I think you are greatly overestimating the basic functional knowledge of the general public...

If you think the average person understands watts, you live in a bubble, straight and simple. You have a very skewed notion of the average person.

In here absolutely everyone knows this stuff and it's all just common knowledge.

Absolutely not. Not even close.

New Technology connections video drops:

I'm going to go buy a kill-a-watt.

haven't seen it so far, but technology connections will always get an upvote.

also consider subscribing to his channel, his videos are amazing.

lot of people from the US with gas grid (which we don’t really have around here), is it really so that your Joe Average can’t tell the difference between 1kWh of heat produced by gas compared to electricity

Right, because for most people gas is metered and sold by the CCF, and not converted into kW at any point in the chain.

So I know i used 30ccf last month, but there's zero indication what that is in kW, because we usually don't convert between the meter (which is volumetric) and the billing, which could be anything but why bother?

Follow-up video idea: speed ≠ distance

is it really so that your Joe Average can’t tell the difference between 1kWh of heat produced by gas compared to electricity?

Yup.

I totally understand electricity because it's pretty intuitive. Everything is advertised in watts, my bill comes as kilowatt hours, so it's pretty easy to calculate how much energy something uses by plugging in a kill-a-watt and measuring it.

My gas is billed in therms. I don't really know what that is, nor do I know what the flow rate is for my furnace or gas stove, so I have no concept for how much energy I'm using. I don't have an electric one to compare with, so I that's not an option either. So how exactly would I get to the point where I would be able to compare the two without a lot of annoying testing? Even then it would be extremely imprecise.

And no, it's not "watt hours coming out of the grid," except in the pedantic sense that they can be converted. They come from very different sources, so it's like comparing an EV to a horse, and while you could, it's completely nonsensical.

But yes, at some base level your average American knows there's a connection between the two (after all, I can choose between electric heat/heat pump and a gas furnace), but they'd rely on an expert to estimate the monthly price difference between options, since that's ultimately what we care about. The problem is mentioned near the end of the video, HVAC experts don't seem that familiar w/ heat pumps, so you may not get a decent estimate, depending on who your technician is. And that adds to the misinformation.

Power is water throughput in a pipe, energy is water filling a bucket. Simplest way I've found to explain it in my 15 years in the energy space.

In here absolutely everyone knows this stuff and it’s all just common knowledge.

Saved you a click: power = rate of energy use (energy/time)

After watching the video it was a bit over explained. I think he got his point across in the first 10 minutes, though I am an engineer by trade.

I appreciate his rigour in explaining and it is a good refresher on the power/energy calculations.

There's no way even 1% of people understand this in the world. Maybe 1% know of those measurements "existence" asking them what they are would get an "uhh"

He’s making a point about instantaneous versus overall energy use, which it sounds like you already understand. “Power” and “energy” are kind of loose terms IMO, which could confuse that conversation a bit.

But for anyone still scratching their head:

The typical energy consumer need only consider watts (w, kw) when accounting for circuit capacity. For example, if your hair dryer pulls 1600 watts, don’t use it on a 1500 watt outlet, or you will likely trip the circuit breaker.

Otherwise “watt-hours” (wh, kwh) is likely the metric you’re looking for when considering energy use. This is a certain amount of power drawn over a period of time, where 1 watt over 1000 hours and 1000 watts over 1 hour are both equal to 1 kilowatt-hour (kwh), which is the standard unit you likely see in your electric bill.

It’s why low but constant power draw can significantly impact energy use. For example, a typical laptop pulls fewer than 100 watts, lower than many appliances in your house, but if it draws that much power all the time, it might significantly impact your electric bill. Conversely, an electric kettle / coffee maker might pull as much as 1300 watts while in use, more than most appliances in your house, yet it probably represents a minuscule portion of your electric bill, since it only runs long enough to boil a small amount of water with each use.

Edit: include tea drinkers, add more concrete examples

kW/kWh aren't commonly used outside of electrical applications in the US, so people are less readily able to quantify and compare in other contexts. Looking at a variety of natural gas companies' bills, you'll get volume multiplied by a therm factor instead of simply using kWh; horsepower for not just cars but even electrical motors and pumps.

I think the average person will have looked at their electricity bill and put the basics together about watts and watt hours. As for comparison with natural gas, I think he didn't touch on the real metric people then turn to- cost. Depending on the state it can be much cheaper to use gas vs electricity.

is it really so that your Joe Average can’t tell the difference between 1kWh of heat produced by gas compared to electricity?

Most people don't even know what a watt or watt/hour is. And have no idea how energy from gas relates to energy from electricity.

I sometimes make a conscious effort to understand electricity. For a few days, I then think I understand what's going on and then promptly I forget.

(Yes, I shall watch this video.)

So I’m just wondering if this is really any new information for anyone.

It's never wise to underestimate most people's ignorance.

Also check out his other video on his Connextras channel where he basically suggests dismantling capitalism.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2qSaD1v4cQ

Full disclosure, I didn't watch the video yet, but it's likely a difference of environmental impact.

He's described in previous videos how burning gas at home is less efficient from the standpoint of a carbon footprint. I imagine this video is to help explain everything in a way that helps you come to that conclusion yourself. Teach a man to fish instead of just giving a fish and what not. So you can apply the knowledge to other things in your life

People complaining about this video have clearly not watched much Technology Connections; I enjoyed it immensely. It's right in line with how Alec normally does his videos. We who are loyal to the Great Alec expect the pedantic content.