Kilowatt Hour - Symbol and Abbreviation For Kilowatt Hour

Symbol and Abbreviation For Kilowatt Hour

The international standard for SI states that in a forming a compound unit symbol, "Multiplication must be indicated by a space or a half-high (centered) dot (·), since otherwise some prefixes could be misinterpreted as a unit symbol" (i.e., kW h or kW·h). This is supported by a voluntary standard issued jointly by an international (IEEE) and national (ASTM) organization. However, at least one major usage guide and the IEEE/ASTM standard allow "kWh" (but do not mention other multiples of the watt hour). One guide published by NIST specifically recommends avoiding "kWh" "to avoid possible confusion". Nonetheless, it is commonly used in commercial, educational, scientific and media publications.