Kilowatt Hours to Watts (kWh to W) Conversion Calculator

What is Kilowatt Hours (kWh)?

Kilowatt-hours is a unit used to express energy consumption, particularly electrical energy. It is the amount of power (in kilowatts) electrical appliances consume or generate over a given period (in hours). In other words, one kilowatt-hour is the energy equivalent of a power consumption or production of one kilowatt over one hour.

Kilowatt-hours is also written as kWh.

What is Watts?

Watts is the unit for electrical power. It measures how much energy an electric circuit uses or produces per unit time (typically in hours).

Going by that definition, we can say one watt is equivalent to an energy use or production of one Wh (watt-hour) per one hour.

Watts may also be written as W.

How to Convert Kilowatt Hours to Watts (kWh to W)

kWh to Watts Formula

To convert kilowatt-hours to watts, we must convert kilowatts-hours to watt-hour first. Here’s the formula for that:

watt-hour = kilowatt-hours x 1000 (1)

Then to finally convert watt-hour to watts, we’ll divide watt-hours by hours:

watts = watt-hour ÷ hours (2)

We can compress the two formulas above into one. This way, we can do the conversion in a single step.

To merge the formulas, we’ll substitute watt-hour for kilowatt-hours x 1000 in (2):

watts = kilowatt-hours x 1000 ÷ hours (3)

So, we can change kilowatt-hours to watts by multiplying kilowatt-hours by 1000 then dividing by hours.

Watts to kWh Conversion Examples

Example 1

When you connect all your devices to your 1.2 kWh solar generator, the generator lasts for up to 6 hours. What is the total wattage of your devices?

Solving this is pretty straightforward since we know the values of kilowatt-hour and hour:

total wattage of the devices (watts) = 1.2 x 1000 ÷ 6

= 200 watts

Example 2

The energy usage of ceiling fan after 8 hours is 1.76 kWh. How much electricity will the same fan consume when it runs for 12 hours?

To estimate the energy use of the ceiling fan after 12 hours, we must convert kWh to watts first. After that, we’ll convert watts to kilowatt-hour using the new running period of the fan.

First, we calculate watts for the ceiling fan:

= 1.76 x 1000 ÷ 8

= 220 watts

Now, we determine its energy usage after 12 hours:

= 220 x 12 ÷ 1000

= 2.64 kWh

Example 3

A solar refrigerator runs for different durations on 4 different days. On the first and second day, it ran for 9 hours. On the third day, it ran for 12 hours, and on the fourth day, it ran for 7 hours.

Over the course of these 4 days, it consumed 8 kWh of energy. What was the power usage of the refrigerator over the 4 days?

To solve this, we’ll start by adding up the durations to get the total running time of the refrigerator:

total running time of the refrigerator = 9 + 9 + 12 + 7 = 37 hours

Now that we know the total runtime of the refrigerator, we can calculate power usage from the energy used:

= 8 x 1000 ÷ 37

= 216 W

Why Convert Kilowatt-Hours to Watts?

Estimating the Number of Solar Panels

If you’re looking to build a solar energy system, converting the total energy (in kilowatt-hours) to watts can help you estimate the number of solar panels you’ll need.

For instance, your house consumes 15,000 kWh of energy per year. That consumption equals an average of 15,000/365 = 41.09 kWh per day. If we convert 41.09 kWh per day to watts, the average daily power consumption of your devices would be 41.09 x 1000 ÷ 24 = 1712 watts.

With a power usage of 1712 watts, if one unit of the solar panel you intend to buy is rated 400W, you’ll need at least (1712/400 = 4.28) ≈ 5 units of solar panels.

Reducing Energy Usage

Converting energy (in kilowatt hours) to watts is also useful when trying to reduce energy consumption.

Say you’re trying to reduce your 24-hour electricity consumption by 2 kWh. If we convert 2 kWh over 24 hours to watts, we’ll get 83.33 watts.

Going by the result, you have to remove a total wattage of 83.33 watts from your load to drop our daily electricity usage by 2 kWh.

Estimating the Load You Can Use On Your Solar Battery

If you have a solar battery with a capacity of 1.3 kWh, and you intend to use this battery for 48 hours without having to recharge it, the total watts of appliances you can use on it would be:

= 1.3 x 1000 ÷ 48

= 27.08 W

The above is an example of how to estimate the load to use on your solar battery.

Kilowatt-Hours to Watts Conversion Chart

How to Convert Watts to Kilowatt-Hours (W to kWh)

We can do a watts to kilowatt-hours calculation by adjusting the kilowatt-hours to watts formula. All we have to do is make kilowatt-hours the subject of the formula.

If the formula for electrical power (watts) is:

watts = kilowatt-hours x 1000 ÷ hours

kilowatt-hours would be:

kilowatt-hours = watts x hours ÷ 1000

Converting watts to kilowatt-hour simply involves multiplying watts by hours then dividing by 1000.

Example

What is the energy used (in kilowatt-hour) by a 15W solar-powered television if it stays on for 4 hours?

energy used by the TV = 15 x 4 1000

= 0.06 kilowatt-hour

How to Convert Watt-Hours to Watts (Wh to W)

We can convert watt-hours to watts by dividing watt-hours by hours:

watts = watt-hours ÷ hours

Example

If all your solar appliances consume 500 watt-hours of energy over 8 hours when used together, what is their total power usage?

watts = 500 ÷ 8

= 62.5 W

How Many Kilowatt-Hours Does the Average U.S. Household Use Per Day?

The average U.S household uses 29 kWh per day. But this average can be as high as 39 kWh in states like Louisiana and as low as 17 kWh in Hawaii.

What Does One Kilowatt-Hour of Electrical Energy Cost?

A kilowatt-hour of electrical energy costs between 10 and 30 cents in the United States with Hawaii having the highest rates and Louisiana having the lowest.

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