Convert power between watts, kilowatts, megawatts, mechanical horsepower, metric horsepower (PS), and BTU per hour.
Enter a value to convert.
| Unit | Equals |
|---|---|
| 1 Kilowatt | 1,000 Watts |
| 1 Megawatt | 1,000,000 Watts |
| 1 Horsepower (Mechanical) | 745.6998715823 Watts |
| 1 Horsepower (Metric, PS) | 735.49875 Watts |
| 1 BTU per Hour | 0.29307107 Watts |
A power converter changes a measurement of the rate of energy transfer from one unit to another while representing the same physical power — 1 kilowatt and about 1.34 mechanical horsepower describe the same power output, just counted in different units. Power ratings show up on appliances, engines, generators, and HVAC equipment, and different industries and regions default to different units.
"Horsepower" is not one single unit — there are multiple definitions in use, and the two most common are not interchangeable. Mixing them up is a common source of confusion when comparing car and engine specs across regions.
The two differ by about 1.4%. A car listed at "300 PS" in a European spec sheet is producing slightly less power than a car listed at "300 hp" using the mechanical definition. It's a small difference per unit, but it matters when comparing specs precisely across regions, or when converting a manufacturer's stated output into a different market's convention.
The SI unit of power, equal to one joule per second. It's the base unit this converter uses internally.
1,000 watts. Used for household appliances, electric motors, and small generators.
1,000,000 watts. Used for power plants, large industrial equipment, and utility-scale generation.
BTU per hour (BTU/h) measures a rate of heating or cooling output — how much heat is added or removed per hour. It's the standard unit for rating HVAC equipment: furnaces, air conditioners, and space heaters are commonly labeled with BTU/h ratings (often just called "BTU" on the box). 1 BTU/h is approximately 0.29307107 watts, so a 12,000 BTU/h air conditioner is roughly equivalent to 3,517 watts of cooling power.
Power conversions come up when comparing car or engine specs listed in mechanical horsepower versus metric horsepower (PS), checking the wattage of electrical appliances against a circuit's capacity, sizing HVAC equipment rated in BTU/h against a room's needs, evaluating generator or solar panel output ratings, and working through physics and engineering problems.
Mechanical horsepower (used in the US and UK) equals 745.6998715822702 watts. Metric horsepower, or PS (used in much of Europe, e.g. on car spec sheets), equals 735.49875 watts. Metric horsepower is about 1.4% smaller, so the same number of "horsepower" means slightly different power depending on which definition is used.
One mechanical horsepower is about 745.7 watts. One metric horsepower (PS) is about 735.5 watts.
Divide the number of watts by 745.6998715822702 for mechanical horsepower, or by 735.49875 for metric horsepower (PS). For kilowatts, multiply by 1,000 first to get watts.
PS (from the German "Pferdestärke") is metric horsepower, equal to 735.49875 watts. It is the horsepower unit commonly used on European car spec sheets, and it is not directly interchangeable with US mechanical horsepower.
There are exactly 1,000 watts in a kilowatt.
BTU per hour (BTU/h) measures the rate of heating or cooling output, commonly used to rate furnaces, air conditioners, and space heaters. 1 BTU/h ≈ 0.29307107 watts.
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