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It's shocking how hard of a time people have distinguishing watts from watt hours. Even in a forum aimed at technical people.
by ginko 4y ago
It's shocking how hard of a time people have distinguishing watts from watt hours. Even in a forum aimed at technical people.
- Bud 4y agoNot that shocking. About half of American society was unable to figure out why masks and social distancing were helpful during a pandemic.
- dredmorbius 4y agoI like to use the analogy of fuel tank capacity (kWh) vs. engine output --- horsepower for Americans and most Brits (kW). Power is a flow, it's the rate of energy usage (or output) over time. More power means higher top speed, or stronger acceleration, or hill-climbing ability, or towing capacity. Energy is a stock, it's a total quantity of potential. A bigger fuel tank won't make your car any faster, but it will determine how much range you have. Since appliances, equipment, generators, etc., consume or produce watts of power, it's handy to consider how much energy this represents by simply multiplying watts by time, by default, hours.