watt (W)
1 watt = 0.001 kilowatts
What is watt?
The watt is the SI base unit of power. It is universally used to measure the rate of energy consumption or production in electrical appliances, engines, lighting, and virtually all power-related specifications.
Notes: Base unit for power
Real-world uses
The watt is the SI unit of power, used to rate electrical appliances (a kettle is about 2,000 W, an LED bulb 8–12 W), solar panels, audio amplifiers, and motors. Electricity generation at power stations and renewable installations is measured in watts and its multiples.
History
Named after Scottish engineer James Watt (1736–1819), the unit was adopted by the Second Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882. Watt's improvements to the steam engine were foundational to the Industrial Revolution.
Common mistakes
Confusing watts (power) with watt-hours (energy). A 100 W light bulb uses 100 watt-hours of energy per hour. Also, equating wattage with brightness for LED bulbs—lumens measure brightness, watts measure power consumption.
When is this conversion used?
Converting watt to kilowatt is useful in the power domain when comparing values across different measurement standards or applying formulas that require a specific unit.
How to convert watt to kilowatt
To convert watt to kilowatt, multiply the value by 0.001.
Conversion formula (from base unit)
x * 1.0
Measurement standards
The watt is the SI derived unit of power, defined as one joule per second (kg·m²/s³). Horsepower remains in widespread informal use, particularly in the automotive industry, but has no single universal definition across regions.
Did you know?
The human body at rest produces about 80 watts of power — roughly enough to keep an incandescent light bulb glowing. During intense exercise, a trained cyclist can sustain over 400 watts, and elite sprinters briefly exceed 2,000 watts.
| watts | kilowatts |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 0.0001 |
| 0.5 | 0.0005 |
| 1 | 0.001 |
| 2 | 0.002 |
| 5 | 0.005 |
| 10 | 0.01 |
| 25 | 0.025 |
| 50 | 0.05 |
| 100 | 0.1 |
| 250 | 0.25 |
| 500 | 0.5 |
| 1,000 | 1 |
Common values
| watts | kilowatts | |
|---|---|---|
| LED light bulb | 10 watts | 0.01 kilowatts |
| Desktop computer | 300 watts | 0.3 kilowatts |
| Microwave oven | 1,000 watts | 1 kilowatt |
| Small car engine | 75,000 watts | 75 kilowatts |
| Wind turbine (large) | 3,000,000 watts | 3,000 kilowatts |
Full watt conversion table
| Unit | Value | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| kilowatt | 1 W = 0.001 kW | × 0.001 |
| horsepower (mechanical) | 1 W = 0.00134102 hp | × 0.00134102 |
| megawatt | 1 W = 0.000001 MW | × 0.000001 |
| gigawatt | 1 W = 1.000000e-09 GW | × 1.000000e-09 |
| milliwatt | 1 W = 1,000 mW | × 1,000 |
| microwatt | 1 W = 1,000,000 µW | × 1,000,000 |
| BTU per hour | 1 W = 3.41214164 BTU/h | × 3.41214164 |
| kilocalorie per hour | 1 W = 0.85984523 kcal/h | × 0.85984523 |
| ton of refrigeration | 1 W = 0.00028435 TR | × 0.00028435 |