Convert Watts to Horsepower
Convert Watts to Horsepower instantly. 1 Watt (W) equals 0.001341 Horsepower (hp).
Watts to Horsepower conversion table
| Watts (W) | Horsepower (hp) |
|---|---|
| 1 W | 0.001341 hp |
| 2 W | 0.002682 hp |
| 3 W | 0.004023 hp |
| 5 W | 0.006705 hp |
| 10 W | 0.01341 hp |
| 20 W | 0.02682 hp |
| 50 W | 0.06705 hp |
| 100 W | 0.1341 hp |
| 500 W | 0.6705 hp |
| 1,000 W | 1.341 hp |
1 Watt = 0.001341 Horsepower · multiply Watts by 0.001341
About converting Watts to Horsepower
Watts (W) and Horsepower (hp) are both units of power, so converting between them is a single multiplication: multiply your Watts figure by 0.001341. Ten Watts comes to 0.01341 Horsepower, and a hundred works out at 0.1341 Horsepower.
Rule of thumb: going from Watts to Horsepower divides, so the figure always shrinks — it takes about 745.6999 Watts to make a single Horsepower. If your answer came out bigger, you have the conversion the wrong way round.
What is a Watt?
The watt is the SI unit of power — one joule per second — named after James Watt, whose steam-engine improvements did as much as anything to make the idea of power commercially interesting. It measures a rate, not an amount: a watt tells you how fast energy is being moved or converted and says nothing on its own about how much has been used. That is the entire difference between the watts printed on a light bulb and the kilowatt-hours printed on the bill. It is also deliberately universal — the same unit rates a bulb, a loudspeaker, an engine, a laser and a cyclist on a hill.
What is a Horsepower?
Horsepower is a marketing unit that became a standard. James Watt devised it to sell steam engines to mine owners who had never bought an engine but had bought plenty of horses: by measuring what a draught horse could actually lift over a working day, he could quote an engine as worth so many horses and let the buyer do the arithmetic. Mechanical or imperial horsepower is defined as exactly 550 foot-pounds-force per second, which is why it lands on no tidy figure in watts. Two and a half centuries after the horses left, it is still how cars, outboards and lawn tractors are advertised.
To put both in perspective: an LED bulb bright enough for a room draws about 10 watts, while a family hatchback makes something like 120 horsepower.
The converter above updates as you type, and the table lists common values for quick reference. Need the opposite direction? Use the Horsepower to Watts converter, or browse all Power converters.
Frequently asked questions
How many Horsepower are in one Watt?
There are 0.001341 Horsepower in one Watt.
How do I convert Watts to Horsepower?
Multiply the number of Watts by 0.001341. For example, 10 Watts = 0.01341 Horsepower.
What is 100 Watts in Horsepower?
100 Watts is equal to 0.1341 Horsepower.
How do I convert Horsepower to Watts?
Multiply the Horsepower value by 745.6999 (or divide by 0.001341).
Is this Watts to Horsepower conversion exact?
The definition is exact — Watts and Horsepower are both fixed against the same base by international agreement — but the decimal shown here is rounded for readability, because the true ratio does not terminate. For engineering or scientific work, carry more decimal places than this page displays.
What is a Watt?
The watt is the SI unit of power — one joule per second — named after James Watt, whose steam-engine improvements did as much as anything to make the idea of power commercially interesting. It measures a rate, not an amount: a watt tells you how fast energy is being moved or converted and says nothing on its own about how much has been used. That is the entire difference between the watts printed on a light bulb and the kilowatt-hours printed on the bill. It is also deliberately universal — the same unit rates a bulb, a loudspeaker, an engine, a laser and a cyclist on a hill.
What is a Horsepower?
Horsepower is a marketing unit that became a standard. James Watt devised it to sell steam engines to mine owners who had never bought an engine but had bought plenty of horses: by measuring what a draught horse could actually lift over a working day, he could quote an engine as worth so many horses and let the buyer do the arithmetic. Mechanical or imperial horsepower is defined as exactly 550 foot-pounds-force per second, which is why it lands on no tidy figure in watts. Two and a half centuries after the horses left, it is still how cars, outboards and lawn tractors are advertised.