Electricity, it’s the power that moves the world. It is truly such a modern-day marvel and it literally lights up our lives. The world would not be where it is today without the discovery of electricity, and the harnessing of its power. 

It’s been some time now since the discovery of electricity and the world has learned a lot more about this awesome power than anyone ever knew was possible. Yet there is so much left to learn. As with most things in life the more you learn about it the more questions that you have, and this is no different. 

Why does anyone want to learn about electricity? What do you gain from it, and what specifically should you know? There are more questions than there are answers but for now, you can focus on one thing in particular. Kilowatts, specifically kilowatts per hour. This is important because it is a measurement by which electricity usage is compared.

There are many reasons why you would want to know not only what kilowatts are, but how much you are using and or producing especially when it comes to solar energy. So today you will find out exactly what these things are and how to calculate how many kilowatt-hours you use.

More and more people are learning that they need to know what these things are and are discovering that it might be harder to figure out than they initially thought. But have no fear! This shall be a trusty guide in exactly what you need. 

What is a Kilowatt?

A kilowatt, much like a calorie, it is a measure of an energy unit. One kilowatt is equal to one thousand watts, which is a smaller unit of measurement for electricity. The standard unit of measurement. That’s it, pretty simple in fact. 

But what kilowatts can do is an entirely different story, and keeping tabs on that can be is very important. 

A kilowatt-hour is how many kilowatts are run through within the span of sixty minutes. This is how the electrical levels of appliances work. An appliance will have a wattage on it, and it will operate within said wattage. Again, one kilowatt is a thousand watts. 

Why do you want to know?

Now you might be asking yourself, why does any of this matter? Why should you care what a kilowatt is or how to measure it? Well, it turns out that they are very important to how electricity, and thus almost everything else works. If you are someone in the business of electricity or say solar in particular you’re going to really want to pay attention to this part. This is for you. 

Estimating your Electric Bill:

One way in which finding out why the kilowatt is important, is when it comes to figuring out how much your electric bill might be. This is important in budgeting. Basing on finding the wattage of each electrical item in your house, you can find out how many kilowatts each device is using and thus the kWh. Or kilowatts per hour. 

Using that you can find out how much electricity each item using each hour, day, week, and even year. This can come in handy when its time to pay those pesky bills. It is never a bad thing to know where your money is going to either. 

On top of that, you can use this knowledge to save money by using certain items less during certain times of the day and evening. When getting solar panels, one must know how much they need to cover the resources that they are trying to acquire. 

Solar Panels: 

There are those of us who are especially interested in wattage, kilowatts, and energy output, and most of those people are in the solar business. Knowing how much electricity is going in and coming out of either a home system or an industrial one is something of the utmost importance in the business  

Not knowing these figures makes it very difficult to make certain predictions that these businesses rely on to make their financial decisions. 

In order to know how many solar panels one might need for a certain job, you are going to need to evaluate how much electricity is being used and or is needed. Without knowing that you cannot provide a system that will cover all of the needs of the customer. 

Now how do you find out?

Since we have now determined why you want to know your kWh you may be wondering how you do it! We will give a quick overview as it can get a little detailed. Basically, you find out what the wattage is, which can be found on a little sticker on the side or bottom of the device. 

You then do some math and you convert watts to kilowatts and then you can figure out your kilowatts per hour usage. And there you have it! Easy. 

Conclusions:

While there is still just so much to learn about electricity, how it works and how it is measured, hopefully now you have a much better understanding. For many people, this information may not matter, but to others, it can be crucial. 

As you explore the world of kilowatts you come to find that you can learn to do common household chores as well as complex solar installations. Learning how much power is going into a system, and coming out, and how much is needed to provide adequate resources is a very important thing to know. 

Knowing not only why you should learn about kilowatt-hour usage but how to do it as well is key in controlling your electric consumption and output. There is always the risk of so much waste if we do not properly regulate this system. 

Using what you’ve learned here can help you with everything from measuring how much your electric bill might be, to learning how much energy you use in your home so you can make the switch to solar panels to power your home if you want. No matter how you use the information, it’s good to know and will be extremely handy to use in the future.