Cooling capacity converter
One ton of refrigeration is exactly 12,000 BTU/h, or 3.516852842067 kW: convert chiller and heat-pump capacity between tons, kilowatts, BTU per hour, watts and kcal per hour, with the same load shown in every unit. Free in your browser.
- Free
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Your data stays on your device
Run — free
Worked example
- Value
- 1
- From
- TR
- To
- kW
- Result
- 3.5168528421
- From label
- ton of refrigeration
- To label
- kilowatt
- Watts
- 3,516.8528420667
A refrigeration cooling capacity converter turns a nameplate or design load written in one heat-transfer-rate unit into another without hunting tables or hard-coding spreadsheet factors. Identical inputs always produce identical outputs with no network calls, no model sampling, and no clock dependence.
Supported units and how the conversion is computed
Factors follow industry and SI-linked conventions: one commercial ton of refrigeration is defined as exactly twelve thousand BTU per hour—the value printed on chillers, rooftop packages, and VRF outdoor units worldwide; one International Table BTU equals one thousand fifty-five point zero five five eight five two six two joules, so one BTU per hour is that joule figure divided by three thousand six hundred seconds; one kilowatt is exactly one thousand watts; and one thermochemical kilocalorie per hour is four thousand one hundred eighty-four joules divided by three thousand six hundred seconds.
Because the intermediate is always watts, converting A to B and B to A is consistent up to the published rounding of twelve decimal places, and there is no pairwise matrix that can drift out of sync. Energy totals in bare BTU or kilowatt-hours, room-sizing estimators, and Newton cooling time curves are intentionally out of scope so HVAC and process users get predictable capacity-rate results under one clear convention.
Where cooling capacity figures come up
Use the free in-browser cooling capacity converter when you need a quick tons-of-refrigeration-to-kilowatts, kilowatts-to-BTU-per-hour, or BTU/h-to-watts check while reading a chiller submittal, heat-pump datasheet, cold-room load summary, or refrigeration homework problem. Open the page, enter the number and units, and copy the result without installing a spreadsheet, a unit library, or a desktop calculator pack. Source inputs follow the same retention rules as other KIT parse items, and results are safe to cache because the algorithm is fully deterministic.
Authors shipping mobile apps or chatbots can map the result, formula, and multi-unit convenience fields directly into cards that show both the primary conversion and the same load in TR, kW, and BTU/h the way estimators, contractors, and technicians already annotate drawings.
What you can do with it
Chiller and heat-pump nameplate alignment
Convert tons of refrigeration on North American nameplates to kilowatts for SI datasheets, tenders, and BMS tags without hand-typed factor tables.
Cold-room and process load worksheets
Normalize BTU/h, kW, and TR on load summaries so estimators, contractors, and plant engineers share one capacity view in quotes and commissioning packs.
FAQ
How many kilowatts is one ton of refrigeration?
Exactly 12 000 × (1055.05585262 / 3600) / 1000 kW using the commercial TR definition and the International Table BTU. That is about 3.516852842067 kW per ton.
Is one ton of refrigeration exactly 12 000 BTU/h?
Yes for commercial refrigeration and HVAC nameplates. This tool uses that industry definition and the International Table BTU for the SI bridge.
Is the cooling capacity converter free?
The browser tool is free and runs locally.
Can it convert energy in BTU or kilowatt-hours?
No. It converts capacity, which is a rate of heat removal such as BTU per hour or kilowatts. Energy totals in BTU or kilowatt-hours, room-sizing estimates and cooling-time curves are left out on purpose.
Which BTU does the converter use?
It uses the International Table BTU of 1,055.05585262 joules. One BTU per hour is that energy spread over 3,600 seconds, which is how every BTU/h figure is turned into watts before it reaches the target unit.
Related tools
For developers — API access
Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.
API endpoint
Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.
Call it from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/conv/cooling-capacity \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"value":1,"from":"TR","to":"kW"}'const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/conv/cooling-capacity", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"value": 1,
"from": "TR",
"to": "kW"
})
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();import os, requests
res = requests.post(
"https://api.kit.forhosting.com/conv/cooling-capacity",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
json={
"value": 1,
"from": "TR",
"to": "kW"
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/conv/cooling-capacity", false, stream_context_create([
"http" => [
"method" => "POST",
"header" => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
"content" => '{"value":1,"from":"TR","to":"kW"}',
],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"value":1,"from":"TR","to":"kW"}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/conv/cooling-capacity", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)Example request
{
"value": 1,
"from": "TR",
"to": "kW"
}Example response
{
"task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"type": "conv.cooling_capacity",
"status": "queued",
"_links": {
"result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
}
}The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.
Pricing
Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.
Errors
| HTTP | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
401 | unauthorized | Missing or invalid API key. |
402 | insufficient_balance | Your balance doesn't cover the task price. |
404 | unknown_type | That task type doesn't exist. |
429 | rate_limited | Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling. |
Technical notes
The browser tool runs free on your device; the prepaid API charges $0.002 per successful item when pipelines need the same contract from servers and automation.
Supported units and how the conversion is computed
The converter accepts five refrigeration cooling-capacity families under stable canonical codes: TR for the commercial ton of refrigeration, kW for the kilowatt, btu_h for International Table British thermal units per hour, W for the SI watt, and kcal_h for the thermochemical kilocalorie per hour. Friendly aliases such as ton, tons, refrigeration ton, ton of refrigeration, RT, kilowatt, kilowatts, BTU/h, BTU per hour, watt, watts, kcal/h, and kilocalorie per hour are normalized case-insensitively so forms and APIs can pass either short codes or full names. Every request multiplies the input value by the exact watts-per-unit factor for the source, then divides by the watts-per-unit factor for the target.
Request shape, response fields, and unknown-unit errors
The error message names the bad field and lists the supported set so clients can correct forms without guessing. Negative values are allowed when you need signed capacity deltas in engineering pipelines; zero converts cleanly to zero in every target unit. Send a JSON body with three required fields: value as a finite number, from as the source unit string, and to as the target unit string. Aliases amount, capacity, and quantity are accepted for value; unit_from and source for from; unit_to and target for to. On success the response echoes the canonical from and to codes, human-readable from_label and to_label strings, the converted result, the intermediate watts quantity, the dimensionless factor from source to target, convenience fields tr, kw, btu_h, w, and kcal_h expressing the same capacity in every supported unit, a short formula line suitable for UI display, the method tag watts_bridge, the fixed list of units_supported, and a definitions object that republishes the constants used by the bridge so auditors can verify the path without opening source. Missing value, non-finite numbers such as NaN or Infinity, missing unit fields, values beyond the absolute magnitude ceiling, and any token that does not map to a supported unit fail with invalid_input and are not charged after the engine rejects the request. Identical inputs always yield identical JSON because the path is pure arithmetic with no randomness, no remote lookup, and no dependence on the wall clock, which makes the endpoint safe to pin in continuous-integration goldens and SDK contract tests. Kilowatt-scale chillers and watt-scale laboratory coolers share the same code path, so extreme magnitude pairs remain well-defined as long as IEEE double precision can represent the intermediate watts product.
Browser use, API pricing, and everyday HVAC workflows
Switch to the prepaid API when a load-calculation pipeline, equipment selection tool, BMS normalizer, quote configurator, or exam checker must convert refrigeration capacity at scale under a stable KIT contract at $0.002 per successful item; validation failures that raise invalid_input do not consume balance after rejection. Pair this endpoint with power or energy converters when a product pipeline needs several measure families, or call it alone when search traffic is specifically for refrigeration cooling capacity conversion—tons of refrigeration, kilowatts, and BTU per hour—rather than a general power switchboard or a room BTU sizing calculator.
Integration use cases
Homework and equipment APIs
Convert refrigeration capacity units in exam checkers and product configurators with a prepaid, deterministic API and clear invalid_input on unknown units.
Technical questions
Which units are supported?
TR (ton of refrigeration), kW, btu_h (BTU/h), W, and kcal_h, plus common aliases such as ton, RT, kilowatt, BTU/h, and kcal/h.
What happens on an unknown unit?
Unknown or missing units, non-finite values, and missing fields return invalid_input with a message that lists supported units. Failed validation is not charged.