20 W to BTU/h — 20 watts in BTU per hour
Exact 20 × 3.412142 = 68.242833
20 watts in other units
| Kilowatts | 0.02 | kW |
|---|---|---|
| Megawatts | 0.00002 | MW |
| Mechanical horsepower | 0.02682044 | hp |
| Metric horsepower | 0.02719243 | PS |
| BTU per hour | 68.242833 | BTU/h |
| Foot-pounds per second | 14.751243 | ft·lbf/s |
W to BTU/h at a glance
| Watts | BTU per hour |
|---|---|
| 1 W | 3.412142 BTU/h |
| 2 W | 6.824283 BTU/h |
| 3 W | 10.236425 BTU/h |
| 5 W | 17.060708 BTU/h |
| 10 W | 34.121416 BTU/h |
| 20 W | 68.242833 BTU/h |
| 25 W | 85.303541 BTU/h |
| 50 W | 170.607082 BTU/h |
| 100 W | 341.214163 BTU/h |
| 250 W | 853.035408 BTU/h |
| 500 W | 1,706.07 BTU/h |
| 1,000 W | 3,412.14 BTU/h |
How to convert watts to BTU per hour
Multiply by 3.412142 — one watt is 3.412142 BTU per hour. That factor is exact: it comes from the definition of the units rather than from a measurement, so it will not change and does not need rounding.
Working 20 × 3.412142 = 68.242833
In words: about sixty-eight BTU per hour.
What these units are
The watt and the BTU per hour are covered in the power unit guide, along with every other unit on this page.
Questions
How many BTU per hour are in a watt?
One watt is 3.412142 BTU per hour. This figure is exact — it comes from the definition of the unit, not a measurement.
What is 20 watts in BTU per hour?
20 watts is 68.242833 BTU per hour. The working is 20 × 3.412142 = 68.242833.
Why does the same car have two different horsepower figures?
Because there are two horsepowers. Metric horsepower, written PS or CV, is 735.49875 W; mechanical horsepower, written hp or bhp, is about 745.7 W. A car sold as 150 PS in Germany is 148 hp in Britain, and nothing about the engine has changed.
Where does 746 watts come from?
From James Watt, who needed to sell steam engines to people who owned horses. He measured a mill horse turning a wheel and settled on 550 foot-pounds per second — a figure most real horses cannot sustain, which made the comparison flattering to his engines.
How do I read an air conditioner's BTU rating?
BTU ratings are BTU per hour, a rate of heat movement, even when the "per hour" is dropped. A 12,000 BTU/h unit shifts about 3.5 kW of heat. That is not what it draws from the wall — a decent unit moves several times more heat than the electricity it consumes.
What is the difference between power and energy?
Power is a rate, energy is an amount. A kilowatt is how fast something uses energy; a kilowatt-hour is how much it used. A 2 kW heater running for three hours has a power of 2 kW throughout and has consumed 6 kWh. Bills are in energy; ratings are in power.