The watt is the SI unit of power and is equal to 1 joule per second. Named after James Watt, Scottish engineer (1736-1819) and pioneer in steam engine design.
It is useful to have some examples, even if some of these are a bit out of the ordinary:
- 2.5×10-15 W = minimum discernible signal at the antenna terminal of a good FM radio receiver
- 1.0×10-12 W = average power consumption of a human cell
- 2.0×10-9 W = power consumption of 8-bit PIC chip in “sleep”
- 1.0×10-6 W = approximate consumption of a quartz wristwatch
- 5.0×10-3 W = laser in DVD drive
- 7 W = typical household LED light bulb
- 30 W = 9 mph on an electric bicycle or approximate power required to walk
- 100 W = approximate basal metabolic rate used by the human body
- 200–300 W = light activity / walking
- ~1,000 W = vigorous exercise
- 220 W = electric bicycle power to maintain 20 mph on the flat
- 1,500 W = average power of a UBTECH Robotics Walker S2
- 3,000 W = heat output of a domestic electric kettle
- 75,000 W = Family car peak power (100PS)
- 1.3×106 W = maximum power for a 6 seat eVTOL
- 16×106 W = rate at which a typical petrol pump transfers chemical energy to a vehicle
- 2.074×109 W = peak power generation of Hoover Dam
- 3.9×1026 W = Sun energy production