Kilowatt-hour

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The kilowatt-hour (symbol: kW·h) is a unit for measuring energy. It corresponds to one kilowatt (kW) of power being used over a period of one hour.

The kilowatt-hour is commonly used for electrical energy, since it may be easier to understand in a practical context than the proper SI unit for energy, the joule, which is a watt-second (W·s). The joule is a comparatively small unit, making numbers quite large.

1 kW·h = 3,600,000 joules.

The kilowatt-hour is a commonly used unit of billing for electric utility companies, although many companies are moving to use the unit megajoule(MJ) instead.

As such, a kilowatt-hour meter (electricity meter) is installed in most buildings in the world.

In the UK, the kilowatt-hour is commonly referred to by consumers and electricity retailers as the unit (as in "we were billed for 300 units of electricity").

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