Power Converter
Convert between electrical and mechanical power units — watts, kilowatts, megawatts, gigawatts, milliwatts, horsepower (mechanical and metric), BTU per hour, foot-pounds per second, and calories per second.
Results from this calculator are estimates provided for general informational purposes only, based on formulas, rates, and standards commonly accepted as of 2026. Figures may differ slightly from other calculators or professional sources due to rounding methods, differing assumptions, or regional regulations, and rules may change over time. Always consult a qualified professional — such as a financial advisor, healthcare provider, or other relevant specialist — before making decisions based on these results.
Result
100 hp = 74.569987 kW
1 Horsepower (mechanical) = 0.74569987 Kilowatts
1 Kilowatt = 1.3410221 Horsepower
100 hp in every supported unit
What is a Power Converter?
Power is the rate at which energy is transferred or work is done — how fast a job gets done, not how much total energy it takes. A power converter translates a measurement in one power unit into its equivalent in another, for example turning horsepower into kilowatts, or BTU per hour into watts.
Several different power units coexist today because different industries and regions standardized on different systems long before international unification: horsepower (hp) remains the default for car and truck engines in the US and UK, metric horsepower (PS) fills the same role across continental Europe and Japan, watts and kilowatts are the universal SI units for electrical power everywhere, and BTU per hour is still the standard for rating air conditioners and furnaces in the US HVAC industry. Every unit below is defined relative to the watt, the SI base unit of power, so any conversion — electrical to mechanical, metric to imperial, or across systems — reduces to a single multiplication.
Conversion chart: Horsepower (mechanical) to Kilowatts
Conversion table
| Horsepower (mechanical) (hp) | Kilowatt (kW) |
|---|---|
| 0.01 hp | 0.0074569987 kW |
| 0.1 hp | 0.074569987 kW |
| 1 hp | 0.74569987 kW |
| 2 hp | 1.4913997 kW |
| 3 hp | 2.2370996 kW |
| 5 hp | 3.7284994 kW |
| 10 hp | 7.4569987 kW |
| 20 hp | 14.913997 kW |
| 50 hp | 37.284994 kW |
| 100 hp | 74.569987 kW |
| 1000 hp | 745.69987 kW |
Supported Units
| Unit | Symbol | In Watts |
|---|---|---|
| Milliwatt | mW | 0.001 W |
| Watt | W | 1 W |
| Kilowatt | kW | 1000 W |
| Megawatt | MW | 1000000 W |
| Gigawatt | GW | 1E+09 W |
| Horsepower (mechanical) | hp | 745.69987 W |
| Horsepower (metric) | PS | 735.49875 W |
| BTU per Hour | BTU/h | 0.29307107 W |
| Foot-pound per Second | ft·lb/s | 1.3558179 W |
| Calorie per Second | cal/s | 4.1868 W |
About These Parameters
- Value
- The number you want to convert, expressed in the "From" unit. Accepts decimals.
- From Unit
- The unit your input value is currently measured in.
- To Unit
- The unit you want the result converted into. Use the swap button to flip From and To instantly.
How Power Conversion Works
The Formula
Every unit here is defined by a fixed multiplier relative to the watt. To convert a value from one unit to another:
result = value × (factor of "From" unit ÷ factor of "To" unit)
For Horsepower (mechanical) → Kilowatt: multiply by 0.74569987. For example, 100 hp × 0.74569987 = 74.569987 kW.
Mechanical vs. Metric Horsepower
The two horsepower units on this page look almost identical but are not quite the same: mechanical horsepower (hp) is defined as exactly 550 foot-pounds of work per second (about 745.7 W) and is the standard for cars and engines in the US and UK, while metric horsepower (PS, from the German Pferdestärke) is defined as the power to lift 75 kilograms one meter per second (about 735.5 W) and is used across continental Europe, Japan, and much of Asia. The difference is small — about 1.4% — but it means a car advertised as "300 PS" in Germany produces slightly less power than a car advertised as "300 hp" in the US, even though the numbers look the same.
How James Watt Defined Horsepower
In the 1780s, engineer James Watt needed a way to convince mill owners that his improved steam engines could outperform the horses they already used to turn grinding wheels. He observed a strong horse turning a mill and calculated it could sustain roughly 33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute — equivalent to 550 foot-pounds per second — and fixed that figure as "one horsepower." The unit stuck long after steam engines and horses both gave way to electric and internal combustion power, and it remains the standard way vehicle and engine power is marketed today.
Example
100 hp equals 74.569987 kW. For scale, that's about 74.57× the power draw of a typical microwave oven (1,000 W, or 1.3410221 hp).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there two kinds of horsepower?
Mechanical horsepower (550 ft·lb/s, about 745.7 W) was defined in Britain by James Watt in the 1780s, while metric horsepower (PS, about 735.5 W) was defined later in continental Europe using kilograms and meters instead of pounds and feet. Both describe roughly "the power of a horse," but because they were defined with different unit systems the two figures differ by about 1.4%.
How many watts is 1 horsepower?
1 mechanical horsepower equals exactly 745.6998715823 watts (about 745.7 W), while 1 metric horsepower (PS) equals exactly 735.49875 watts (about 735.5 W). Both are close to but not the same as 1 kilowatt (1,000 W).
How accurate are these conversions?
Every conversion factor used here is the exact, internationally recognized value (e.g. 1 hp = exactly 745.6998715823 W, 1 PS = exactly 735.49875 W) — results are limited only by floating-point display precision, not by rounded conversion constants.