A kilowatt is a unit that measures how much electrical power something uses or produces. One kilowatt equals 1,000 watts, which is why it starts with “kilo,” the prefix meaning thousand.

You can think of watts and kilowatts as measuring how quickly electrical energy is being used or produced. A bright lamp might use 60 watts, while a hair dryer needs about 1,500 watts (or 1.5 kilowatts) because it has to heat air quickly. A large air conditioner might use 3 kilowatts when running.

Power companies measure electricity usage in kilowatt-hours, which tells you how much electrical energy you used over time. If you run a 1-kilowatt space heater for one hour, you've used one kilowatt-hour of electricity. Your family's electric bill shows how many kilowatt-hours your household used that month.

When you see solar panels on a roof, they might be described as a “5-kilowatt system,” meaning they can produce up to 5 kilowatts of power when the sun is shining brightly. Understanding kilowatts helps you grasp how much energy different devices need and why some appliances cost more to run than others.