Convert Between Units of Power
Pressure measures force distributed over an area. It appears in hydraulics, pneumatics, HVAC, process engineering, and geotechnical work. Common units include pascals (Pa), kilopascals (kPa), megapascals (MPa), bar, and pounds per square inch (psi). Converting pressure units helps when comparing standards, equipment ratings, and field measurements that use different unit systems.
About Power Conversions
Helpful context and notes for converting Power units.
Most pressure mistakes are not about the conversion factor, but about the pressure reference. Gauge pressure is relative to atmospheric pressure, absolute pressure is relative to vacuum, and differential pressure is a difference across a component. The unit may be the same while the meaning is different. Also watch for scale: 1 bar equals 100 kPa, and 1 psi is about 6.895 kPa. Mixing kPa and MPa is a common 1000× prefix issue in mechanical and civil specs.
Practical tip: sanity-check against typical values. Atmospheric pressure is about 101.325 kPa absolute. Municipal water pressure is often tens of psi. HVAC duct pressure differences are often in pascals or inches of water column, not psi. If you are converting for gas calculations, use absolute pressure. If you see a value off by 1000, check kPa vs MPa or Pa vs kPa.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fun Fact
In medieval times, a 'moment' was 1.5 minutes. So when someone says 'just a moment', you are officially allowed ninety seconds before rolling your eyes.
Supported Units
Common and engineering-specific units supported for this conversion.
- cW (centiwatts)
- daW (decawatts)
- dW (deciwatts)
- GW (gigawatts)
- hW (hectowatts)
- kW (kilowatts)
- HP (Mechanical Horsepowers)
- MW (megawatts)
- PS (Metric Horsepowers)
- μW (microwatts)
- mW (milliwatts)
- nW (nanowatts)
- pW (picowatts)
- TW (terawatts)
- W (watts)
Unit Categories
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