted frequency,but deffo ain't empty watts.
Only empty watts you get is in amp builders advertising
I will only discuss the merits of properly modulated AM signals as soon as you start doing mods you end up with the radio spewing allsorts of shit and eventual destruction of final whatever it is.You go above 100% modulation and add stupid Swing,or add outrageous power levels,no transistor is gonny tolerate it long
Another bonus of ssb is it uses half the bandwidth of an AM signal which reduces signal to noise ratio, the trade off for that is it requires better frequency stability and a clarifier at least as no 2 radios will ever be on the same frequency,nevermind when you got 5 or 6 on one frequency.
It amazes me after 60 odd years of cb in the USA and over 3 decades here these myths still go about.