Key Takeaways
- A watt (W) is the basic unit of measurement for electricity. A kilowatt (kW) is simply 1,000 watts.
- How many kilowatts you use per hour is known as kilowatt-hour (kWh). Your electric bill is based on how many kilowatt-hours you used in a billing cycle.
- The typical household uses 10,632 kWh of electricity annually, or 886 kWh monthly. Yours may use more or less depending on its size, how much you’re home, the time of year, and more.
- Easy ways to lower your consumption are to adjust your thermostat to seven to 10 degrees cooler or warmer when you’re not home, or plug electronics into a power strip that you turn off when not in use.
- Some green tech, like solar panels, costs more upfront but can save you more in energy expenses in the long run.
Have you ever wondered how your home’s energy usage is calculated on your energy bill?
You’ve probably seen kilowatts per hour or kWh on it, but maybe you’ve never thought about what it means. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know so that you can better understand your energy bill and how to save money on it.
What is a Kilowatt?
A kilowatt is simply 1,000 watts — much like the metric system, where 1 kilogram is the same as 1,000 grams. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) relates to 1,000 watts used over an hour.
A watt (W) is the basic unit of measurement for electricity. It measures the rate of energy transfer over a specific amount of time. It takes about 10 watts to power the typical LED lightbulb in your house.
How to Calculate a Kilowatt
To convert watts to kilowatts, divide the number of watts by 1,000. For example, 2,000 W ÷ 1,000 = 2 kW.
A trick to easily measure a Kilowatt (kW) is to move the decimal point three places to the left — 2,000 W becomes 2.000, or 2 kW.
How Much Electricity is in a Kilowatt?
While 1,000 of anything may sound like a lot, a single kilowatt of energy isn’t a large amount of electricity. With 1 kilowatt-hour, you have the energy needed to watch a television for 10 hours, run a vacuum for an hour, or use a computer for five to 10 hours.
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Kilowatt (kW) vs. Kilowatt-Hour (kWh)
A kilowatt refers to 1,000 watts, while a kilowatt-hour simply means 1,000 watts per hour. They measure different things. Kilowatts is a unit of power, and Kilowatt-hours (kWh) are a measure of energy used over a period of an hour. Kilowatt-hours are what energy companies use to calculate your electric bill.
How to Measure Kilowatt-Hours
Here’s how you determine your kilowatt-hours of energy: multiply the watts an item uses by the number of hours you use the item. Then divide that by 1,000 to get kWh.
For example, if you run a 10-watt LED lightbulb for an hour, you’ve used 10 watt-hours (Wh) or 0.010 kWh of energy (10Wh ÷ 1,000)
You can also look at your electric meter to see how much kWh you’re using daily, weekly, or monthly. The difference between one reading and the next is the amount of kWh you’ve used.
Below is an example of what a digital electric meter looks like. Older homes may still have analog electric meters where numerous small dials also show your total electricity usage in kilowatt-hours.
How do Kilowatts Translate to Energy Costs?
When you receive your electricity bill, your total balance is generally calculated from the total kWh of energy usage you had that month. It all starts with the number of watts your home uses — everything from those 10-watt LED bulbs to higher-watt appliances.
An Example of Your Energy Usage
For simplicity’s sake, let’s say you have the following electronic items in your homes:
- 20 10-watt (200 watts total) LED bulbs that run an average of eight hours a day
- A 100-watt television that runs about three hours a day
- A computer that uses 60 watts and runs eight hours a day
With the sample usage mentioned above, those electrical devices would use the following kWh of energy:
- The 20 LED lights would use 1,600 Wh (200 W x 8 hours = 1,600 Wh) or 1.6-kWh (1,600 Wh / 1,000 = 1.6 kWh) per day
- The television would use 300 Wh or 0.30 kWh per day
- The computer would use 480 Wh or 0.480 kWh per day
This would bring us to a total of 2.38 kWh daily. If you’re in a 30-day month, your electricity consumption for that month would be 71.4 kWh.
Calculating Your Energy Bill
Now it’s simply multiplying your kWh usage by your per-kWh electricity rate to get your energy bill. Nationwide, the average price for 1 kWh of energy for residential homes is 16.44 cents. Multiply that rate by your 71.4 kWh of electricity usage that month, and you’ll get $11.74 for using just those electronics.
Keep in mind, this is an extremely low number because we only accounted for a few appliances. In reality, the number of kilowatt-hours you consume will likely be far higher, as you probably also run things like a microwave, air conditioner, heater, and other gadgets.
Remember, your energy supplier may have varying price structures. For instance, it might charge you a higher rate when electricity demand is at its highest. In this case, you must determine how many hours you used each electric device during and outside peak hours.
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How Many Kilowatts Does a House Use?
The typical house has an annual energy consumption of about 10,632 kWh, which amounts to 886 kWh monthly. You have numerous electrical appliances, light bulbs, and more in your home. They all draw power, so racking up kilowatts is easy.
Of course, household energy consumption can vary greatly from home to home and wattage demand. For example, a larger home may require more lighting, heating, and air conditioning, increasing energy demands. Or you could work from home, leading to more monthly energy consumption.
On the other hand, perhaps you focus on energy-saving practices at home. You stick to only the necessities to minimize your power consumption.
Whatever the case, the number of kilowatts you use and the cost of your energy bills will vary based on your lifestyle and energy plan.
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How to Reduce Electric Usage and Costs
Whether you’re looking to lower your electricity bill or use less power to reduce your carbon footprint, you have a range of options to help reduce the amount of electrical power you use. Let’s review six of these options.
1. Upgrade Power-Hungry Appliances
There are plenty of Energy Star upgrades you could make to improve the efficiency of your home, and there might even be some federal tax credits for doing so. Granted, upgrading has upfront costs, but replacing old appliances could be a great way to save over the long run.
2. Maintain Your Heater and Air Conditioner
Heating and cooling your home can account for 50% to 70% of your total energy costs, and a poorly maintained system can result in higher electric bills. This is why it’s critical to follow all the manufacturer’s recommended air conditioner maintenance, such as changing filters, cleaning the coils, and more.
3. Turn Off the Lights
It’s easy to walk into a room, flip on the lights, and leave without turning them off. Over time, this can add up to extra electricity costs.
Make a conscious effort always to turn that light off as you leave the room. If you habitually forget, buy motion-sensor light switches. They automatically turn off the lights when no movement is detected in a room.
4. Adjust Your Thermostat
It may seem like a small change, but periodic thermostat adjustments can significantly affect your power bill. According to the Department of Energy, you can save up to 10% on your annual power bills by turning your thermostat up or down seven to 10 degrees for eight hours a day in the summer and winter. [6]
When you head out to work in the morning, turn the thermostat up seven to 10 degrees in the summer or down the same amount in the winter. You can also make finer adjustments when you go to sleep or invest in a programmable thermostat that does this for you.
5. Unplug the Energy Vampires
Did you know that many electrical devices continue drawing power even when turned off? Over 50% of the energy used for electronics is consumed while turned off. These devices are known as energy vampires, and they can put a serious dent in your wallet.
If you have a device that uses a box- or brick-style plug, chances are it’s constantly drawing power despite the device being turned off. Common offenders include cable TV boxes, DVD players, video game consoles, and cell phone chargers.
You can plug these devices into power strips to make disconnecting them from the power grid quick and easy with just one flip of a switch.
6. Lean Into Green Tech
Installing green tech in your home can be as significant as putting in a whole-home solar power system that offsets most or all of your power consumption. However, it can also be something simpler, such as installing LED lights instead of incandescent lights or adding solar-powered attic ventilation fans, geothermal heating, or a solar water heater.
Some of these upgrades can be pricey, but local and federal incentives often exist to help absorb some of the cost. For example, through 2032, the federal government is giving a tax credit worth up to 30% of the installed value of a solar panel system. This incentive falls to 26% in 2033 and 22% in 2034, then expires in 2035.
Kilowatt Frequently Asked Questions
How many watts are in a Kilowatt?
There are 1,000 watts in a kilowatt. That’s enough power to run a dishwasher for about an hour or use a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours.
How many watts are in a kilowatt-hour?
A kilowatt-hour is the same as 1,000 watts used over an hour. For example, a 50-watt light bulb uses 50 watts of energy per hour, or 0.05 kWh (50 ÷ 1,000). Your total kilowatt-hour usage per billing cycle is multiplied by your energy plan’s electric rate to determine your energy bill.
Taking Charge of Your Energy Bill
Understanding how energy is measured and calculated gives you more control over your home energy usage and electric costs. If you’re using many more kilowatt hours than the average household, there could be room for improvement. Adjusting your thermostat while you’re out of the house or using power strips that you turn off at night are simple and cost-effective ways to reduce your energy usage and lower your electric bills.
If you’re looking to lower your energy bill further or want to switch to a greener electricity provider, Energy Savings can help. We leverage Texas’s deregulated electricity market to find you the lowest possible per-kWh billing rate, suppliers that use renewable energy (like wind or solar energy) or a combination of both.
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