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kWandkWhExplainedUnderstand&ConvertBetweenPowerandEnergy

kWandkWhExplained
Alotofpeople,energyprofessionalsincluded,don'tfullyunderstandthedifferencebetweenkWandkWh.Ifyouare
oneofthem,fearnot,thisarticleshouldsetyoustraight!

Energycalculations,andenergysaving,becomemucheasierwhenyouunderstandthe
differencebetweenakWandakWh.
Ifyou'reworkingwithenergyonaregularbasis,andyoudon'tfullyunderstandthedifferencebetweenakWanda
kWh,wepromiseyouthattaking20minutesorsotofullyunderstandtheconceptsexplainedinthisarticlewillsave
youmanyheadachesinthefuture.Quitelikelyitwillsaveyousomeembarrassmentatsomepointtoo,asyou'llbe
muchlesslikelytomakeembarrassingcalculationerrors.
(Ifatanypointyou'dliketothankusforourhelpinreducingheadachesandembarrassment,pleasepointyour
colleaguesandwebsitevisitorstowardsthisarticlesothatitcanhelpthemtoo.Or,ifyoufindituseful,youcould
buyorrecommendourEnergyLenssoftwarewereallyappreciatethecustomersthatkeepusinbusiness.)
Anyway,that'smorethanenoughpreamble...Let'sgettoit...
WhatisthedifferencebetweenakWandakWh?
Well,thedifferenceisreallyverysimple.Thoughitonlyseemssimpleafteryouunderstandit.

kWhisameasureofenergy,whilstkWisameasureofpower...
OK,butalotofpeopledon'treallyunderstandthedifferencebetweenenergyandpowereither...Solet'sstartatthe
beginning:

Whatisenergy?
Energyisameasureofhowmuchfueliscontainedwithinsomething,orusedby
somethingoveraspecificperiodoftime.
ThekWhisaunitofenergy.
(Aphysicistmightthrowtheirarmsupindisgustathowwe'veoversimplifiedoneofthefundamentalsofthe
universe.Butfortunatelywe'renotwritingthisforphysicists...)
Thekilowatthour(kWh)isaunitofenergy...TheCalorieisaunitofenergy...Andthejoule(J)isaunitofenergy...
Andthesearen'ttheonlyunitsofenergythere'stheBTU,thewatthour(Wh),thetherm,andplentyofobscure
unitsthatyou'reunlikelytohaveheardof.
It'sabitlikehowyoucanmeasuredistanceinunitsoffeet,metres,miles,kmandsoon.Thedistancebetween
NewYorkandLondonisfixed,butyoucanexpressthatdistanceas3,459miles,or5,567km,or18,265,315feet
etc.Similarly,youcanexpressameasureofenergyinjoules,orCalories,orkWh,orBTUetc.
Whenpeopletalkaboutaparticularbiscuitcontaining172Calories,they'retalkingabouttheamountofenergy
containedwithinthatbiscuit.172Caloriesisequivalenttoaround0.2kWh.
Energycanchangeform.Wecouldeatthebiscuittoprovideuswithenergy.Orwecouldburnthebiscuitandturnit
intoheatenergy.Giventherightequipmentwecouldturntheheatenergyfromtheburningbiscuitintoelectrical
energytorunlightsandfansandsoon.Someenergywouldbewastedintheconversionprocess,butitshouldbe
possibletogetthatburningbiscuittorunalightbulbforatleastafewseconds.
Probablythebestoptionwouldbetoeatthebiscuit,buthopefullyyougetthegeneralideathebiscuitcontains
energythatcanbeconvertedintodifferentforms...
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kWandkWhExplainedUnderstand&ConvertBetweenPowerandEnergy

Electricityandotherfuelssupplyenergyinaformthatwecanusetoruntheequipmentin
ourbuildings.
Ourbiscuitscontainacertainamountofenergy172Caloriesor0.2kWhperbiscuit.Butbiscuitenergyisnotina
formthatwecaneasilyusetoruntheequipmentinourbuildings...
However,wecaneasilymakeuseofelectricity.And,providedwe'vegotagasoroilburner,wecaneasilymake
useofgasoroil.Oneformofenergycomesthroughwires(isn'telectricityclever?!),andotherscomeasgases,
liquids,orsolidsthatweburn(toturnintoheat).Attheendofthedayit'salljustusableenergyindifferentforms.
WecanexpressquantitiesoftheseformsofenergyintermsofkWh.WebuyorgeneratethekWhofenergy,and
weuseittofueltheequipmentinourbuildings.
Therelationshipbetweenenergyconsumption(kWh)andtime
Atypicalbuildingusesmoreenergyoverlongperiodsoftimethanitdoesovershortperiodsoftime:
OnFebruary16th2010abuildingmighthaveused95kWh.
OvertheweekstartingApril12th2010itmighthaveused550kWh.
FromJanuary1st2009toDecember31st2009itmighthaveused31,250kWh.
Giventhethreefiguresabove,wecaneasilyseethatthebuildingusedmoreenergyoverthecourseof2009thanit
didonFebruary16th2010.Nosurprisesthere.
However,wecan'timmediatelycomparetheefficiencyofthebuildingovereachofthoseperiods.IfakWhfigure
coversaday,wecanonlycompareitfairlywithotherkWhfiguresthatcoveraday.IfakWhfigurecoversaweek,
wecanonlyfairlycompareitwithotherkWhfiguresthatcoveraweek.
IfwehavethekWhfromFebruaryandthekWhfromMarch,wecan'treallycomparethetwofiguresfairly,because
Februaryistypically28dayslong,whilstMarchis31dayslong.Thisarticleexplainsmoreabouttheproblemsthat
ariseifyoucomparethekWhusedinonemonthwiththekWhusedinthenext.
EnergyconsumptionexpressedintermsofkWhdoesn'toftenmeanmuchunlessyoualsoknowthelengthofthe
periodthatthekWhweremeasuredover.Andit'sdifficulttomakefaircomparisonsbetweenkWhfiguresunless
theyareallfromperiodsofexactlythesamelength.Figuresexpressedintermsofpower(e.g.kW)makemany
thingsmorestraightforward...

Whatispower?
Poweristherateatwhichenergyisgeneratedorused.
ThekWisaunitofpower.
(Strictlyspeakingenergyisn'tactuallygeneratedorused,it'sconvertedfromoneformintoanother.Likehowthe
energystoredinoilisconvertedintoheatwhenyouburnit.Andlikehowtheelectricitythatrunsafanisconverted
intothemotionofthefanblade(kineticenergy).Butthisisadistinctionthatpeoplegenerallydon'tworryabout
whenthey'restaringatanexcessiveenergybillandwonderinghowtheycan"use"lessenergy.)
Sopowerisameasureofhowfastsomethingisgeneratingorusingenergy.Thehigherabuilding'skW,thefaster
thatbuildingisusingenergy.
Joulespersecond(J/s)isanice,clearunitofpower.Joulespersecondmakesitobviousthatpoweristherateat
whichenergyisbeinggeneratedorused.It'slikehowmilesperhourmakesitobviousthatspeedistherateat
whichdistanceisbeingtravelled.
Thewatt(W)isanotherunitofpower.Itdoesn'tmakeitquitesoobviouswhatpowermeans.Butthewattisactually
justanothernameforJoulespersecond.J/sandWarethesamething.Justsomebrightsparkdecidedthat
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kWandkWhExplainedUnderstand&ConvertBetweenPowerandEnergy

equationsandwhatnotwouldbesimplerifpowerhaditsownunit(insteadofbeingexpressed
usingunitsofenergyandtimetogether).AndtheynamedthisunitafterJamesWatt,the
Scottishinventorwhohadanimportanthandinthedevelopmentofthesteamengine.
So,joulespersecond(J/s)isameasureofpower...Thewatt(W)isameasureofpower...
Andthekilowatt(kW)isameasureofpowertoo(onekWbeing1000watts).
Thingsthat"generatepower"
Itemsofequipmentlikeboilers,electricitygenerators,andwindturbines,takeenergyinone
form(e.g.gasoroilorwind)andturnitintoanother(e.g.heatorelectricity).

JamesWatt

There'salimittohowmuchusefulstuffthesethingscangenerate,andthatisexpressedastherateatwhichthey
cangenerateenergy.Whichis,bydefinition,theirpower.
Considera10kWwindturbine...Providedithastheoptimumlevelofwind(whichprobablydoesn'thappennearlyas
oftenasitsownerwouldlike),itcangenerate10kWofpower.
Howlongdoesittaketogenerate10kW...?Bzzz!No!Wrongquestion!That'saquestionthatwouldonlybeasked
bysomebodythatdidn'tunderstandwhatpowerwas.It'sabitlikeasking"howlongdoesittaketotravel10miles
perhour?"Itmakesnosense.
10kWistherateatwhichthewindturbinecangenerateenergy,nottheamountofenergythatitcangenerateina
certainperiodoftime.Thetwoarecloselyconnected,butwe'llgettothatshortly.
Thingsthat"usepower"
Itemsofelectricalequipmentlikelightbulbs,computers,andfans,takeenergyintheformofelectricity,anduseit
todousefulthingsforus.Reallythey'reconvertingtheenergyintootherforms(heat,motionetc.),butwesaythat
they're"using"itbecausewedon'treallycareaboutwhatexactlyishappeningtoit,wejustwantourequipmentto
workwhenweswitchitonandstopwhenweswitchitoff.
Therateatwhichthesethingsuseenergyistheirpower.Or,dependingonthething,andthepersonyou'retalking
to,youmighthearitcalledtheir"load"ortheir"demand",oryoumightjusthearitreferredtointermsofaWorkW
value.
Lightbulbsareasimpleexample:ifyouhavea100Wlightbulbyouknowthatitwilluse100Wofpowerwhenit's
running(100Wofpowerbeingthesameas0.1kWofpower).Thewattsaren'taffectedbyhowlongthe100Wlight
bulbisrunningfor...Asecond,anhour,adaynodifferencesolongasit'sswitchedonitwillbeusing100Wof
power.Ifit'snotswitchedonitwon'tbeusinganypower(i.e.0W).
Someequipmentismorecomplicated.Consideralaptop:atanyoneinstantitmightbeusing50Wofpower,or30
Wofpower,or43Wofpower,oranysimilarsuchvalue.Itdependsonwhatit'sdoingifit'ssittingtheredoing
nothingit'llprobablyuselesspowerthanifyou'rehammeringawayonanExcelspreadsheet,listeningtosome
music,andburningaDVD,allatthesametime.
Wemakeadistinctionbetweeninstantaneouspowerandaveragepower:
Instantaneouspower
Theinstantaneouspower(orinstantaneousdemand,orinstantaneousload)isthepowerthatsomethingisusing(or
generating)atanyonemomentintime.Putyourlaptoponstandbyanditsinstantaneouspowerwilldrop
immediately.Bringitbacktolifeanditsinstantaneouspowerwillriseimmediately.
If,atanyparticularmoment,everythinginanofficebuildingisswitchedon,thatofficebuildingmightbeusing42
kWofpower.That's42kWofinstantaneouspower.If,atanyparticularmoment,everythingintheofficebuildingis
switchedoff,thatbuildingshouldbeusing0kWofpower.That's0kWofinstantaneouspower.
Theinstantaneouspowerofmostbuildingsvariesconstantly.Peopleareconstantlyswitchingthingsonandoff,and
manyitemsofequipmentwithinthebuildinghaveinstantaneouspowerthatisconstantlychangingtoo.
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kWandkWhExplainedUnderstand&ConvertBetweenPowerandEnergy

Averagepower
Theaveragepowerrepresentsthepowerthatsomethingusesorgenerates,onaverage:
overaspecificperiodoftime(e.g.yesterday)or
overmultipleperiodsoftime(e.g.acrossalltheweekendsonrecord)or
throughoutacertaintypeofoperation(e.g.typicallaptopusage,ortypicalbuildingusageMondaytoFriday
09:00to17:00,ortypicalefficiencyforsomethingthat'sgeneratingpower).
Rememberourexampleofanofficebuildingthatuses42kWofpowerwheneverything'sswitchedon,and0kWof
powerwheneverything'sswitchedoff?If,onaverage,halfthethingsintheofficebuildingareswitchedon,andhalf
areswitchedoff,thentheaveragepowerwillbearound21kWoverall(21kWbeinghalfof42kW).
Ormaybethat'sjusttheaveragepoweroftheofficebuildingonweekdays.Onweekends,whenpeopleareathome,
andmostequipmentinthebuildingisswitchedoff,theaveragepowermightbelower,maybe5or10kW.

Averagepowerenablesyouthinkofcomplicatedthings,likebuildings,asiftheywere
simplethings,likelightbulbs...
Theinstantaneouspowerofatypicalbuildingvariesallthetime.Ifyoutrytomonitorinstantaneouspoweryouget
lostinthenoise.Andfiguresofenergyconsumptionaremeaninglessunlessyouknowthelengthoftheperiodsthat
theyweremeasuredover.Butaveragepowerfiguressmoothouttheconstantfluctuationsofinstantaneouspower,
andmakeitpossibletocomparetheefficiencyofdifferentperiods,likeforlike,withoutworryingabouthowlong
thoseperiodswere.Forexample:
Thebuildingused41kW(onaverage)acrossthewholeoflastweek.
Thebuildingused19kW(onaverage)acrossalltheSaturdaysandSundayssinceMarch2009.(Wedon'tneed
tocarehowmanySaturdaysandSundaysthereweresinceMarch2009.)
Thebuildingused38kW(onaverage)between09:00and17:00on3rdMay2010.That'sdoubletheaverage
kWofatypicalweekend,andthat'sbadbecause3rdMaywasabankholidayandthebuildingwasclosed.
YoucaneasilyusetheseaveragekWfigurestocomparetheenergyconsumptionofdifferentperiodsandeven
differentbuildings(weusetheterm"energyconsumption"looselybecausereallywe'retalkingaboutaveragepower,
notenergy).It'sabitlikecomparingthefuelconsumptionofcars:
Onlongjourneysmycardoesanaverageof45milespergallon.Mybrother'scardoesanaverageof41.
Aroundtownmycardoesanaverageof32milespergallon.Mybrother'scardoesanaverageof29.
Theseaveragempgfigureswouldtypicallybecalculatedacrossmultipledifferentjourneys,eachcoveringdifferent
distances...Butyoucancomparethefigureslikeforlike,withoutworryingaboutthedetailsofthespecificjourneys
thattheywerecalculatedfrom.Averagepowerworksinthesameway,butwithenergyinsteadofdistance.

Averagepower,typicallymeasuredinkW,isagreatwaytolookattheenergyusage*ofa
building.InmanywaysaveragekWfiguresareeasiertoworkwiththankWhfigures.
*Inthisinstance"energyusage"referstotherateatwhichtheenergyisused(i.e.power).Toremoveambiguitywe

mightcallit"averagepower",or"load",or"demand"."Energyusage"and"energyconsumption"aresomewhat
loosetermsthatcanbeusedtorefertotherateofenergyusage(e.g.10kW)orthetotalamountofenergyused
overaspecifiedperiod(e.g.240kWhonFeb21st2010).
ThebeautyofaveragekWfiguresisthatyoucancomparethemfairlyinaninstant.Thelengthofthetimeperiod
doesn'treallymatter.SoyoucanlookattheaveragekWfiguresfrom15minuteintervaldataandcomparethem
directlywiththeaveragekWfiguresfrom60minutedataorfromhalfhourlydata.Oryoucaninstantlycomparethe
averagekWfromlastmonthwiththeaveragekWfromyesterdayandtheaveragekWfromthewholeoflastyear.If
thesewerekWhfigures,thefactthattheycomefromperiodsofdifferentlengthwouldmeanthatyou'dneedto
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normalizethembeforeyoucouldcomparethemfairly.kWfigurescomereadynormalized.
Differentnamesforpower"load","demand"etc.
Peopleoftenrefertopowerasthe"load"orthe"demand".Soyoumighthearaveragepowerreferredtoas"average
load",or"averagedemand".
Whilst"power"canrefertothepowerthatsomethingisusingorgenerating,"load"and"demand"onlyeverreferto
thepowerthatsomethingisusing.Youmighthearthepowerthatsomethingisgenerating,orcangenerate,referred
toasits"output".
Peoplesometimesusetheword"mean"inplaceof"average",soyoumightalsohearof"meanpower",or"mean
load",or"meandemand",or"meankW".
Andpeopleoftendon'tmakethedistinctionbetweenaveragepowerandinstantaneouspower.Youcanaskthemto
clarify,butitcanbealittleembarrassingiftheydon'tunderstandthedistinctioninthefirstplace...Fortunately,
whenyouhearsomeonetalkingabout"power",or"load",or"demand",or"kW",youcanusuallytellfromthe
contextwhetherthey'retalkingaboutaverageorinstantaneousfigures.

Therelationshipbetweenenergyandpower
Therelationshipbetweenenergyandpowerisalotliketherelationshipbetweendistanceandspeed:
Energyislikedistance.Theamountofenergythatyouusedoveraspecificperiodoftimeislikethedistance
thatyoutravelledoveraspecificperiodoftime.(e.g.whendrivingtoworkyoutravelled2milesbetween08:04
and08:57horriblehorribletraffic!)
Powerislikespeed.Yourinstantaneouspowerislikeyourspeedataspecificinstantintime(e.g.rightnow).
Youraveragepoweroveraspecificperiodoftimeislikeyouraveragespeedoveraspecificperiodoftime.
(e.g.whendrivingtoworkyoutravelledatanaveragespeedof2.26mphyoumightaswellhavewalked...)
Bothdistanceandspeedareusefulmeasures.Andbotharecloselyrelated.Sometimesitmakessensetotalkin
termsofdistance,andsometimesitmakessensetotalkintermsofspeed.It'sthesameforenergyandpower
youneedboth,butusuallyonemakesmoresensethantheother.
Newbiestoenergyoftentrytouseenergy(kWh)foreverything(sometimescallingitkWbyaccident),butmore
experiencedfolkstendtousepower(kW)alotmore.
Theequationconnectingenergyandpower
Followingisthefundamentalequationthatconnectsenergyandpower.Youmightrememberitfromschool:
energy=power*time

WecanexpressthisequationintermsofkW,kWh,andhours(h):
kWh=kW*h
Where:
kWhistheenergy
kWisthepower
histhetimeinhours

Youmightalsorememberfromschoolthatequationscanberearranged:
power=energy
time
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or:
kW=kWh
h

Also:
time=energy
power

or:
h=kWh
kW

Givenavalueforanytwoofthefollowing:averagepower(kW),totalenergy(kWh),hours(h),youshouldbeableto
usetheformulaeabovetocalculatethevalueofthethird.
Youshouldalsobeabletoconvertbetweenotherunitsofenergy,power,andtime,giventhat:
15minutesis0.25hours,30minutesis0.5hours,adayis24hours,aweekis24*7hoursetc
akWis1000WandaWis0.001kW
akWhis1000WhandaWhis0.001kWh
aMW(megawatt)is1000kWandakWis0.001MW
aMWh(megawatthour)is1000kWhandakWhis0.001MWhand
anyotherconversionsbetweenunitsthatmeasurethesamething(likedifferentunitsofenergy,ordifferent
unitsofpower,ordifferentunitsoftime)arewidelyavailableonline.
OurEnergyLenssoftwaredoesalotoftheconversionsforyouautomatically.Onceyou'veloadedsomedatainto
EnergyLensyoucaneasilyplotchartsandcalculatefiguresinunitsofkWh(energy)orinunitsofkW(average
power),oramixtureofboth.It'sjustaquestionofchoosingtheunitsyouwantbeforeyouclickoneofthebuttons
tocreateachartortable.

Theimportanceofknowingtheunitsofyoursourcedata
Whenyou'reworkingwithrecordsofenergyconsumption,it'scriticalthatyouknowwhatunitsthey'rein.Otherwise
allyourcalculatedfigurescaneasilycomeoutwrong.
Thinkaboutit:ifyouhave30minuteintervaldatawithreadingsinkWh,butyoutreatthosereadingsasiftheyare
inkW(averagekW,strictlyspeaking),everythingthatyoucalculatefurtheronwillbeoutbyafactorof2:
1kWhovera30minuteperiod=1kWh
1kWovera30minuteperiod=1*0.5=0.5kWh(usingkWh=kW*h,and30mins=0.5hours)
i.e.ifyoursourcedatahasreadingsinkWhbutyoutreatthemasiftheyareinkW,everythingthatyoucalculate
fromthatpointonwillbeworkingontheassumptionthatyourenergyconsumptionishalfwhatitreallyis.
Similarly,ifyoursource30minutedatahasreadingsinkW,andyouerroneouslytreatthosereadingsaskWh,
everythingthatyoucalculatefurtheronwillbetwicewhatitshouldbe.
Ifyou'reusing15minutedata,gettingtheunitsofthesourcedatawrongcaneasilymakeallyourcalculationsout
byafactorof4.(Thefactorof4comesfromthefactthattherearefour15minuteperiodsinanhour.)
Ifyou'reusingEnergyLensforyourdataanalysis,youneedtomakesuretospecifytheunitscorrectlywhenyou
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loadthedataintoEnergyLens.Providedthedataisloadedwiththerightunits,youcanusewhateverunitsyoulike
foryouranalysisEnergyLenswilltakecareofalltheconversionscorrectly.Theonlyrequirementisthatyou
specifythecorrectunitsatthedataloadingstage.

Calculatingcost
Atthesimplestlevelcostisusuallyexpressedintermsof/kWhor$/kWhor/kWhorp/kWhorc/kWh(or
whateverunitofcurrencyyouhaveperkWh).ItmakessensethatcostshouldbecalculatedperkWh(notperkW),
becausecostisacumulativethingthemoreenergyyouuse,themoreitcosts.
Let'spretendwe'reworkingin/kWh...Toworkoutthetotalcostoveraspecificperiod,calculatethetotalnumber
ofkWhoverthatperiod,andmultiplythatbythe/kWh.Thatwillgiveyouthetotalcostin.Simple.
However,inreality,costcalculationsareusuallymorecomplicated:
Priceschangeovertime.Onemonthyou'repayingx/kWh,thenextmonthyou'repayingy/kWh.
Unfortunatelyyisusuallygreaterthanx,asenergypricestypicallyriseovertime.
Electricitycostscandependonthetimeoftheday,thedayoftheweek,andthetimeoftheyear.Energy
suppliers/utilitiescomeupwithcomplicatedtariffstodefinetheserules.Justlikeprices,tariffstructurescan
alsochangeovertime.
Electricitycostscanalsodependonthemaximumdemand,orpeakload,acrossaperiod.Forexample,given
halfhourlydataforamonth,thepeakloadormaximumdemandcouldbedefinedasthehalfhourperiodthat
hadthehighestaveragekW.Thehigherthepeakload,thehigherthepeakloadcharge(ormaximumdemand
charge).
ElectricitytariffsoftenchargedifferentratesdependingonhowmanykWhyouuse.Forexample,thefirst100
kWhmightcostx/kWh,thenextmightcosty/kWh.
Thereareoftenstandingchargesregularfixedfeesthataren'trelatedtohowmuchenergyyouuse.
Allinall,ifyou'relookingtoreduceenergyconsumptionit'susuallymucheasiertospendmostofyourtimeworking
inunitsofkWandkWh.Theoccasionalcostfigurecanbeusefulforshowingtonontechnicalfolks(everyone
understandspoundsandpence,dollarsandcents),butcostfiguresaren'tverygoodforaccurate,indepthanalysis
ofenergyusagepatterns(e.g.tofindopportunitiestosaveenergyandtotrackprogressatdoingso).

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