Power Converter
Convert a power between watts, kilowatts, megawatts, mechanical and metric horsepower, and BTU per hour.
Result
Worked example
1 kW = 1,000 W. 1 mechanical horsepower = 745.69987158227022 W, while 1 metric horsepower (PS) = 735.49875 W, so 1 kW ≈ 1.34102209 mechanical hp but ≈ 1.359621617 PS. The two horsepowers are different units.
How it works
Every unit converts through the watt using exact defined factors. Horsepower is not one unit, so it is never labelled plain “hp”: mechanical horsepower is 550 foot pound-force per second (745.69987158227022 W) and metric horsepower (PS) is 75 kilogram-force metres per second (735.49875 W). BTU per hour uses the International Table BTU, 1,055.05585262 J, divided by 3,600 seconds. Electric, boiler and refrigeration-ton units are not included.
Signed values are accepted: a negative power can represent export or direction by convention. Power is a rate and energy is an amount: use the Energy Converter for joules, kilowatt-hours and calories.
A result written as a plain number is exact. A result starting with “≈” has been rounded to 10 significant figures, because its exact decimal never ends or is too long to read comfortably. When an exact value is long, its full digits are shown underneath. The calculation itself is never rounded: only the display is.
What this result means
The converted value uses exact, defined conversion factors. A plain number is exact; a result starting with “≈” is rounded to 10 significant figures.
Assumptions and limitations
- Mechanical and metric horsepower are different units and are never labelled plain “hp”.
- Electric, boiler and refrigeration-ton units are not included.