UnitConEnergy
Energy is measured in different units depending on the field. The SI unit is the joule, but people also encounter calories in nutrition, kilowatt-hours on electric bills, BTU in heating and cooling, and electronvolts in physics. This converter helps compare those systems while clarifying how they relate. It also notes that the food "Calorie" with a capital C is the same as one kilocalorie.
Common conversions
| From | To |
|---|---|
| 1 Kilowatt-hour | 3,600,000 Joule |
| 1 Kilocalorie | 4,184 Joule |
| 1 British Thermal Unit | 1,055.056 Joule |
| 1 Kilowatt-hour | 3,412.142 British Thermal Unit |
| 1 Electronvolt | 1.6022e-19 Joule |
| 1 Megajoule | 0.2777778 Kilowatt-hour |
| 500 Kilocalorie | 2,092 Kilojoule |
Frequently asked questions
One kilowatt-hour equals 3.6 million joules. It is the energy used when a 1,000-watt device runs for one hour.
In nutrition, a Calorie with a capital C means one kilocalorie. One kilocalorie equals 1,000 small scientific calories.
Divide BTU by 3412.14 to get kilowatt-hours. This is a common conversion when comparing heating and cooling energy with electrical energy.
An electronvolt is a very small unit of energy used in atomic and particle physics. It represents the energy gained by an electron moving through a potential difference of one volt.
One kilojoule equals about 239 calories, or 0.239 kilocalories. Food labels in some countries show both kilojoules and kilocalories for that reason.