Watt÷1000=kilowatts. Kilowatt×hours=kilowatt hours. Kilowatt hours×rate=cost. Probably it would be a good thing to know how to read the meter, which generally consists of four little dials which are read from right to left. The first dial measures the tens, the second the hundreds, the third the thousands, the fourth the ten thousands. Therefore if the hand in the left has passed 9, that would stand for 9000 In 2nd dial nearest to 1 that would stand for 100 In 3rd dial nearest to 2, that would stand for 20 In 4th dial nearest to 1, that would stand for 1 ---- 9121 The total is 9121 kilowatt hours and this multiplied by the rate (say ten cents) as it is in some places, would mean that the bill for this consumption would be $92.2. Now, knowing from your last month’s bill that the reading of the meter then was 82000--by subtracting you find that the actual current consumed was 921 K. W. hours, which multiplied by rate (say ten cents) gives you $92.10 as your bill. To quote from an article in this series on electric ranges will give you an idea as to how to buy in accordance with voltage and how the cost is reckoned in watts: “It is necessary when ordering a range to give the voltage of your electricity supply. The stoves are usually prepared for 110-220, 110 volts with two wire service from the street or 110-220 volts with three wire service. In some stoves the cut-out box is built on the range directly back of the switches. This, then, can be easily opened if anything happens. In the stock stove there is made an extra charge for voltage exceeding 220 or less than 110, because alterations have to be made. According to the size of heating elements in the stove, etc., the wattage runs from 10,000 watts or 10 kilowatts, which is the same thing, to about 2500 watts, or 2¹⁄₂ kilowatts on a small three-heating-unit range. This gives its total capacity if everything goes at once. The number of watts used, multiplied by our local rate, say four cents, gives the cost per kilowatt hour, which in this case would be 40 cents per hour. Have you ever wondered how electricity changes from current to heat? Have you ever wondered how we can cook, and iron, and warm a room by it? It is due to electricity’s resistance, which is measured in ohms. It is resistance which is turned into heat. The process of overcoming resistance results in throwing off heat. It is quite familiar. Did you ever rub a piece of wood in the palm of your hand for a little while and feel the heat given off? We call it friction, but it is really the giving off of heat due to expenditure of mechanical energy.