Power Converter

How it works

Power is energy per unit of time, and this converter routes every unit through the watt. The metric steps are simple: 1 kW = 1,000 W and 1 MW = 1,000 kW. The horsepower family is where care is needed. There are two different horsepowers in common use. Mechanical (imperial) horsepower is about 745.7 W, while metric horsepower — the German PS, French ch, Italian CV — is about 735.5 W. They differ by roughly 1.4%, so a car quoted at 150 hp and one at 150 PS are not quite identical. Handy anchor: 1 kW ≈ 1.36 metric hp. BTU per hour belongs to the heating and air-conditioning world: 1 kW ≈ 3,412 BTU/h, which is why a 12,000 BTU air conditioner is a "3.5 kW" unit. Keep power (watts) distinct from energy (watt-hours): a 2 kW heater running two hours uses 4 kWh.