What Is A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) And What Can It Power?

What Is A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) And What Can It Power?

What Is A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) And What Can It Power?

1 kilowatt hour is equal to

A kilowatt-hour is a unit of measure for using one kilowatt of power for one hour. Just knowing what a kilowatt-hour is and what it can power can save you money on your electricity bill.

Once you understand what is a kilowatt-hour, you can monitor electricity usage, make educated choices about saving energy, and lower your monthly electric bill.

What is a Kilowatt-Hour?

A kilowatt-hour, otherwise known as a kWh, is a way to measure how much energy you’re using. It’s not the number of kilowatts you’re using in an hour, even though that seems to make sense.

A kWh equals the amount of energy you would use by keeping a 1,000 watt appliance running for one hour.

For instance, if you turned on a 100 watt bulb, it would take 10 hours to use one kilowatt-hour of energy. A 2,000 watt appliance, on the other hand, would only take half an hour. It all comes down to dividing the number of watts in an appliance into 1,000.

Kilowatt-Hour vs. Kilowatt

What Can 1 Kilowatt-Hour Power?

Each item in your home will use a different amount of power. Here are some examples of what 1 kWh can power:

  • Running a dishwasher (1,000 watts): 1 hour
  • Watching a 50″ LED TV (50 watts): 20 hours
  • Cooking in the oven (2000 Watts): 30 minutes
  • Running the refrigerator (300 Watts): 3 hours
  • Using a Playstation 4 (150 Watts): 6.66 hours

How do I calculate what 1 kWh will power?

  1. Locate the wattage for the device.
  2. Convert the wattage from watts (W) to kilowatts (kW). To do that, just divide the number of watts by 1000.
  3. Divide the number of kilowatts into 1kWh to see how long it takes for your device to use 1 kWh.

Here it is in a formula:

Watts / 1000 = Kilowatts (kW)

1kWh/Kilowatts = number of hours for a device to use 1kWh

How Many Kilowatt Hours (kWh) Do Common Appliances Use?

Obviously, every appliance in your home will use a different amount of power. And instead of looking at what you can do with a single kWh, it makes more sense to look at appliance electricity usage under typical circumstances.

Here are examples of the number of kilowatt-hours common household items use:

  • 50″ LED Television: around 0.016 kWh per hour
  • Electric dishwashers: around 2 kWh per load
  • Electric water heater: 380-500 kWh per month
  • Refrigerator (24 cu. ft frost free Energy Star): 54 kWh per month
  • Clothes Washer (warm wash, cold rinse): 2.3 kWh per load
  • Clothes Dryer: 2.5 – 4.0 kWh per load
  • Air Conditioner (3 ton 12 SEER): 3.0 kWh per hour

The Energy Guide label on newer appliances will include the estimated yearly electricity usage. Multiply that by your rate per kilowatt-hour and you have the cost to use that device.

How Do I Calculate How Many kWh an Appliance Uses?

Your appliances account for around 25% of your electric bill. That includes your water heater, refrigerator, freezer and washer and dryer. You can easily calculate the number of kilowatt hours an appliance uses following these steps.

Examples: How to Calculate Electricity Usage

Here are some examples of calculating electricity usage of some of your appliances. We’ll start with a simple example, then a more complex one.

Use A Calculator Tool to Calculate Energy Usage

Or make things easy for yourself and use the energy usage calculator as a short cut:

There are also several online resources and calculators that can help you with this, if you prefer that to pen, paper and calculator! Or create a spreadsheet to help you on this project.

Additional Resources: What Appliances Use the Most Electricity

How Many kWh Does a House Use Per Day?

One common question is, how many kWh does a house use per day? The amount of kWh you use will depend on:

  • How big your residence is (square footage)
  • The age of your home (which impacts your insulation, roofing materials and type of window)
  • The number of people living there
  • The type, number and age of appliances
  • How you heat or cool your home
  • Whether you have a pool
  • The climate you live in

According to the EIA, in 2021, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential home customer was 10,632 kilowatt hours (kWh), an average of 886 kWh per month. That means the average household electricity consumption kWh per day is 29.5 kWh (886 kWh / 30 days).

Customers in some areas, like Texas, consume even more. The average annual household electricity consumption for a Texas home is 14,112 kWh. That’s 36% higher than the national average. Find out more about the average electricity bill in Texas with our article on that topic!

Other Measures of Electricity: Amps, Ohms, Volts and Megawatts

Watts, kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are the measures of electricity you most commonly hear in US households. Here are some other common measures of electricity:

  • Amp: an amp, short for ampere, is one unit of constant electrical current
  • Volts: a volt (V) is a unit of electrical potential. Voltage is the potential for energy to move.
  • Ohms: a measure of electrical resistance.
  • Watts: a watt is a measure of power consumption.