When Tipmont talks about how much energy you use, you’ll often see the word “kilowatt-hour” or the letters “kWh.”
But what does that mean?
A kilowatt-hour is a way to measure how much electricity you use. It’s kind of like how you use gallons to measure water or miles to measure distance.
Kilowatts vs. Kilowatt-Hours
A kilowatt (kW) tells you how fast something uses electricity. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) tells you how much electricity has been used over time.
Think of it like this:
- A kilowatt is like how fast water is coming out of a faucet.
- A kilowatt-hour is like how much water has filled up a bucket.
An easy example
Let’s say you do hard physical work for eight hours straight. That’s kind of like using 0.5 kWh of energy.
If you work 40 hours in a week, that’s about 2.5 kWh of energy used.
How to calculate kWh
Power (kilowatts) × Time (hours) = Energy used (kWh)
For example:
If you charge an electric car using a 22-kilowatt charger for one hour, you use 22 kWh. If you charge it for three hours, you use 66 kWh.
Why time matters
Knowing how much electricity something uses is important, but so is knowing how long it’s being used.
If your air conditioner uses 10 kWh, is that 10 kWh every day? Every week? The time makes a big difference.
Think of a bucket and water:
- The speed the water pours in = power (kilowatts).
- The amount of water in the bucket = energy used (kWh).
The faster the water pours (more power), the quicker the bucket fills up (more energy used).
Calculating your energy costs
How this affects your bill
This is how Tipmont figures your electricity cost:
- Multiply how much power you use (in kilowatts) by how long you use it (in hours). That gives you the total kWh. Most Tipmont customers use around 1,000 kWh per month.
- Multiply how much power you use (in kilowatts) by how long you use it (in hours). That gives you the total kWh. Most Tipmont customers use around 1,000 kWh per month.
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