Update: I am actually searching for really simple, intuitive ways to explain it. I have a background in engineering, but am struggling to explain why we “pay for kwh”, and not kw (on our electricity bill) to someone who doesn’t. I have tried in many ways but maybe I’m not giving the right examples or making the right comparisons. I am really searchig for a way to ELI5.
In: 24
My take on breaking this down, as an analogy. Lets think of it as water.
KW is the power. It’s how fast the energy (water) is delivered.
– Is it a steady dribble from a faucet or a blast from a fire hose?
The provider doesn’t really care how fast you consume the water. That’s your business. What they care about is how *much* water they supplied.
KWh is the actual energy provided. Here “liters” is the same as “joules of energy”
– A dribble for an entire day is 10 L.
– A short blast from a fire hose is 10 L
The company again, doesn’t care how fast you obtained the product (water/energy) just specifically how much they had to give you.
Another version of this problem:
Power (KW) is a Rate, like speed. KWH is energy, a quantity. It’s Joules, just expressed oddly. This would be like distance.
So a transportation company charges you based on how far you want to go (KWH) and is far less interested in how fast you get there. usually.
Now if you want to get there very, very fast, you pay a premium, but even then the exact speed isn’t a concern. But special measures need to be taken for very high speeds/rates, so you pay for those special measures.
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