What is a Kilowatt-Hour? kWh Explained.

When you receive your electric bill, do you wonder how your energy use is measured? The Wire is here to help!  Electricity is measured by kilowatt-hours (kWh). Understanding what a kilowatt-hour is can help you read your electric bill. 

What's a Watt?

A watt is a unit of power. In technical terms, a watt is a current of one ampere pushed by a voltage of one volt: volts × amps = watts.

Kilo-What?

"Kilo" is from the Greek, meaning "thousand." Just like a kilometer is 1,000 meters, a kilowatt is 1,000 watts of power. A megawatt is equal to 1,000 kilowatts – or 1 million watts.

'Watt" does it all mean?

Energy is power generated over time.  Electricity companies base their services on kilowatt-hours, which represent 1,000 watts of electrical power over one hour.  Kilowatt-hours are a measurement of energy, and you'll see them abbreviated as kWh (big W, and little k and h).

The average U.S. household consumes about 900 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity monthly, totaling approximately 10,800 kWh annually. This means around 30 kWh are used each day.

On average, a Canadian household consumes about 11,135 kWh of electricity each year. This equates to approximately 928 kWh per month or around 30.5 kWh per day. However, these numbers can vary depending on factors such as household size, location, and the season.

If you are curious, you can often determine the amount of wattage an appliance uses simply by reading the label on your household appliance to see if it is energy efficient.  If it is not listed on the label, you can calculate the kilowatts yourself (here is a step-by-step guide for estimating).