Convert BTU/hr to mechanical horsepower, metric HP or kW, convert horsepower back to BTU/hr, and find average power from energy over time.

BTU to HP Calculator

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BTU/hr → HP
HP → BTU/hr
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BTU to HP Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the horsepower from total BTUs over a time period (mechanical horsepower).

 HP = BTU / (T * 2544.433) 
  • Where HP is the total horsepower
  • BTU is the total number of British thermal units output by the system in the time period
  • T is the number of hours in the time period

To calculate the HP from BTU, first divide BTU by the time in hours to get BTU/h, then divide by 2544.433 (≈2545).

BTU/h to Horsepower Conversion Table (Mechanical HP, plus kW and Metric HP)
BTU/h Horsepower (hp) Kilowatts (kW) Metric HP (PS)
5000.1970.1470.199
1,0000.3930.2930.398
1,5000.5900.4400.598
2,0000.7860.5860.797
3,0001.1790.8791.195
5,0001.9651.4651.992
6,0002.3581.7582.391
8,0003.1442.3453.188
9,0003.5372.6383.586
10,0003.9302.9313.985
12,0004.7163.5174.782
18,0007.0745.2757.172
24,0009.4327.0349.563
30,00011.7908.79211.954
36,00014.14910.55114.345
42,00016.50712.30916.736
48,00018.86514.06719.127
60,00023.58117.58423.908
75,00029.47621.98029.885
100,00039.30129.30739.847
* Rounded to 3 decimals. Conversions use: 1 hp (mechanical) ≈ 2544.433 BTU/h; 1 kW ≈ 3412.142 BTU/h; 1 BTU/h ≈ 0.293071 W; 1 metric hp (PS) = 735.499 W.

What are BTUs and HP?

Definition:

HP is a unit of measure of power and BTUs are a unit of measure of energy, so to convert between the two, you must know the time it took to output the energy since power is a unit of energy per unit time.

How to Calculate HP from BTU?

Example Problem:

The following example outlines the steps and information needed to calculate BTU to HP.

First, determine the total BTUs output in the time period. In this example, the BTUs are 500.

Next, determine the total time. The total time for this problem is found to be 8 hours.

Finally, calculate the horsepower using the formula above:

HP = BTU / (T × 2544.433)

HP = 500 / (8 × 2544.433)

HP ≈ 0.0246 HP