BTU/h To kW Air Conditioning Calculator (Simple Converter)

The US and UK-produced air conditioners always have the same capacity unit: BTU/h or British Thermal Units. 

When it comes to measuring the power (capacity) of an air conditioner, everybody else (Europeans and most of the world) use kW or kiloWatts.

The question here is obvious:

How to convert BTU to kW?

It’s quite simple. You just need to know the conversion factor between BTU/h and kW. Here is how many kW does 1 BTU/h equal to:

1 BTU = 0.00029307108333333 kW

Example: How to convert 12000 BTU to kW? Simple. Just multiply BTUs by 0.00029307108333333 kW. Result: 12000 BTU is equal to 3.52 kW. 

To help you out, we have designed a BTU to kW calculator, complete with a BTU to kW chart. Further on, we also solve examples for 9000 BTU, 18000 BTU, and 24000 BTU.

We’ll look at what BTU or BTU/h (in HVAC, they are used interchangeably) and kW are. Let’s start with a simple way how to convert BTU/h to kW (just input BTU/h, and you’ll get the kW):

Convert BTU To kW (Calculator)

The key part when buying an air conditioner is to know how powerful it is. If you’re used to kW and get a BTU number, you don’t really know what the capacity is, and visa versa.

Here is the quick BTU/h to kW converter to help you choose the correct size of an air conditioner:

Further on, you will find a BTU to kW chart with calculated values of kW from 6,000 BTU/h to 60,000 BTU.

BTU and kW (Air Conditioner Capacity)

BTU stands for ‘British Thermal Unit‘. It denotes the amount of energy to raise 1 pound of water for 1 degree Fahrenheit. Honestly, this sentence makes sense only to the British.

BTU is a measure of energy, not power. To get power, we have to use some time unit as in ‘This or that air conditioner can produce 10,000 BTU of power per hour‘.

Let’s say we have an air conditioner with a capacity of 10,000 BTU. That’s a simplified description. In fact, we have an air conditioner that is capable of putting out 10,000 BTU per hour. The correct unit here is BTU/h.

kW, on the other hand, stands for kiloWatt. Watt is the basic unit of power (in the metric system Europeans use), and it’s basically the amount of power we have to give to a 1 kg object that starts moving with an acceleration of 1 m/s2. kiloWatt is just 1000 Watts. This sentence makes sense to Europeans who know a bit of physics.

For everybody who wants to see some example, here’s a convenient table:

BTU To kW Conversion Table

Here are a few standard BTU capacities converted to kW:

You can see that air conditioners with 3 kW have some decent power. Those with 10 kW can easily cool down a small house.

Here are some examples:

1. How to convert 9000 BTU to kW? 9000 BTU is equal to 2.64 kW.
2. How to convert 18000 BTU to kW? 18000 BTU is equal to 5.28 kW.
3. How to convert 24000 BTU to kW? 24000 BTU is equal to 7.03 kW.

For people who like to have an in-depth look, here are some equations for BTU to kW conversion:

How To Calculate kW From BTU For Air Conditioners

Physicists are the ones who use the basic procedure breakdown of the BTU to kW equation. The outtakes are then used by engineers designing air conditioners and other HVAC systems. For example, it’s handy to know how many BTUs is 1 kW when comparing natural gas and electric garage heaters’ energy output.

Here is this outtake that you can always use:

3412 BTU/h = 1 kW

This means that 1 kW is equal to 3412 BTU/h. You can easily convert kW to BTU here.

Here’s a rule of thumb if you’re a European looking at a US air conditioner.

Do you see that BTU number? Let’s say it’s 10,000 BTU.

To get a kW number, divide the BTU by about 3,000. For a 10,000 BTU portable air conditioner, you’ll calculate the power to be somewhere around 3.3 kW, right? It’s 2.93 kW, to be exact, but 3.3 kW is quite a good estimate.

BTU to kW conversion applies to different types of air conditioners:

• Mini-split AC units.
• Window AC units.
• Battery-powered air conditioners (like Zero Breeze Mark 2 AC unit).

In any case, make sure that you buy a powerful-enough air conditioner to cool certain footage of your home.