eli5 What is the difference between kW and kWh
In: 0
Electricity is energy, basically. It flows, and the SI unit of energy is a joule. It’s useful to know how fast energy is flowing, AKA power, so one joule per second is one watt. A thousand watts is a kilowatt, AKA a thousand joules of energy flowing every second. That’s enough to power a medium-sized window unit air conditioner at full blast.
Now, let’s say we’ve left that unit on for an hour. How much energy did it use? Well one kilowatt times one hour would be 3600 kilojoules (60 minutes times 60 seconds) but that’s too much math, so let’s call it one kilowatt-hour. (It’s a unit which includes time divided by time, which is dumb.)
Kilowatts tell you amount of energy flow, which tells you what you can power. KWh tells you what you used.
——-
EDIT: Forgot the kilo, thanks for comment.
Latest Answers