What is an energy converter?
An energy converter is an online tool that lets you quickly and accurately convert between energy units. It supports joules, kilojoules, calories, kilocalories, watt-hours, kilowatt-hours and British thermal units (BTU).
What is energy?
Energy is the capacity to do work or produce heat. It is measured in many different units depending on the context: joules in physics, calories in nutrition and kilowatt-hours on electricity bills.
What are the energy conversion formulas?
Key energy conversion formulas:
- 1 kilocalorie (kcal) = 4184 joules (J)
- 1 calorie (cal) = 4.184 joules
- 1 kilojoule (kJ) = 1000 joules
- 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = 3,600,000 joules
- 1 watt-hour (Wh) = 3600 joules
- 1 BTU = 1055.06 joules
- 1 kilowatt-hour = 860.42 kilocalories
Energy conversion examples
Nutrition: 2000 kcal = 8368 kJ. A typical daily caloric intake for an adult, often shown in both units on food labels.
Electricity: 100 kWh = 360,000 kJ. A monthly electricity usage for a small apartment.
Heating: 50,000 BTU = 52,753 kJ. The energy output of a medium-sized gas furnace per hour.
When to use an energy converter?
An energy converter is useful when reading food labels that show both calories and kilojoules, comparing electricity costs, understanding heating system specifications or solving physics problems that require converting between energy units.