Power Converter (kW, hp, BTU/h)

Power Converter changes a power rating between watts, kilowatts, megawatts, horsepower, BTU per hour, tons of refrigeration and kilocalories per hour. It is made for the figures people actually meet: a car’s engine in PS or bhp, a motor or pump in hp, an air conditioner in “tons” or BTU/h, a heater or geyser in kilowatts, a generator or solar plant in megawatts. There are two horsepowers, and the converter keeps them apart: metric horsepower (PS), used by Indian and European car makers, is exactly 735.49875 W, while mechanical horsepower (hp), used in the US and UK, is 550 foot-pounds per second, about 745.70 W. An AC “ton” is a ton of refrigeration, 12,000 BTU per hour, about 3.517 kW of cooling — not the electricity it draws.

1. Type the power.
2. Choose its unit and the one you want, or press a common conversion.
3. Read the answer and every other unit in the table.

• An air conditioner’s tonnage is cooling output, not power use. A 1.5 ton AC moves about 5.3 kW of heat but draws roughly 1 to 2 kW of electricity, depending on its star rating.
• Engine power figures depend on how they were measured (at the crank or the wheels, which standard); converting the unit does not change that.
• Boiler and electrical horsepower are other definitions and are not included.
• For energy used over time (kWh), use the power calculator or the energy units in the Unit Converter.
• Conversions happen in your browser; nothing is sent.

Mechanical horsepower is about 0.7457 kW; metric horsepower (PS) is about 0.7355 kW. A 100 PS engine is 73.5 kW.

1.5 tons of refrigeration is 18,000 BTU/h of cooling, about 5,275 W. The electricity it uses is much less; check its star label.

Brake horsepower is horsepower measured at the engine’s crankshaft. The unit is the same; in India a “bhp” figure is often actually in PS.

Divide by about 3.412. A 12,000 BTU/h air conditioner (1 ton) moves about 3,517 W of heat.