Power conversions
Power converter for electrical, mechanical and HVAC power units — watts, kilowatts, megawatts, mechanical horsepower, metric horsepower, BTU per hour, calories per second, foot-pounds per second and volt-amperes.
The SI power unit — 1 joule per second
Car engine and home electrical power unit — 1000 watts
Kilowatt to Watt
1 kW = 1,000 W
Kilowatt to Megawatt
1 kW = 0.001 MW
Kilowatt to Mechanical Horsepower
1 kW = 1.34102 hp
Kilowatt to Metric Horsepower
1 kW = 1.35962 PS
Kilowatt to BTU per Hour
1 kW = 3,412.14 BTU/h
Kilowatt to Foot-Pound per Second
1 kW = 737.562 ft·lbf/s
Kilowatt to Volt-Ampere
1 kW = 1,000 VA
Power station and large industrial unit — 1,000,000 watts
Megawatt to Watt
1 MW = 1,000,000 W
Megawatt to Kilowatt
1 MW = 1,000 kW
Megawatt to Mechanical Horsepower
1 MW = 1,341.02 hp
Megawatt to Metric Horsepower
1 MW = 1,359.62 PS
Megawatt to BTU per Hour
1 MW = 3,412,141.64 BTU/h
Megawatt to Foot-Pound per Second
1 MW = 737,562.15 ft·lbf/s
Megawatt to Volt-Ampere
1 MW = 1,000,000 VA
The imperial horsepower — 745.7 watts
Mechanical Horsepower to Watt
1 hp = 745.7 W
Mechanical Horsepower to Kilowatt
1 hp = 0.7457 kW
Mechanical Horsepower to Megawatt
1 hp = 0.0007457 MW
Mechanical Horsepower to Metric Horsepower
1 hp = 1.01387 PS
Mechanical Horsepower to BTU per Hour
1 hp = 2,544.43 BTU/h
Mechanical Horsepower to Foot-Pound per Second
1 hp = 550 ft·lbf/s
Mechanical Horsepower to Volt-Ampere
1 hp = 745.7 VA
European car-marketing power unit — 735.5 watts
Metric Horsepower to Watt
1 PS = 735.499 W
Metric Horsepower to Kilowatt
1 PS = 0.7355 kW
Metric Horsepower to Megawatt
1 PS = 0.0007355 MW
Metric Horsepower to Mechanical Horsepower
1 PS = 0.9863 hp
Metric Horsepower to BTU per Hour
1 PS = 2,509.63 BTU/h
Metric Horsepower to Foot-Pound per Second
1 PS = 542.476 ft·lbf/s
Metric Horsepower to Volt-Ampere
1 PS = 735.499 VA
The US HVAC and air-conditioner unit — 0.293 W
BTU per Hour to Watt
1 BTU/h = 0.2931 W
BTU per Hour to Kilowatt
1 BTU/h = 0.0002931 kW
BTU per Hour to Megawatt
1 BTU/h = 2.9307e-7 MW
BTU per Hour to Mechanical Horsepower
1 BTU/h = 0.000393 hp
BTU per Hour to Metric Horsepower
1 BTU/h = 0.0003985 PS
BTU per Hour to Foot-Pound per Second
1 BTU/h = 0.2162 ft·lbf/s
BTU per Hour to Volt-Ampere
1 BTU/h = 0.2931 VA
Historical US mechanical power unit — 1.356 W
Foot-Pound per Second to Watt
1 ft·lbf/s = 1.35582 W
Foot-Pound per Second to Kilowatt
1 ft·lbf/s = 0.001356 kW
Foot-Pound per Second to Megawatt
1 ft·lbf/s = 1.3558e-6 MW
Foot-Pound per Second to Mechanical Horsepower
1 ft·lbf/s = 0.001818 hp
Foot-Pound per Second to Metric Horsepower
1 ft·lbf/s = 0.001843 PS
Foot-Pound per Second to BTU per Hour
1 ft·lbf/s = 4.62624 BTU/h
Foot-Pound per Second to Volt-Ampere
1 ft·lbf/s = 1.35582 VA
AC apparent power — equals watts only for resistive loads
Volt-Ampere to Watt
1 VA = 1 W
Volt-Ampere to Kilowatt
1 VA = 0.001 kW
Volt-Ampere to Megawatt
1 VA = 1.0000e-6 MW
Volt-Ampere to Mechanical Horsepower
1 VA = 0.001341 hp
Volt-Ampere to Metric Horsepower
1 VA = 0.00136 PS
Volt-Ampere to BTU per Hour
1 VA = 3.41214 BTU/h
Volt-Ampere to Foot-Pound per Second
1 VA = 0.7376 ft·lbf/s
Tips for power conversions
Power and energy are different. Power (watts) is rate of energy transfer; energy (joules, kWh) is the total amount.
1 kW = 1.34 hp (mechanical) = 1.36 hp (metric, PS in Germany).
Car engines: 80 kW typical city car; 200+ kW performance cars.
Home consumption averages 0.3–0.5 kW continuous (EU).
Common mistakes to avoid
Treating kW (power) and kWh (energy) as interchangeable.
Mixing mechanical horsepower (745.7 W) and metric horsepower (735.5 W).
Using BTU (energy) instead of BTU/h (power) on HVAC specs.
Confusing VA (apparent power) with W (real power) in electronics.
Learn about each unit
Full encyclopedia page for every power unit — definition, history, uses, tips.