Hey guys,

been chatting with a mate over the usual discussion relating to loadshedding, power usage, etc. The question came up, could one work out how much power you're using in a certain time frame, based on the Kw numbers shown on the meter.

The confusion is the different measurements of power. Watts, Kw, and kwh, etc. I'm trying work out how many watts I used between a specific time?

Example: If the meter says I have 10 units at 6:00 at night, and then next morning at 6:00 am, it shows 8 units, what is this telling me?

Did I use 2 thousand watts of electricity over 12 hours? or 2 thousand watts each hour?

thanks gents.

2 minutes ago, kombiman said:

Hey guys,

been chatting with a mate over the usual discussion relating to loadshedding, power usage, etc. The question came up, could one work out how much power you're using in a certain time frame, based on the Kw numbers shown on the meter.

The confusion is the different measurements of power. Watts, Kw, and kwh, etc. I'm trying work out how many watts I used between a specific time?

Example: If the meter says I have 10 units at 6:00 at night, and then next morning at 6:00 am, it shows 8 units, what is this telling me?

Did I use 2 thousand watts of electricity over 12 hours? or 2 thousand watts each hour?

thanks gents.

The 2 kWh you used is the total Watts multiplied by the hours. 2000/12=166.66W on average and it accumulates the power used. If everything was switched off accept a 1 kW hotplate you need the hotplate to be only on for 2hrs. If a 500W load was used it impies it only has to be on for 4hrs.

2 fridges and some lights during the night can easily get you to the 2 kWh used. In my case from 0h to 06h30 my average is 1.7kWh

Edited April 14, 20251 yr by Scorp007

Thanks Scorp, so, my sum means I used 166.66 Watts every hour, for 12 hours?

The idea is to help guide me on batt backup etc.