What's a Watt - Power benchmarks

VWEW's 'Lernsequenzen' (in German) [1], gives a few typical power benchmarks, allowing to develop an intuitive feeling for Watts, from mili-Watts and Megawatts:

  • Wristwatch: 0.02 mW
  • Bicycle light: 3 W
  • Person (continuous): around 100 W
  • Top sport (long-duration effort): around 340 W
  • Average power of a horse: around 500 W
  • Car: e.g. 55 kW
  • Truck: around 250 kW
  • Diesel locomotive: up to 3,000 kW
  • Nuclear power plant: 1,300 MW 

[1] VWEW, Lernsequenzen Heft 1, p 10

Log in to post comments

Follow us