All you need to know about kWh

What Is A Kilowatt Hour?

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James Longley

Managing Director

min read

If you want to save money on your energy bills, then it’s important to know how much electricity and gas you’re using, and how your energy provider bills you for this. This means it pays to understand how many of kilowatt hours (kWh) your appliances use and how much your supplier charges you for them. But, first of all, what is a kilowatt hour and what does kilowatt hour mean? In this guide, we explore each of these topics to give you a greater understanding of how you’re charged for the power you consume.

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What does kilowatt hour mean?

So, what does kilowatt hour mean? A kilowatt hour, or kWh, is how energy is measured and is commonly used as a billing unit for the energy delivered to customer by

How much is a kilowatt hour? A kilowatt hour is equal to 1,000 watts of energy used over the course of an hour. Your electricity or gas provider uses this unit of energy to calculate how much they should charge you for the power your home or business consumes.

Different makes and models of appliances use varying levels of energy but, to give you a rough idea of how much energy a kilowatt hour represents, it may be approximately equivalent to boiling a kettle 10 times or spending two days on your laptop.

You can be much more precise than this, however. It’s straightforward enough to work out how many kilowatt hours specific electrical devices use. Most of the appliances you find in your home or workplace are rated in watts. This information should be provided on the product label. If you can’t find it there, check the owner’s manual. Once you have the energy rating in watts, convert it into kilowatts by dividing it by 1,000 and then multiply this figure by the number of hours you use the device for. For example, if a desktop computer has a power rating of 100 watts and you use it on average for eight hours a day, it will consume 0.8kWh of electricity per day.

How to read kilowatt hour on an electric bill

You will be able to find the number of kilowatt hours your property has consumed in your energy bills. This figure should be prominently displayed on each bill. Look out for it in the ‘usage’ section. Your electricity or gas supplier will clearly set out how many kilowatt hours you have used and how much you are paying per kilowatt hour.

Seeing this information and understanding exactly what it relates to can be a good incentive to find ways to lower your energy usage and cut your gas and electricity bills. For example, you can see how your home or business energy usage compares to the national average. If your consumption is greater than average, you may want to look for ways to save power. This could involve replacing old devices with more efficient models and/or changing the way you use your appliances. For instance, you could get into the habit of switching electricals off rather than leaving them on standby when you’re not using them.

What is the average cost of a kilowatt hour?

It’s common to ask, ‘how much is a kilowatt hour?’ or ‘what is the average cost of a kilowatt hour?’, but there’s no set answer to this question. The amount you pay per kilowatt hour for gas and electricity will depend on a range of factors, including the type of energy plan you’re on, where you’re based, the payment method you use (for example, prepayment or credit) and – depending on your tariff – what time of the day or night you consumed the energy.

Since there’s no standard price for gas and electricity in the UK, the amount you pay per unit could vary significantly from your neighbour. However, it does pay to keep an eye on average prices. According to the Energy Saving Trust, the cost of electricity can be up to three times higher per kilowatt hour than gas. Currently, average electricity prices are around 15p per kilowatt hour, while gas is around 4p per kilowatt hour. As touched on previously, though, what represents a good deal for you will depend on a whole host of different factors. This means it’s useful to look at what similar households or businesses are paying for their energy.

Should I consider switching?

One of the benefits of having a clear understanding of what a kilowatt hour is, how many of these units you’re using, and what you’re being charged for them, is that it makes it much easier to know if you’re getting a good deal from your energy supplier.

The UK has an open energy market, so there are lots of options when it comes to electricity and gas tariffs, so it pays to shop around for the best deal. To save yourself time and effort, you can turn to an energy comparison and switching specialist such as Utility Bidder. We make it quick and simple to find competitive tariffs, and we can liaise with existing and new suppliers to take care of the switching process on your behalf.

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Case studies

We’re dedicated to helping businesses like yours save more on energy. That’s why we’ve put together a selection of case studies showcasing exactly what we have achieved for company’s similar to yours.

Haywards Heath

2021

Year Joined

£1905

Total Savings

Haywards Heath RFC enjoys a strong community presence in Haywards Heath, West Sussex where the club supports a senior rugby team, six youth sides and six mini sides. The Club was established in 1959 and boasts affiliations with the London and South East Division of England Rugby and Sussex Rugby.

HTC Corporation

2020

Year Joined

£14000

Total Savings

Founded in 2009, with a range of industry accolades to our name, Hayri recognised that Utility Bidder was a well-established and growing business and our five star Trustpilot reviews along with our size and longevity ensured HTC Europe had peace of mind.

“I was impressed with Utility Bidder from the start,” said Hayri. “Nothing was too much trouble for my account manager Rebecca Lau. Professionals recognise fellow professionals and it’s true that one doesn’t buy from a company, one buys from a person and Rebecca is a credit to Utility Bidder.

Robert Jones

2019

Year Joined

£150

Total Savings

Rob says that thanks to the competitive rates secured by Utility Bidder in his studio, it would be cheaper to live there than at home! “We pay about £30 a month for gas during the winter and around £25 a month for electricity – and that’s despite having a lot of energy-guzzling equipment such as studio lights and fan heaters. Our energy bills at home are far more expensive!”

Robert Jones Photography

Sharda Care

2014

Year Joined

£20,000

Total Savings

Sharda Care is contacted frequently by companies within the energy industry, but the desire to work with Utility Bidder was motivated by our bill validation service (and that they hadn’t checked their VAT). Our team have an experienced background in working with businesses of this size and will instinctively scrutinise all utilities to investigate potential savings.

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Cablecraft Limited

2017

Year Joined

£170,000

Total Savings

Utility Bidder saves thousands of pounds on energy expenditure for Midlands business. Cable craft have been supplying cable identification, termination and management products throughout the world for over 20 years servicing a diverse range of industries.

Cable Craft

Thomson Hayes

2016

Year Joined

£2,000

Total Savings

Thomson Hayes retail has been established for 30 years and specialises in the design and manufacture of high-quality furniture, exhibition stands, museum and store fit-outs.

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