kW to BTU Calculator
Convert kW to BTU per hour and to tons of cooling. WattSimple separates the two cases most converters blur together — heat delivered directly, and the electrical input to a heat pump, which delivers several times more heat than it consumes.
1 kW = 3,412.14 BTU per hour. That conversion is exact for heat delivered, which is why it works directly for resistance heating. A heat pump is different: it moves heat rather than creating it, so 3.5 kW of electricity at a COP of 3.2 delivers about 11.2 kW of heat. Mixing the two up is the most common error in HVAC unit conversion.
Heat output
11,942 BTU/h
- Power in
- 3.5 kW
- BTU per hour
- 11,942
- Tons of refrigeration
- 1 tons
- MBH (thousand BTU/h)
- 11.94
Equipment that size
Closest nominal capacity: 12,000 BTU/h — 1 ton — mini-split, large room.
Nominal capacities only. Real equipment selection follows an ACCA Manual J load calculation for the specific building, then Manual S for equipment matching — not a conversion or a rule of thumb per square foot.
1 kW = 3,412.142 BTU/h · 1 ton = 12,000 BTU/h
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Open converterSources & standards
This tool's methodology and data follow US standards and authoritative public datasets: