Convert Kilowatt-Hours to Gigajoules
Convert Kilowatt-Hours (kWh) to Gigajoules (GJ) instantly and accurately.
Conversion Formula
GJ = kWh × 0.0036
About Kilowatt-Hours
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the energy consumed by 1 kW for one hour - exactly 3,600,000 J = 3.6 MJ. All domestic electricity meters bill in kWh. Appliance benchmarks: fridge 180-250 kWh/year; washing machine 0.5-2.0 kWh/cycle; air conditioner 1-3 kWh/h. EVs consume 13-25 kWh/100 km; the Lucid Air achieves ~15.9 kWh/100 km (WLTP). Producing 1 tonne of primary aluminium requires ~13,000-15,000 kWh. Global electricity generation is ~29,165 TWh ≈ 2.9 × 10¹³ kWh/year. 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ = 3,412.1 BTU = 859.85 kcal.
About Gigajoules
A gigajoule (GJ) is 10⁹ J - the scale of fossil-fuel commodity volumes. One barrel of crude oil contains ~5.80 GJ; one metric tonne of hard coal ~29.3 GJ. Canadian energy bills express household consumption in GJ: average Canadian households use ~100-130 GJ/year. A 1 GW power plant at 33% efficiency burns ~10.9 GJ/h of fuel to generate 1 GWh = 3.6 GJ of electricity. Detonation of 1 tonne of TNT releases 4.184 GJ. 1 GJ = 10⁹ J = 277.78 kWh = 947,817 BTU = 9.4782 therms.
Quick Reference Table
| Kilowatt-Hours (kWh) | Gigajoules (GJ) |
|---|---|
| 1 kWh | 0.0036 GJ |
| 2 kWh | 0.0072 GJ |
| 5 kWh | 0.018 GJ |
| 10 kWh | 0.036 GJ |
| 25 kWh | 0.09 GJ |
| 50 kWh | 0.18 GJ |
| 100 kWh | 0.36 GJ |