Does the average 2300 sq ft home in Phoenix use 3 Kw or 30 kw or 300 kws per day?

Answer 1

There are two measures of electricity to know about: kWh, and kW. kWh, or kilowatt-hours, is a measure of total energy use over time. It's like how far you've driven your car. kW, or kilowatts, is a measure of instantaneous consumption, like how fast you are driving at any given second.

The average home in Phoenix might max out at around 3 kW or a little more when everything - your computers, refrigerator, lights, air conditioning, etc. - are running. (An individual hair dryer might use 1.5 kW, so don't run those too long.) kW, however, is not how you get billed. Almost all residential properties get billed on kWh, the total amount of electricity they use each month. kWh can be calculated by multiplying kW by the number of hours you used that kW. This is the same as figuring out how far you've driven by multiplying your speed by how much time you spent driving at that speed.

In Phoenix, an average house your size might use around 30-40 kWh every day. It could be twice this in the summer when you're air conditioning, and much less in the fall or spring when you're not.