How to Convert Watts to Units of Electricity

To convert watts to units of electricity, you need to understand a few basic concepts. Watts measure power, while the units of electricity, often referred to as kilowatt-hours (kWh), measure energy. The conversion involves time, as power over time gives energy.

Here’s the formula you can use:

Energy (kWh) = Power (Watts) × Time (hours) / 1000

For instance, if you have a device that operates at 100 watts and you want to know how much energy it consumes in an hour, you would calculate it as follows:

Energy = 100 Watts × 1 hour / 1000 = 0.1 kWh

So, if you run a 100-watt light bulb for one hour, it consumes 0.1 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy. Remember to convert the time into hours and adjust the watts to kilowatts by dividing by 1000 when using this formula.