The Difference In Amp Hours and Watt Hours
You will need to understand how watts hours and amp hours differ in order to understand how much energy you will need to power your essentials.
– Watt Hours = Power Over Time
– Amp Hours = Current Over Time
Power is measured in watts, which is equivalent to one joule per second. Watt hours (Wh) serve as a measure of the energy consumed by an appliance over time. To calculate watt hours, you need to multiply the number of watts by the number of hours that it was used for. For instance, if a light bulb has a power rating of 50W and you wish to find out how many watt hours it consumes in a whole day, then you would simply multiply 50W with 24 hours; resulting in 1200 Wh.
Watt hours are a measure of energy used, while amp hours (Ah) represent the quantity of charge. To calculate Ah, it is necessary to identify the amps or electrical current which are effectively particles such as electrons and ions that move through a conductor or space. Put simply, an Amp hour signifies how many amps can be discharged from a battery over an hour, for example a 150Ah battery would dispense 150amps in 1 hour or 300amp in 2 hours. Therefore, Ah shows how much current is capable of being provided by a power source during a certain time frame.
To determine a battery’s charge and discharge rates, examine its C rating. This unit measures the speed at which a battery can be charged or discharged. For example, 1C means it will take one hour to reach 100 percent from 0. A 0.5C rate equates to two hours and a 0.2C rating equates to five hours. Its current rating – for instance, a 1C (1C current) rating – means that 20 Amps can be supplied for one hour if the battery has a capacity of 20Ah.
How To Convert Amp Hours To Watt Hours
For determining the energy capacity of your battery, the voltage you need, and the thickness of your wires, you will need to be able to calculate watt hours as well as amp hours. It is important to know that although amp hours and watt hours are separate units of measurement, they are related and can be used to calculate each other. If you only have one watt hour or amp hour, you can use these calculations to calculate one.
watt hours = amp hours x volts
amp hours = watt hours / volts
If you have a 12V battery for your van and that battery has a 200 Ah rating. You can multiply 200 Ah by 12V, which gives you 2400 Wh. Similarly, you could achieve the same 2400 Wh with a 24V battery (higher voltage), 100 Ah battery (lower Ah), to further demonstrate how amps differ from watts. You can also determine amp hours by knowing the watt hours for your energy storage system.