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When contemplating your energy bill, it's easy to zero in on the total balance and ignore the rest. But by looking at how many kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy you've used, you're better equipped to lower the cost of your bill and understand:
kWh stands for "kilowatt hour", a measure of energy consumption.
Kilowatt (kW) is a power unit, equal to 1,000 watts (the same unit your light bulbs use). We usually rate appliances in kilowatts: running an appliance rated at 1kW, such as an oven, for a single hour will consume one kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy. An appliance rated at just 10 watts, like a night light, would take 100 hours to consume the same amount of energy.
Energy retailers usually use kWh to measure your house's total power consumption. An average Australian household in South Australia, for example, consumes somewhere around 20kWh per day.
While the two look similar, a kW is a measure of power, while a kWh is a measure of energy. They are related, but not the same.
This distinction can be important for determining what power solar array you might need, for example. Let's say you're aiming to generate 20kWh of power each day to cover your energy needs. Sure, you could run an oversized 10kW system for two hours to meet this, but you could just as easily run a 5kW version for four hours if you have the sunlight, which will save you heaps in installation.
You can think of it like taking a road trip. The faster you go, the sooner you arrive – but if you have an extra hour or two, you can get there just the same at a slower speed.
Understanding kW and kWh can help you save energy in several ways:
Your energy bill will list your total energy usage in kWh. The energy retailer should also have a chart comparing your usage to other households in your area of varying sizes, such as a three-person household or a five-person household.
If you're using significantly more energy than other similarly sized households in your area, it's worth investigating why. You can find our tips for saving energy here.
Energy retailers charge you for your usage by the kWh. Lowering your power usage is one way of tackling high power bills, but another is shopping around for a better energy plan. You can use the Energy Finder to see what's available to you.
Note: You can use your bill details to get a more accurate estimate.
Image: Getty
Want to know if your business is paying too much for energy? We've analysed bills for power from SMEs across Australia.
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