What is a Kilowatt Hour
A Kilowatt Hour (kWh) is a unit of measurement used to measure electricity consumption.
Therefore, if you are really interested in knowing how much electricity you are using at home and how much the electricity cost, you need to learn what a Kilowatt Hour is.
How many Kilowatt Hours are you using at home?
For example, as you can see in the picture below, this household is using an average of 2700 kWh per year and it is paying 0,2173 euro per kWh they consume.
If we multiply the 2700 kWh by 0,2173 per kWh, this gives us an electricity variable cost of approximately 600 euros per year.
One Kilowatt (kW) is the equivalent of 1000 Watts (W) so, for example, if we have a 60 Watts bulb and we want to find the equivalent in Kilowatts we just need to divide 60 by 1000, and that gives us power consumption of 0,06 Kilowatts.
60 W /1000 = 0,06 kW
If we want to know how many Kilowatts hours are used by that bulb over a period of 10 hours, we just need to multiply 0,06 kilowatts by the 10 hours and that gives us a total of 0,6 Kilowatt Hours (kWh).
0,06 kWh x 10 hours = 0,6 kWh
Electricity measurement units
Not everybody is familiar with terms like Watts, Kilowatts, or Kilowatt hours so if you would learn more about them, have a look at this YouTube video that we have prepared about this topic.
Or you can have a look at these electricity measurement units calculators to get a better understanding of:
> What is a Watt (W) and how do transform Watts into Kilowatts
> What is a Kilowatt (kW) and how to transform Kilowatts into Kilowatts an hour
> What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) and how do transform Kilowatts hours into other units
> What are Power (P), Voltage (V), and Current (I)
How to lower the electricity bill
If you are looking for tips and advice on how to save some electricity, have a look at this video that we have prepared about this very same topic.
All our videos can be found on YouTube, in both English and Spanish languages.
Additionally, if you are looking for energy-saving opportunities but don’t know where to start, use our electricity usage calculators to become aware of your electricity consumption, the electricity costs, and the potential savings.
Energy conservation
Energy conservation can be defined as the decision and the act of using less energy
Energy conservation both benefit you and the environment
The act of saving and conserving electricity does benefit you because you will be paying less for your energy bills.
And it also does benefit the environment because conserving electricity prevents any unnecessary waste of natural resources.
Now, at the individual level, it may not look worth trying to save a few watts here or there.
Still, every little count and if hundreds or thousands of us do save a little every time, it will make an important contribution towards conserving our natural resources.
For example, if 9000 households would manage to save as little as 10 Watts per day (0,01 kWh) that would add to 32850 Kilowatt hours (kWh) saved per year.
9000 households x 0,01 kWh per day x 365 days per year
=
32,850 kWh saved per year
That is a considerable amount of electricity, but let’s add additional perspectives for clarity:
> Assuming an average cost of 0,18 euros (or dollars, or pounds, or any other currency) per kWh, we would collectively be saving nearly 6000 euros per year.
> To produce 32,850 kWh of electricity it is necessary to use around 17 metric tons of coal or 56 barrels of residual fuel oil.
In any case, it is clear that small energy savings do really count when looking into the bigger picture.
