BTU to Tons of Refrigeration Converter
Convert cooling or heating capacity between BTU/hr, tons of refrigeration, kilowatts, watts and kcal/hr. Used for sizing air conditioners, chillers, heat pumps and refrigeration equipment. Enter any value in any unit to get all equivalents instantly.
Convert from
1 ton of refrigeration = 12,000 BTU/hr = 3.517 kW
- 1
Input (BTU/hr)
24,000 - 2
Tons of refrigeration
24,000 ÷ 12,000 = 2
How does this calculator work?
One ton of refrigeration equals 12,000 BTU/hr, 3.51685 kW, or 3,024 kcal/hr. To convert BTU/hr to tons, divide by 12,000; to convert kW to tons, divide by 3.517. This converter handles all five common HVAC capacity units instantly.
Formula
How this is calculated
The "ton of refrigeration" is a traditional unit of cooling capacity still widely used in the US and the HVAC industry. It originates from the amount of heat required to melt one short ton (2,000 lb) of ice at 32°F (0°C) over 24 hours. This works out to 288,000 BTU per day, or 12,000 BTU per hour — the definition used today. The BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water by 1°F at its maximum density.
Converting between units is straightforward using exact conversion factors: 1 BTU/hr = 0.29307 W, so 12,000 BTU/hr = 3,516.85 W = 3.51685 kW per ton. In countries using the metric system, cooling capacity is expressed in kilowatts, making the kW↔ton conversion the most practically useful. The kcal/hr unit (1 ton ≈ 3,024 kcal/hr) appears in older Japanese and some Asian HVAC standards.
For HVAC sizing, a rule of thumb is approximately 400–600 square feet of conditioned floor space per ton of cooling, though this depends heavily on climate, insulation, window area, and occupancy. This converter performs pure unit conversion using the exact definitional constants — for actual equipment sizing, consult an HVAC engineer or use a Manual J load calculation.
Frequently asked questions
The ton unit dates from the era of ice-based cooling. Before mechanical refrigeration, ice was used to cool buildings. The cooling capacity needed to replace one ton of melting ice per day became the standard reference, giving 12,000 BTU/hr. The name survived into the mechanical refrigeration era and is still the dominant unit in US HVAC.
A common rule of thumb is 20 BTU/hr per square foot of floor area (about 6,000 BTU/hr per 300 sq ft, or 0.5 ton). Adjust upward for high ceilings, poor insulation, many windows, hot climates, or high occupancy. For accurate sizing, use ACCA Manual J load calculations rather than rules of thumb.
A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is a unit of energy — the heat needed to raise 1 lb of water by 1°F. BTU/hr (or BTUH) is a unit of power (energy per unit time) — the rate of heat transfer. Air conditioner capacity is a rate, so the correct unit is BTU/hr. Many people say "BTU" when they mean "BTU/hr" in casual usage.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). BTU to Tons of Refrigeration Converter [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/btu-to-tons-converter
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "BTU to Tons of Refrigeration Converter." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/btu-to-tons-converter.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "BTU to Tons of Refrigeration Converter," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/btu-to-tons-converter
@misc{wecalculate_btu_to_tons_converter, title = {BTU to Tons of Refrigeration Converter}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/btu-to-tons-converter}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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