What Is A Kilowatt Hour

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of electrical energy commonly used to measure electricity consumption over time. It is the amount of energy consumed by a 1-kilowatt (kW) electrical device running for one hour.

Gas usage is often measured in gas units. However, in the UK gas units are often converted to kilowatt-hours to make it easier and more consistent for consumers to understand

Average kWh electricity and gas prices in the UK (March 2024)

kWh Usage example

The amount of heat that a heater can produce is measured in Kilowatts. The higher the kilowatts, the more heat. 

If you have a small 1 Kilowatt electric heater running constantly for one hour, it will have used 1 kWh of electricity. At today’s (March 2024) average price it will have cost £0.28.

Monitoring kWh usage

Many homes in the UK have smart metres that can be used to view the amount of gas and electricity kWh used.

Some UK energy providers make it possible to view the amount kWh that a home is using in near real time. For example, Octopus Energy have a device called the Home Mini that makes it possible to see near real-time energy consumption on a smartphone.