Power Reference Sheet
Conversions
SI power units
- 1 watt (W) = 1 J/s
- 1 kilowatt (kW) = 1,000 W
- 1 megawatt (MW) = 1,000,000 W
- 1 gigawatt (GW) = 1,000,000,000 W
- 1 cal/s = 4.184 W
Other common units
- 1 horsepower (hp) ≈ 745.6998716 W
- 1 BTU/h ≈ 0.2930710702 W
- 1 ft·lb/s ≈ 1.355817948 W
Other → SI
- 500 BTU/h ≈ 146.5355 W
- 2 hp ≈ 1,491.3997 W (≈ 1.49 kW)
- 10 ft·lb/s ≈ 13.55817948 W
SI → Other
- 750 W ≈ 1.006 hp
- 1 kW ≈ 3,412.141633 BTU/h
- 100 W ≈ 73.756 ft·lb/s
Quick benchmarks
- LED bulb: 9–12 W
- Home microwave: ~1 kW
- Electric dryer: 2–5 kW
- Compact EV (peak): 100–150 kW
Table: factors to watts (W)
| Unit |
Symbol |
Factor → W |
| Watts |
W |
1 |
| Kilowatts |
kW |
1,000 |
| Megawatts |
MW |
1,000,000 |
| Gigawatts |
GW |
1,000,000,000 |
| Horsepower (mechanical) |
hp |
745.6998716 |
| BTU per hour |
BTU/h |
0.2930710702 |
| Calories per second |
cal/s |
4.184 |
| Foot-pounds per second |
ft·lb/s |
1.355817948 |
