Eli5:why is that something rated 1000w spends 1kWh after an hour instead of 3600kWh, since watt is by second?

Question

Eli5:why is that something rated 1000w spends 1kWh after an hour instead of 3600kWh, since watt is by second?

In: Other

Answer 1

Watts are a measure of the *rate* of energy transfer, while watt-hours are a *quantity* of energy.

Watts is “joules per second.” A watt-hour is one watt **for** one hour, equivalent to 3600 joules (one per second, for 3600 seconds.) One thousand watts (joules per second) — also known as a kilowatt — for one hour (3600 seconds) is 1000 watt-hours or one kilowatt-hour or or 3,600,000 joules or 3.6 megajoules.