What is the difference between kWh usage and kW demand?
The term kilowatt hour (kWh) usage refers to the quantity of energy used during a period of time such as one hour or for your monthly bill, a billing cycle. It’s like the odometer on your car and kWh’s are cumulative. If you drove 30 miles today and 40 miles tomorrow, your total trip would be 70 miles. The term kW demand refers to the rate at which energy is used and it is averaged over short time intervals (typically every 15 to 30 minutes). It is like the speedometer on your vehicle. If you wanted to drive 40 mph, you’re drawing a certain level of power from your vehicle. If you increase that to 60 mph, you are requiring more power from your engine. In the end, your total trip will still be 70 miles but your fuel efficiency and demand on your engine were quite different. Let’s look at another example. If you have ten 100 watt light bulbs on at one time, the demand is 1,000 watts or 1 kW. 10 bulbs x 100 watts = 1,000 watts or 1 kilowatt. If the bulbs remain on for one hour, the total
