Understanding the difference between energy and Power is essential because they are two concepts that are often confused but very different.
I will explain it to you in a technical but simple way in this article.
Electric Power
Electrical Power is the rate at which energy is consumed or transformed in an electrical circuit. According to the International System of Units, it is measured in Watts (1 Watt = 1 Joule per second).
Electricity
Electricity is the total amount of energy consumed or transformed in a specific period of time. It is measured in Joules (J) or kilowatt hours (kWh) in bills (1 kWh = 3,600,000 J).
Connection between Electric Power and Electric Energy
The relationship between the two is as follows:
E = P * t
Where:
- E = energy (in Joule or kWh )
- P = Power (in Watts )
- t = time (in seconds or hours )
Example
You have a 1000 W (1 kW) electric heater, and you keep it on for 2 hours :
E = P * t = 1 kW * 2 h = 2 kWh
So you have consumed 2 kilowatt hours.
This concept is easy to remember if you think about what you pay for in your electricity bill: energy, not Power.
To recap
Power tells us how much “load” a device draws at any moment.
Energy tells us how much that load has worked or consumed over time.
In this article I will explain it to you in a technical but simple way.
Electric Power
Electrical Power is the rate at which energy is consumed or transformed in an electrical circuit. According to the International System of Units it is measured in Watts (1 Watt = 1 Joule per second).
Electricity
Electricity is the total amount of energy consumed or transformed in a certain period of time . It is measured in Joules (J) or kilowatt hours (kWh) in bills (1 kWh = 3,600,000 J).
Connection between Electric Power and Electric Energy
The relationship between the two is as follows:
E = P * t
Where:
- E = energy (in Joule or kWh )
- P = power (in Watts )
- t = time (in seconds or hours )
Example
You have a 1000 W (1 kW) electric heater , and you keep it on for 2 hours :
E = P * t = 1 kW * 2 h = 2 kWh
So you have consumed 2 kilowatt hours .
This concept is easy to remember if you think about what you pay for in your electricity bill: energy, not power.
To recap
Power tells us how much “load” a device is drawing at any given moment.
Energy tells us how much that load has worked or consumed over time .
