BTU to kWh Converter – Free Energy Calculator for US Homes

Free BTU to kilowatt hours calculator built for American homeowners and HVAC pros. Size your AC, compare a gas furnace to a heat pump, and decode your utility bill in seconds.

US Energy Converter - Joules, BTUs, kWh & Calories

1 btu = 0.0002930722 kwh

The quick answer for 1 BTU — type any value below for the exact result

Enter BTU

btu

BTU

Result in Kilowatt Hours

kwh

Kilowatt Hours

BTU to kWh Conversion Formula

Multiply the BTU figure by 2.93072e-4 (0.000293072) to get kilowatt hours. The math traces back to exact definitions: one BTU is 1055.06 joules and one kilowatt hour is 3,600,000 joules, giving a ratio of 0.000293072 — or, flipped around, 3,412.13 BTU in every kWh.

1 btu = 0.0002930722 kwh

BTU and Kilowatt Hours Explained

BTU (btu)

The British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the imperial heat unit: the energy needed to raise one pound of water by 1°F, equal to 1055.06 joules. American HVAC equipment lives in BTU per hour — window air conditioners run 5,000 to 12,000 BTU/h, residential furnaces span 40,000 to 120,000 BTU/h, and gas bills arrive in therms of 100,000 BTU apiece. For a gut feel: one BTU is about the heat given off by a burning wooden kitchen match.

Where it is used: The standard across US heating, cooling, barbecue, and fuel industries; it also shows up on EnergyGuide labels, Energy Star paperwork, and in international LNG trading contracts.

Origin: Traces back to 19th-century British steam engineering; the International Table definition pinning it at 1055.06 J was standardized in the 1950s so imperial and metric systems had a firm bridge.

Kilowatt Hours (kwh)

The kilowatt hour (kWh) is the billing unit of American electricity: one kilowatt sustained for one hour, equal to 3,600,000 joules or 3,412.13 BTU. Every electric meter in the country counts it, and a typical US household burns through about 30 kWh a day — more during a Phoenix July when the AC barely rests. For heating comparisons, the kWh is the common denominator that puts electric heat pumps, resistance heaters, and gas furnaces (converted from BTU) on one price sheet.

Where it is used: Universal on US electricity bills, EV battery specs, appliance EnergyGuide labels, and any cost comparison that involves plugging something in.

Origin: Created by electric utilities in the 1880s as the natural billing unit of power multiplied by time; adopted for trade worldwide even though the SI system prefers the joule.

BTU to Kilowatt Hours Conversion Table

BTU (btu)	Kilowatt Hours (kwh)
1 btu	0.0002930722 kwh
10 btu	0.0029307222 kwh
100 btu	0.0293072222 kwh
500 btu	0.1465361111 kwh
1000 btu	0.2930722222 kwh
5000 btu	1.4653611111 kwh
9000 btu	2.63765 kwh
12000 btu	3.5168666667 kwh
18000 btu	5.2753 kwh
24000 btu	7.0337333333 kwh
36000 btu	10.5506 kwh
60000 btu	17.5843333333 kwh
91500 btu	26.8161083333 kwh
100000 btu	29.3072222222 kwh

Kilowatt Hours to BTU Conversion Table

Kilowatt Hours (kwh)	BTU (btu)
0.001 kwh	3.4121282202 btu
0.01 kwh	34.121282202 btu
0.1 kwh	341.2128220196 btu
0.25 kwh	853.032055049 btu
0.5 kwh	1706.064110098 btu
1 kwh	3412.128220196 btu
2 kwh	6824.256440392 btu
3.5 kwh	11942.448770686 btu
5 kwh	17060.64110098 btu
10 kwh	34121.2822019601 btu
30 kwh	102363.8466058802 btu
100 kwh	341212.8220196008 btu

BTU to Kilowatt Hours in Everyday Objects

Common real-world examples that make BTU and Kilowatt Hours easy to picture at a glance.

	BTU (btu)	Kilowatt Hours (kwh)
A wooden kitchen match burning	1 btu	0.0002930722 kwh
A window AC, one hour	12000 btu	3.5168666667 kwh
A 3-ton central AC, one hour	36000 btu	10.5506 kwh
A gas furnace, one hour	60000 btu	17.5843333333 kwh
A therm of natural gas	100000 btu	29.3072222222 kwh
A gallon of propane	91500 btu	26.8161083333 kwh

When You Need BTU to Kilowatt Hours Conversions

Window Air Conditioner Running Costs

A bedroom unit rated 8,000 BTU/h moves 2.34458 kWh of heat per hour. Multiplying by your local electric rate turns the yellow EnergyGuide tag into a real monthly bill estimate before you swipe the card at the home improvement store.

Gas Furnace Versus Heat Pump Decision

Convert the furnace output first: an 80,000 BTU/h model delivers 23.4458 kWh of heat hourly. Set gas cost per therm against electricity per kWh to see which system heats cheaper where you live — a call getting more interesting as rebates push heat pump adoption across the Midwest and Northeast.

Energy Star Document Review

Efficiency filings list capacity in BTU/h and consumption in kWh. Converting a backyard pool heater's 150,000 BTU/h rating — a common spec in Arizona and Florida — to 43.9608 kWh of heat keeps compliance spreadsheets internally consistent.

Generator and Backup Power Planning

Standby generators are sized in kW while furnace blowers and AC loads show up in BTU/h. Converting a 48,000 BTU/h AC (14.0675 kWh per hour) into actual draw confirms whether a 20 kW whole-house generator carries the summer peak — critical math in hurricane-prone Florida or on the Gulf Coast.

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How to Use

1

Enter BTU

Type the BTU rating straight off an appliance's yellow EnergyGuide label or a spec sheet — common entries include 12,000 for a bedroom window AC and 60,000 for a gas furnace in a typical suburban home
2

View Kilowatt Hours

The electricity-side number appears instantly: 36,000 BTU — the classic 3-ton central AC that cools most American homes — converts to 10.5506 kWh, ready to multiply by your utility rate
3

Copy or Swap

Copy the result for your notes, or hit Swap to run kilowatt hours back to BTU when double-checking a contractor's equipment specs
4

Estimate the Running Cost

Multiply the kWh by your electric rate: at the US average of roughly $0.17 per kWh, that 36,000 BTU hour of cooling runs about $1.79 — and a heat pump does the same job for a third of that thanks to its 3-4× efficiency

Why Use Be Converter?

Instant Conversion

Precise BTU to kWh results update in real time as you type — handy whether you're sizing a central AC before a Houston summer or comparing space heaters at the store

Exact Definition-Based Factor

Built on the exact definitions 1 BTU = 1055.06 J and 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ, so 341,213 BTU always converts to almost exactly 100 kWh — the same math behind your utility bill

Conversion Table

Quick reference across every HVAC scale — a 12,000 BTU window AC hour (3.51687 kWh), a 60,000 BTU furnace hour (17.5843 kWh), and a 100,000 BTU gas-bill therm (29.3072 kWh)

Bidirectional

One click swaps BTU to kilowatt hours and back, so you can put a gas furnace quote and an electric heat pump quote on the same playing field

Free & No Signup

No registration, no paywall, no conversion limits. Completely free, forever

Privacy First

Every calculation runs right in your browser. Nothing you type is ever sent to a server

Frequently Asked Questions

How many kWh are in 1 BTU?

1 BTU equals 2.93072e-4 kWh — about 0.000293 kWh. For HVAC work the reverse direction is more useful: 1 kWh = 3,412.13 BTU, because American equipment is rated in thousands of BTU, not fractions of a kWh.

How many kWh is a 12,000 BTU air conditioner?

12,000 BTU × 2.93072e-4 = 3.51687 kWh of heat moved per hour — the standard window or through-the-wall unit you'll find in apartments from New York to Los Angeles. That's cooling delivered, not power consumed: a modern unit with a 12 EER rating pulls only about 1 kWh of electricity to do it.

How do I convert 100,000 BTU to kWh?

Multiply by 2.93072e-4: 100,000 × 0.000293072 = 29.3072 kWh. One hundred thousand BTU is exactly one therm — the unit printed on natural gas bills across the US — so each therm on your statement is just over 29 kWh of heat.

How many BTU is 1 kilowatt hour?

1 kWh equals 3,412.13 BTU. That's the benchmark figure on Energy Star paperwork and heat pump spec sheets — and it's a hard physical limit: an electric resistance heater drawing 1 kWh can never release more than 3,412.13 BTU of heat.

Why do heat pumps list both BTU and kWh?

BTU measures the heat delivered (a 36,000 BTU/h unit moves 10.5506 kWh of heat each hour) while kWh measures the electricity you pay for. The ratio between them is the efficiency: moving 36,000 BTU while drawing 3 kWh means the pump delivers about 3.5 units of heat per unit of electricity — the kind of math behind federal heat pump rebates.

How many kWh is a gas furnace hour?

A typical 60,000 BTU/h furnace — right in the sweet spot for a 2,000 sq ft home in a cold-winter state like Minnesota — converts to 60,000 × 2.93072e-4 = 17.5843 kWh of heat per hour. At 80% efficiency, about 14.0675 kWh actually makes it through the ducts.

Is a BTU cheaper than a kWh?

One BTU is a sliver of energy — it takes 3,412.13 of them to equal 1 kWh. What matters is fuel cost: across most of the US, a therm of natural gas (100,000 BTU, or 29.3072 kWh) costs about what a handful of kWh of electricity does, which is why gas heat usually wins on price in the Midwest while the gap narrows in high-gas-cost states like California.

How do I size an air conditioner using kWh?

US sizing rules of thumb run about 20 BTU per square foot of cooling load: a 1,500 sq ft home in Dallas needs roughly 30,000 BTU, or 8.79216 kWh of cooling per hour. Divide by a seasonal efficiency of 3-4 to estimate the electricity you'll actually see on the bill.

About BTU to Kilowatt Hours Converter

This free online BTU to kilowatt hours converter delivers instant, accurate energy conversions for HVAC sizing, heating fuel comparisons, and utility bill analysis. Here's the American reality: air conditioners, furnaces, and water heaters are rated in BTU per hour, natural gas shows up on your bill in therms, but electricity is metered in kilowatt hours — and every gas-versus-electric decision eventually means translating between them. Built on the exact definitions 1 BTU = 1055.06 J and 1 kWh = 3,600,000 J, this tool converts BTU to kWh (factor 2.93072e-4) or the reverse (1 kWh = 3,412.13 BTU), so you can weigh a furnace against a heat pump, verify an Energy Star claim, or convert a gas bill measured in therms into electricity terms your meter would recognize.

Expert Tips for BTU to kWh Conversion

Memorize one number: 1 kWh = 3,412.13 BTU. Everything else falls out of it — 10 kWh = 34,121.3 BTU and 1 million BTU = 293.072 kWh.

Think in tons, the standard American AC unit: 12,000 BTU/h = 3.51687 kWh of hourly cooling (one ton), 24,000 BTU/h = 7.03373 kWh (two tons), 36,000 BTU/h = 10.5506 kWh (three tons).

Translate your gas bill: every therm (100,000 BTU) equals 29.3072 kWh of heat. If a therm costs less than 29.3 times your per-kWh electric rate, gas heating wins on raw fuel price — true across most of the lower 48, though the margin varies by state.

Heat pump shopping: convert the rated heating output from BTU/h to kWh (× 2.93072e-4), then divide by the rated electrical input in kW to get the COP. A 36,000 BTU/h unit drawing 3 kW works out to 10.5506 ÷ 3 ≈ COP 3.5 — well above the resistance-heating baseline of 1.0.

Annual energy audits: a US home heating with roughly 80 million BTU per winter uses about 23,445.8 kWh of heat. Laying that against your actual gas or electric billing exposes furnace and duct losses right away.