Kilowatts to BTUs per Hour Converter

To convert a measurement in kilowatts to btus per hour, multiply the value by 3,412.1416. The conversion factor comes from the relationship between both units and the watt.

For example, to convert 5 kW to btus per hour: 5 × 3,412.1416 = 17,060.7082 BTU/h.

A kilowatt equals 1,000 watts and is the standard unit for the power of motors, heaters, and electric vehicles. As electrical machinery grew more powerful, the kilowatt became the practical unit for rating engines and appliances, and it is now the metric counterpart to horsepower in automotive specifications.

Common uses of kilowatts include: Electric vehicle motor power; Home appliance and heater ratings; Car engine output (metric); Solar array and generator capacity.

A BTU per hour is a unit of power equal to about 0.293 watts, used to rate the heating and cooling capacity of HVAC equipment. Derived from the British thermal unit, BTU/h became the standard rating for air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps in the United States, where a '12,000 BTU' unit describes one ton of cooling.

Common uses of btus per hour include: Air conditioner cooling capacity; Furnace and heat-pump ratings; HVAC load calculations; Radiator and boiler output.

HVAC sizing spans both units. Heating and cooling equipment is rated in kilowatts in metric markets but in BTU per hour in the US, so converting a 3.5 kW air conditioner to about 11,900 BTU/h lets you match capacity across catalogs when specifying a system.

Here are some common values converted:

1 kW = 3,412.1416 BTU/h 5 kW = 17,060.7082 BTU/h 10 kW = 34,121.4163 BTU/h 50 kW = 170,607.0817 BTU/h 100 kW = 341,214.1633 BTU/h