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Kilojoules to Watt-hours Converter

Convert Kilojoules (kJ) to Watt-hours (Wh) instantly, or use the conversion table below to look up common values.

1 kJ = 0.277778 Wh

Kilojoules to Watt-hours conversion table

Kilojoules (kJ)Watt-hours (Wh)
10.277778
20.555556
30.833333
41.111111
51.388889
102.777778
256.944444
5013.888889
10027.777778

How to convert Kilojoules to Watt-hours

1 kJ equals 0.277778 Wh. Use the converter above for any value, or read the table for common conversions.

Wh = kJ × 0.2777777777777778 · kJ = Wh × 3.6

Multiply a kilojoules figure by 0.277778 to get watt-hours, or divide it by 3.6 to go the other way.

Worked examples

  • 1 kJ= 0.277778 Wh
  • 5 kJ= 1.388889 Wh
  • 10 kJ= 2.777778 Wh
  • 100 kJ= 27.777778 Wh
  • 500 kJ= 138.888889 Wh

What these units are

Kilojoules (kJ). A kilojoule is 1,000 joules. It is used for food energy in most countries outside the United States, and for small industrial figures.

Watt-hours (Wh). A watt-hour is the energy of one watt sustained for one hour — 3,600 joules. It is used for battery and power-bank capacity; a phone battery is typically 10 to 20 watt-hours.

All factors are exact definitions, so only the display is rounded.

Converting Kilojoules to Watt-hours in practice

Working in kilojoules

One kilojoule is exactly 1,000 joules, and the symbol is kJ. It is the joule multiple that food packaging commonly prints, with energy shown in kilojoules beside kilocalories, and chemistry uses it for reaction energies.

Nutrition panels, exercise machines and dietary advice report energy in kilojoules wherever the metric system is used. Materials and fuel data, such as energy content per kilogram, are tabulated in kilojoules as well.

The step from kilojoules to megajoules divides by exactly one thousand, so nothing is lost in the conversion. One kilocalorie equals 4.184 kilojoules, which is how the two columns on a food label correspond.

A reader who compares a kilojoule figure with a kilocalorie figure as though they were the same number will misjudge the energy by more than four times. The label's two columns state one amount in two units.

Kilojoules and kilocalories are the two energy columns on a food label, and the kilojoule figure is the larger number because one kilocalorie is 4.184 kilojoules. Megajoules take over where kilojoule figures become long, as they do for fuels.

Checking a kilojoules to watt-hours conversion

Energy units are defined against the joule, so every conversion in this dimension is a single exact multiplication by a published number rather than a chain of steps that could accumulate error.

The pair that needs care is the kilowatt-hour, because it looks like a power unit and is not. It is a watt sustained for an hour, which is why an electricity meter counts in kilowatt-hours while a generator is rated in kilowatts: one is an amount, the other is a rate, and only a duration links them.

To check an energy conversion, express both sides in joules or both in kilowatt-hours before comparing. The commonest mistake is treating a food calorie as a calorie when the label means a kilocalorie, which understates the figure a thousandfold.

Tanzania reference points

Real quantities, converted into the units on this page.

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