This converter moves between the units engineers use to describe cooling capacity, heating capacity, and airflow. Enter a value in any field — tons, BTU/hr, kW, or MBH — and the others update instantly. It is the fastest way to translate a chiller or rooftop rating into the units a schedule, a load report, or a manufacturer’s data sheet happens to use.
The airflow row estimates supply CFM from cooling tons at a chosen CFM-per-ton ratio (defaulting to 400 CFM/ton). That airflow figure is a rule-of-thumb starting point for comfort cooling, not a substitute for an actual coil selection, which depends on the entering and leaving air conditions and the sensible heat ratio.
| Cooling capacity | 1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr = 3.517 kW = 12 MBH |
| Power | 1 kW = 3,412 BTU/hr · 1 MBH = 1,000 BTU/hr |
| Airflow estimate | CFM = tons × (CFM/ton), default 400 CFM/ton |
| Sensible relation | Q (BTU/hr) = 1.08 × CFM × ΔT (°F), at sea level |
The ton-of-refrigeration definition (12,000 BTU/hr) and the 3.412 BTU/hr per watt energy equivalence follow standard ASHRAE Fundamentals unit relations. The sensible-heat factor of 1.08 = 60 min/hr × 0.075 lb/ft³ × 0.24 Btu/lb·°F applies at standard sea-level air density; it drops at altitude. The 400 CFM/ton default is a conservative comfort-cooling rule of thumb — real coils run roughly 350–450 CFM/ton.