Units
Power converter
Horsepower to kilowatts and back. With metric and mechanical horsepower kept apart, since they differ by 1.4%.
Conversions are worked out on your own machine. No sign-up, no waiting and nothing sent anywhere.
Common conversions
| kilowatt | metric horsepower |
|---|---|
| 1 kW | 1.3596 CV |
| 2 kW | 2.7192 CV |
| 5 kW | 6.7981 CV |
| 10 kW | 13.596 CV |
| 50 kW | 67.981 CV |
| 100 kW | 135.962 CV |
| 500 kW | 679.811 CV |
| metric horsepower | kilowatt |
|---|---|
| 1 CV | 0.735499 kW |
| 2 CV | 1.471 kW |
| 5 CV | 3.6775 kW |
| 10 CV | 7.355 kW |
| 50 CV | 36.775 kW |
| 100 CV | 73.55 kW |
| 500 CV | 367.749 kW |
| mechanical horsepower | kilowatt |
|---|---|
| 1 hp | 0.7457 kW |
| 2 hp | 1.4914 kW |
| 5 hp | 3.7285 kW |
| 10 hp | 7.457 kW |
| 50 hp | 37.285 kW |
| 100 hp | 74.57 kW |
| 500 hp | 372.85 kW |
| kilowatt | BTU per hour |
|---|---|
| 1 kW | 3,412.14 BTU/h |
| 2 kW | 6,824.28 BTU/h |
| 5 kW | 17,060.71 BTU/h |
| 10 kW | 34,121.42 BTU/h |
| 50 kW | 170,607.08 BTU/h |
| 100 kW | 341,214.16 BTU/h |
| 500 kW | 1,706,070.82 BTU/h |
Worked out with the same factors the converter above uses.
There is a trap here that almost no converter separates: “horsepower” is two different units. Metric horsepower (CV, or PS in Germany, cv in France) is 735.49875 watts, and it is what European spec sheets use. Mechanical horsepower (hp) is 745.70 watts, the American and British one. The difference is 1.4%: a 150 CV engine is 148 hp, and in a car comparison that reorders the table.
The correct and unambiguous unit is the watt, one joule per second. More and more manufacturers publish power in kilowatts precisely to sidestep the confusion, and in the European Union it is mandatory on vehicle documents. A kilowatt is 1.36 CV or 1.34 hp.
In air conditioning you will meet power stated in BTU per hour, which is a power despite the name sounding like an energy: 1 BTU/h is 0.293 watts. And in older installations you may find the kilogram-force metre per second, which is exactly 9.80665 watts.
Every unit in this category
Frequently asked questions
How many kilowatts is 100 hp?
74.6 kW for mechanical horsepower, and 73.5 kW for 100 metric CV. They are not the same: the two units differ by 1.4%.
What is the difference between hp and CV?
CV (metric horsepower, European) is 735.5 W and hp (mechanical horsepower, Anglo-American) is 745.7 W. When a spec sheet just says “horsepower”, check which country it came from.
Why do spec sheets now list kilowatts?
Because the watt is the SI unit and has only one version. In the European Union the figure in kW must appear on vehicle documents precisely to avoid the horsepower ambiguity.