In what units are household electricity bills measured?
"to refine his initial large and heavy design, although he did also develop a polyphase version. The most common unit of measurement on the electricity meter is the kilowatt hour [""kWh""], which is equal to the amount of energy used by a load of one kilowatt over a period of one hour, or 3,600,000 joules. Some electricity companies use the SI megajoule instead. Demand is normally measured in watts, but averaged over a period, most often a quarter- or half-hour. Reactive power is measured in ""thousands of volt-ampere reactive-hours"", (kvarh). By convention, a ""lagging"" or inductive load, such as a"
"central air conditioners installed in all other states outside the Southeastern and Southwestern regions must continue to be a minimum of 13 SEER, which is the current national requirement. Electric power is usually measured in kilowatts (kW). Electric energy is usually measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). For example, if an electric load that draws 1.5 kW of electric power is operated for 8 hours, it uses 12 kWh of electric energy. In the United States, a residential electric customer is charged based on the amount of electric energy he or she uses. On the customer bill, the electric utility states the"
"There are no U.S. customary units for electric current, potential difference, or charge since these concepts were developed after the international adoption of metric in science. The metric units ampere, volt, ohm and coulomb are the only units used. The SI term hertz has replaced the term ""cycles per second"" as a unit of frequency. Energy is often measured in watt hours, BTUs, therms or calories rather than the SI joule. Residential and commercial electrical energy use is metered and billed in kilowatt hours, kW·h, as in most metric countries. Force measurements regularly use the pound instead of the SI"
"in hours and then by the price per kilowatt hour. The unit price of electricity may depend upon the rate of consumption and the time of day. Prices vary considerably by locality. In the United States prices in different states can vary by a factor of three. Whereas individual homes have historically only paid for the kilowatt hours consumed and the rated capacity, commercial buildings and institutions also pay for peak power consumption, the greatest power recorded in a fairly short time, such as 15 minutes. (However the installation of smart meters now enables the supplier also to vary the"
"based on the electrical energy (in kWh) consumed by the household or business during the month. Commercial and industrial consumers normally have more complex pricing schemes. These require meters that measure the energy usage in time intervals (such as a half-hour) to impose charges based on both the amount of energy consumed and the maximum rate of consumption, i.e. the maximum demand. This is usually called peak demand charge. Frequent reporting also allows the retailer to pass on the spot price (with some markup) to its customers. The rapid growth in electric appliance usage in the early part of the"
"is 1 million W⋅h, (symbols MW⋅h, MWh or MW h); a milliwatt hour is 1/1000 W⋅h (symbols mW⋅h, mWh or mW h) and so on. The kilowatt hour is commonly used by electrical distribution providers for purposes of billing, since the monthly energy consumption of a typical residential customer ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand kilowatt hours. Megawatt hours (MWh), gigawatt hours (GWh), and terawatt hours (TWh) are often used for metering larger amounts of electrical energy to industrial customers and in power generation. The terawatt hour and petawatt hour (PWh) units are large enough to conveniently"
"either set up their own departments or contracted the services from private entrepreneurs. Residential, commercial and industrial use of electricity was confined, initially, to lighting but this changed dramatically with the development of electric motors, heaters and communication devices. The basic principle of supply has not changed much over time. The amount of energy used by the domestic consumer, and thus the amount charged for, is measured through an electricity meter that is usually placed near the input of a home to provide easy access to the meter reader. Customers are usually charged a monthly service fee and additional charges"
"the total charge or a constant current. These devices invented by Michael Faraday were used frequently in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. In the past, the coulometers of that type were named voltameters. Voltameter A voltameter or coulometer is a scientific instrument used for measuring quantity of electricity (electric charge) through electrolytic action. The SI unit of quantity of electricity is the coulomb. The voltameter should not be confused with a voltmeter, which measures electric potential. The SI unit for electric potential is the volt. The voltameter is an electrolytic cell and the"
"Units of energy Because energy is defined via work, the SI unit for energy is the same as the unit of work – the joule (J), named in honor of James Prescott Joule and his experiments on the mechanical equivalent of heat. In slightly more fundamental terms, 1 joule is equal to 1 newton metre and, in terms of SI base units An energy unit that is used in atomic physics, particle physics and high energy physics is the electronvolt (eV). One eV is equivalent to 1.60217653×10 J. In spectroscopy the unit cm = 0.000123986 eV is used to represent"
"based on latitude and technology. As of 2015, the average annual household electricity consumption in the US is 10,766 kWh. Domestic energy consumption Domestic energy consumption is the total amount of energy used in a house for household work. The amount of energy used per household varies widely depending on the standard of living of the country, the climate, and the age and type of residence. In the United States as of 2008, in an average household in a temperate climate, the yearly use of household energy can be composed as follows: This equates to an average instantaneous power consumption"
"utilities measure power using an electricity meter, which keeps a running total of the electric energy delivered to a customer. Electrical power provides a low entropy form of energy and can be carried long distances and converted into other forms of energy such as motion, light or heat with high energy efficiency. Electric power, like mechanical power, is the rate of doing work, measured in watts, and represented by the letter ""P"". The term ""wattage"" is used colloquially to mean ""electric power in watts."" The electric power in watts produced by an electric current ""I"" consisting of a charge of"
"is a quantity used to determine how a particle will behave in an electric field. There are three possible ""types"" of charge: positive, negative, and neutral. However, the distinction between positive and negative is by convention only. Electric charge is quantized in units of the elementary charge, formula_1, where a proton has a charge of formula_2 and an electron has a charge of formula_3. The SI unit of charge is the coulomb. The elementary charge formula_1 was first measured by Robert Millikan in his oil drop experiment in which the electric force on the particle is set to exactly counter"
"may be facilitated by using a supercharger or turbocharger. In battery or electric vehicles, calculating efficiency of useful work begins with the charge–discharge rate of the battery pack, generally 80% to 90%. Next is the conversion of potential energy (BTU) of the charge to distance traveled under power. See table below translating retail electricity costs for a GGE in BTU. Note that throughout this article, 'gallon' refers to the US gallon of approximately 3.8 litres, as opposed to the imperial gallon of approximately 4.5 litres Rates per kWh for residential electricity in the USA range from $0.0728 (Idaho) to $0.166"
"space is equal to the product of the charge and the electric field at that point The units of the electric field in the SI system are newtons per coulomb (N/C), or volts per meter (V/m); in terms of the SI base units they are kg⋅m⋅s⋅A The electric field due to a continuous distribution of charge formula_27 in space (where formula_28 is the charge density in coulombs per cubic meter) can be calculated by considering the charge formula_29 in each small volume of space formula_30 at point formula_31 as a point charge, and calculating its electric field formula_32 at point"
"Conventional electrical unit A conventional electrical unit (or conventional unit where there is no risk of ambiguity) is a unit of measurement in the field of electricity which is based on the so-called ""conventional values"" of the Josephson constant and the von Klitzing constant agreed by the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) in 1988. These units are very similar in scale to their corresponding SI units, but are not identical because of their different definition. They are distinguished from the corresponding SI units by setting the symbol in italic typeface and adding a subscript ""90"" – e.g., the"
"to the gearing mechanism. The amount of energy represented by one revolution of the disc is denoted by the symbol Kh which is given in units of watt-hours per revolution. The value 7.2 is commonly seen. Using the value of Kh one can determine their power consumption at any given time by timing the disc with a stopwatch. <math>P = Electricity meter An electricity meter, electric meter, electrical meter, or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy consumed by a residence, a business, or an electrically powered device. Electric utilities use electric meters installed at"
"IEEE Std 260.1-2004 IEEE Standard IEEE Std 260.1-2004 provides standard letter symbols for units of measurement for use in all applications in multiple contexts. It covers primarily SI units and customary inch–pound units. The symbols are sorted in alphabetical order of name from ampere (symbol A) to zetta (symbol Z), including barrel (symbol bbl), bit (symbol b), foot (symbol ft), kibibyte (symbol KiB) kilowatthour (symbol kWh), microinch (symbol μin), quart (symbol qt), slug (symbol slug) and year (symbol a). In some cases the same symbol is used for different units. Examples are the symbols B (for bel and byte), Gb"
"electric charge is expressed in coulombs, a separate unit which is additional to the ""mechanical"" units (mass, length, time), even though the traditional definition of the ampere refers to some of these other units. In natural unit systems, however, electric charge has units of . In order to build natural units in electromagnetism one can use: Of these, Lorentz–Heaviside is somewhat more common, mainly because Maxwell's equations are simpler in Lorentz–Heaviside units than they are in Gaussian units. In the two unit systems, the elementary charge satisfies: where is the reduced Planck constant, is the speed of light, and is"
"for using electricity. The utilities calculate these rates by taking into consideration the cost of the purchasing the power (the wholesale rate) and the fixed costs the utility incurs. Fixed costs are items are such as installing electric poles and wires, putting meters on people’s homes and businesses, and implementing technology to maintain the electric grid. The wholesale rate is what the utility pays electricity providers to buy their electricity. A competitive marketplace exists from which utilities can purchase electricity. Throughout a single day, the price of electricity on the wholesale market can change. Nevada's net metering rules began in"
"32 kW-h/100 mi in city and 33 kW-h/100 mi on the highway, equivalent to 105 mpg city and 102 mpg highway. As part of the research and redesign process, EPA conducted focus groups where participants were presented with several options to express the consumption of electricity for plug-in electric vehicles. The research showed that participants did not understand the concept of a kilowatt hour as a measure of electric energy use despite the use of this unit in their monthly electric bills. Instead, participants favored a miles per gallon equivalent, MPGe, as the metric to compare with the familiar miles"
"by an electric current ""I"" consisting of a charge of ""Q"" coulombs every ""t"" seconds passing through an electric potential (voltage) difference of ""V"" is where Electricity generation is often done with electric generators, but can also be supplied by chemical sources such as electric batteries or by other means from a wide variety of sources of energy. Electric power is generally supplied to businesses and homes by the electric power industry. Electricity is usually sold by the kilowatt hour (3.6 MJ) which is the product of power in kilowatts multiplied by running time in hours. Electric utilities measure power"
"(for gigabit and gilbert), L (for liter and lambert) and rad (for rad and radian). IEEE Std 260.1-2004 IEEE Standard IEEE Std 260.1-2004 provides standard letter symbols for units of measurement for use in all applications in multiple contexts. It covers primarily SI units and customary inch–pound units. The symbols are sorted in alphabetical order of name from ampere (symbol A) to zetta (symbol Z), including barrel (symbol bbl), bit (symbol b), foot (symbol ft), kibibyte (symbol KiB) kilowatthour (symbol kWh), microinch (symbol μin), quart (symbol qt), slug (symbol slug) and year (symbol a). In some cases the same symbol"
"territories around the world, expressed in US dollars. The comparison does not take into account factors including fluctuating international exchange rates, a country's purchasing power, government electricity subsidies or retail discounts that are often available in deregulated electricity markets. For example, in 2012, Hawaii residents had the highest average residential electricity rate in the United States (37.34¢/kWh), while Louisiana residents had the lowest average residential electricity costs (8.37¢/kWh). Even in the contiguous United States the gap is significant, with New York residents having the highest average residential electricity rates in the lower 48 U.S. states (17.62¢/kWh). Denotes countries with government"
"residential electricity consumption in the U.S. was 936 kWh/month per in 2007, and the average bill was US$100/month. Average residential consumption varies considerably between states from 530 kWh/month in Maine to 1344 kWh/month in Tennessee. Factors that influence residential energy consumption are climate, tariffs and efforts to promote energy conservation. Total revenue from the sale of electricity in 2008 was US$344bn, including US$148bn from residential customers, US$129bn from commercial customers and US$66bn from industrial customers. Many large industries self-generate electricity and their electricity consumption thus is not included in these figures. Most investments in the U.S. electricity sector are financed"
"Electric current An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or by both ions and electrons such as in an ionised gas (plasma). The SI unit for measuring an electric current is the ampere, which is the flow of electric charge across a surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric current is measured using a device called an ammeter. Electric currents cause Joule heating, which creates light in incandescent light bulbs. They"
"The quantity of electric charge can be directly measured with an electrometer, or indirectly measured with a ballistic galvanometer. After finding the quantized character of charge, in 1891 George Stoney proposed the unit 'electron' for this fundamental unit of electrical charge. This was before the discovery of the particle by J. J. Thomson in 1897. The unit is today treated as nameless, referred to as , , or simply as . A measure of charge should be a multiple of the elementary charge ""e"", even if at large scales charge seems to behave as a real quantity. In some contexts"
"scale in the non-SI, but convenient, units electronvolts (eV). The Hartree (the atomic unit of energy) is commonly used in calculations. Historically Rydberg units have been used. In spectroscopy and related fields it is common to measure energy levels in units of reciprocal centimetres. These units (cm) are strictly speaking not energy units but units proportional to energies, with formula_3 being the proportionality constant. A gram of TNT releases 980–1100 calories upon explosion. To define the tonne of TNT, this was arbitrarily standardized by letting 1000 thermochemical calories = 1 gram TNT = 4184 J (exactly). Units of energy Because"
"Typical circuit breakers will provide 16 A. The current drawn by a number of typical appliances are: Ampere The ampere (; symbol: A), often shortened to ""amp"", is the base unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836), French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics. The International System of Units defines the ampere in terms of other base units by measuring the electromagnetic force between electrical conductors carrying electric current. The earlier CGS measurement system had two different definitions of current, one essentially the same as the SI's"
"single revolution of the spinning dial of an analog electric meter. Home idle load Home idle load is the continuous residential electric energy consumption as measured by smart meters. It differs from standby power (loads) in that it includes energy consumption by devices that cycle on and off within the hourly period of standard smart meters (such as fridges, aquarium heaters, wine coolers, etc.). As such, home idle loads can be measured accurately by smart meters. According to Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab, home idle load constitutes an average of 32% of household electricity consumption in the U.S. The primary categories"
"charge of one electron is known to be about 1 C can also be considered the charge of roughly or +1 C the charge of that many positrons or protons, where the number is the reciprocal of . By 1873, the British Association for the Advancement of Science had defined the volt, ohm, and farad, but not the coulomb. In 1881, the International Electrical Congress, now the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), approved the volt as the unit for electromotive force, the ampere as the unit for electric current, and the coulomb as the unit of electric charge. At that time,"
"Kilowatt hour The kilowatt hour (symbol kWh, kW⋅h or kW h) is a unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules. If energy is transmitted or used at a constant rate (power) over a period of time, the total energy in kilowatt hours is equal to the power in kilowatts multiplied by the time in hours. The kilowatt hour is commonly used as a billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities. The kilowatt hour (symbolized kW⋅h as per SI) is a composite unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt (1 kW) of power sustained for one hour. One"
"they measure electricity consumption in kWh, the amount and type of fuel used to heat water and warm the house, and how many kilometres an individual drives, flies and rides in different vehicles. Individuals may also set various limits of the system they are concerned with, e.g. personal GHG emissions, household emissions, or the company they work for. There are plenty of carbon calculators available online, which vary significantly in their usefulness and the parameters they measure. Some, for example, factor in only cars, aircraft and household energy use. Others cover household waste or leisure interests as well. In some"
"rate for electricity does not charge different rates based upon the demand that the customer places on the system. A customer pays the same amount whether they use the electricity in bursts during mid-day, when demand and the utility's costs are highest, or if they spread it out over the entire day. However, if the customer uses a different amount of electricity, they are charged a higher or lower amount. Residential customers and small businesses are usually charged a flat rate, though not the same rate per kilowatt-hour. A special type of electricity meter, a time of use meter, is"