Energy converter
Convert between joules, kilojoules, calories, kilocalories, watt-hours, kilowatt-hours and BTU, then watch that energy haul a one-tonne car up a hill.
That's about the same as one kilowatt-hour. That could lift a one-tonne car 367.1 m into the air.
What it means
What could that energy do?
The hill climb ignores friction and assumes a 1,000 kg car. Food calories on labels are kilocalories.
Every unit
Your energy in every unit
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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A kWh is a kettle for an hour
A kilowatt-hour is one kilowatt drawn for one hour, 3.6 million joules. Your kettle uses about 0.1 kWh to boil, so ten boils make one unit on the bill.
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Calories, big and small
The scientific calorie heats 1 gram of water by 1 °C. The food Calorie heats a kilogram, so it is a thousand of them. A 500-Calorie meal is really 500 kcal, or 2.1 MJ.
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Power is not energy
Watts measure how fast energy flows; kilowatt-hours measure how much was used. A 2 kW heater running 30 minutes uses 1 kWh, the same as a 1 kW heater for an hour.
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Popular amount of energy conversions
Background
About energy units
Energy comes in one flavour but many units, each from a different trade. Physics uses the joule, electricity bills the kilowatt-hour, food labels the kilocalorie, and heating engineers the BTU.
One kilowatt-hour is 3.6 million joules: a 1 kW kettle running for an hour.