Kilovolt-Amps (kVA) to Horsepower Conversion Calculator

Enter apparent power (kVA) and power factor to calculate the mechanical horsepower a motor can draw.

How to Use the Kilovolt-Amps (kVA) to Horsepower Calculator

Apparent power in kVA and power factor as a decimal between 0 and 1 — that's the entire input. No voltage or current field, because the conversion from kVA down to a mechanical rating never needs them.

This runs the Horsepower to kVA calculator's math in reverse — real power comes first, mechanical units second:

kVA → kW: kW = kVA × PF
kW → HP:  HP = (kW × 1000) ÷ 745.7
Combined: HP = (kVA × PF × 1000) ÷ 745.7

A 7.5 kVA generator running at a 0.82 power factor can support roughly 8.25 HP of motor load. Push the power factor down to 0.6 — a poorly corrected load — and that same 7.5 kVA generator now supports only about 6.03 HP, even though its rated apparent capacity hasn't changed at all. The generator was never the limiting factor; the load's own power factor was.

That's the practical use case for this exact pairing of inputs: checking whether a generator or transformer rated in kVA can actually drive a motor rated in HP, once a realistic power factor — not an optimistic 1.0 — is accounted for.