Have you ever wondered how electricity works? Electric power is such a fundamental part of everyday life, but not often considered in depth. While it may seem complicated, the truth is that a little electrical knowledge can help you in a number of ways – whether while repairing household wiring, researching appliances, or simply interpreting electrical units in your everyday life. The primary question you should be asking is "What are watts?" The four components that make up electricity – watts, volts, amps, and ohms – are what we will be discussing to help you better understand the difference between these electrical units.

What Are Watts a Measure Of?

Perhaps you need to purchase a lightbulb or space heater, or determine how much solar power you need, either way it's likely you've come across various numbers and listings on packages and specs – the most common being watts and volts. But what are amps, volts, and watts? How do ohms fit in and how do they relate to one another? The short answer is that they are the international standard for units of measurement of electricity across the world, but for a better understanding, here is a more detailed look at how they each work, starting with electricity itself.

What Is Electricity?

It may seem pretty obvious, but it's helpful to understand what electricity is. It is the common name for electrical energy referring to the flow of electrons through a conductor. When electricity flows to a device, the same amount must return through a "closed loop" system.

What Is Current?

Measured in amps, this is the "flow rate" of electricity, or the number of electrons per second that flow through a conductor.

• Imagine a large water pipe that has a lot of water flowing through it. The energy it carries is dependent on the pressure.
• Current describes only the volume and not the pressure, so it does not provide full insight into power.

What Is Power?

Power, measured in watts, refers to the work being done by electricity. Watts reflect this work being done at any given time.

• Power is calculated by multiplying the voltage in volts by current in amps.
• 10 amps of current at 240 volts will generate 2,400 watts of power.
• This same current can also deliver twice as much power if the voltage is doubled.

What Are Volts?

Delving deeper into volts (which are symbolized by an uppercase "V"), the simple definition states that "voltage is a measurement of the electric potential or 'pressure' at which electricity flows through a system."

If you compare voltage to the hydraulic water pressure that runs through pipes, volts tell you how much power a system can deliver. In other words, volts are the speed at which electrons pass a point within the electrical circuit.

What Are Amps?

Moving on, amps (short for amperes) are symbolized by an uppercase "A." They provide another unit for measuring the amount of electricity running through an electrical circuit. Amperage, in particular, refers to the number of electrons moving through the wire.

A common location to find amp measurements is within your home's breaker box where you should be able to see the various circuit breakers listed in amperage – typically denoted as 15 amps, 20 amps, and 30 amps. The higher the amperage, the more electricity can flow through the circuit.

• Larger appliances such as washers and dryers will be powered by 30-amp circuits.
• Most outlets will be connected to 15- or 20-amp circuits.
• Running too many appliances at a time using the same circuit will cause the breaker to "trip" and cut off power as a way to prevent the wiring from overheating.

Tip!

Shopping for lightbulbs? The amount of light output from a bulb is measured in lumens. Read What Are Lumens in Lighting? to better understand how they affect your light brightness.

What Are Watts?

Next up we have watts, symbolized by the uppercase "W". Power in electric form is measured by using watts. Wattage refers to the amount or power of an electrical current passing through the device being used. In other words, it describes how much energy it takes for the device to function – think of switching on an incandescent bulb (between 40 and 70W) or running a vacuum (between 400W and 900W). When one amp flows through an electrical difference of one volt, the number is measured or converted into watts.

• To obtain wattage, you multiply the number of volts by the number of amps (i.e. V x A = W).
• The quicker the electrons move through the circuit and the larger the volume the circuit can hold, the higher the wattage.
• It is easier to consider watts as speed or rate rather than strength or capacity (e.g. the rate at which water flows through a garden hose).
• This quantity will help you monitor and measure energy consumption. If you can understand the amount of electricity passing through every second, you can accurately calculate your total usage.
• Consider that voltage and amperage are useful sets of information, but wattage provides an additional body of data that combines the two in order to produce an indicator similar to rate or speed.

What Are Ohms?

Finally, ohms refers to the measurement of the electrical resistance a device, material, or object can cause to reduce or resist the electrical flow within an electrical circuit. Ohms are symbolized by the Greek symbol for Omega – Ω.

• If you use water as an example, think about how a smaller water pipe will have a greater resistance of the flow of water compared to what a larger pipe will. If measured accordingly, this means the smaller pipe will have higher ohms.

How to Measure Watts

When you measure power, watt-hours are used to calculate the amount of energy used over a specific time period. This unit helps you understand how much electricity appliances consume when they are used.

• To determine how many watts are being used, multiply its power (in watts) with the duration of its operation (in hours).
• To determine the watt-hours of a 100W bulb that runs for 10 hours – simply multiply the number of watts required for one hour (100 watt rating) by the amount of time it will be used (10 hours). The answer is 1,000 watt-hours.
• A common way to address larger watts or watt-hours is to use the term kilowatt or kilowatt-hours.
• A kilowatt is the total wattage divided by 1,000. Referring to the top answer about a 100W bulb left on for 10 hours, The 1,000W can also be measured as 1kW (1,000 watts divided by 1,000).

Wattage Ratings of Common Appliances

0 to 10 watts: Radio, alarm clock, phone charger, doorbell

11 to 30 watts: Computer monitor, air purifier, aquarium pump

31 to 50 watts: Freezer, humidifier

51 to 100 watts: Ceiling fan

101 to 500 watts: Refrigerator, slow cooker

501 to 1,000 watts: Washing machine, corded drill

1,001 to 3,000 watts: Oven, dryer, electric tea kettle, lawn mower

3,001 to 7,000 watts: Electric vehicle charger

Additional Information

Now you have a better understanding of the way to measure the amount of electricity flowing through a circuit, let's answer any additional questions you may have.

What is the difference between watts & volts?

Watts and volts cannot be separated from one another. This is because watts are a product of the combination of volts and amps. In a water analogy – watts are like water flow rate while volts are like water pressure.

• Compare a microwave which is equal to around 8.3 amps, to a lighting bolt, which can have almost 20,000 amps. Then consider the electrical wiring for a home is usually rated for 15 or 20 amps.

Tip!

To learn more about watts and volts, read our guide Watts vs. Volts: What Is the Difference?.

Do higher watts mean more electricity is utilized?

Yes. As an example a 100W lightbulb uses far less electricity than a 740W microwave. If you monitor your home's electric meter, you will notice it runs more rapidly when the microwave is used than when the light is switched on.

What's the difference between volts & amps?

Volts measure electrical potential and amps measure the current flow.

Do higher watts mean more power?

Yes. Appliances with higher wattage can deliver more power and heat than those with lower wattages. Consequently, higher wattage devices will use more energy than their lower wattage counterparts.

• Devices that require more wattages won't operate if they don't receive enough electricity flow for their power requirements.

With the answer to your question "What are watts?", you can more easily shop for electrical appliances and lighting with a better understanding of how they utilize energy.

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