Convert horsepower (HP) to kilowatts (kW) or the other way round, using the standard fixed engineering conversion factor.
Choose the conversion direction, then enter your known value.
Converted using the standard 0.746 factor
Horsepower (HP) and kilowatts (kW) are two different units used to express the same physical quantity: power, the rate at which work is done. Horsepower dates back to the 18th century, when engineer James Watt needed a way to compare the output of his early steam engines to the pulling capacity of a horse, since horses were the dominant source of mechanical power at the time. The unit stuck, and even today it remains the standard way many motor, engine, and pump nameplates express their rated power, particularly in the United States and on older or imported industrial equipment.
The kilowatt, by contrast, is part of the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of power used almost everywhere else in electrical and mechanical engineering — on motor nameplates, generator ratings, transformer specifications, and utility billing. Because HP and kW measure the exact same physical quantity, just scaled differently, the conversion between them is a fixed, unchanging constant: 1 HP is defined as exactly 0.746 kW (more precisely 0.7457 kW for mechanical horsepower, commonly rounded to 0.746 in engineering practice). This means converting in either direction is a simple multiplication or division — no other variables like voltage, current, or power factor are involved, unlike a conversion to kVA.
This conversion is used constantly in real engineering work: comparing an imported pump rated in HP against a locally available motor rated in kW, cross-checking nameplate data between two pieces of equipment specified in different unit systems, or converting an engine's HP rating into kW for inclusion in an SI-based technical report or specification sheet.
Worked example: Suppose an imported water pump is nameplated at 15 HP, and you need its rating in kW to match against a locally available motor. Using the formula: kW = 15 × 0.746 = 11.19 kW. So a local motor rated at approximately 11.2 kW (commonly rounded up to the nearest standard size, such as 11 kW or 15 kW depending on the manufacturer's range) would be the appropriate match. Conversely, if a generator is rated at 25 kW and you need its equivalent in horsepower for an older specification sheet: HP = 25 ÷ 0.746 ≈ 33.51 HP — useful when comparing against engine-driven generator sets that are typically rated in HP rather than kW.
HP and kW both measure power — the rate of doing work — just in different unit systems. Since they describe the exact same physical quantity, the relationship between them never changes: 1 HP always equals 0.746 kW. No voltage, current, or power factor is involved, unlike conversions to or from kVA.
The precise mechanical horsepower conversion is 0.7457 kW, commonly rounded to 0.746 in field and engineering practice. Electrical horsepower and metric horsepower use slightly different definitions, but 0.746 is the figure used on the vast majority of motor and pump nameplates.
Common cases include matching an imported motor or pump rated in HP against locally available kW-rated equipment, converting an engine's HP rating for an SI-based specification sheet, or cross-checking nameplate data between two pieces of equipment specified in different unit systems.
Yes — this uses the same standard conversion factor taught in electrical and mechanical engineering coursework and referenced in field handbooks. For safety-critical or code-compliance decisions, always verify results against your local electrical code and have them reviewed by a licensed engineer.