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Heat Transfer Coeff Unit Converter

Convert engineering quantities quickly and consistently.

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Manual Conversion Shortcut

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Equivalent Units

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Standard Reference Tables

SI System
SI UnitEquivalent
1 W/(m²·K)Base U-Value
1 kW/(m²·K)1,000 W/(m²·K)
FPS System
FPS UnitEquivalent
1 Btu/(hr·ft²·°F)5.678 W/(m²·K)
CGS System
CGS UnitEquivalent
1 cal/(s·cm²·°C)41,840 W/(m²·K)

Heat Transfer Coefficient

What is an Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient?

The Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient (commonly known as the U-value) measures how well heat is transferred across a conductive barrier, taking into account convection on both sides and conduction through the material itself. A higher coefficient means better heat transfer.

U-value conversions are utilized by thermal design engineers for:

  • Exchanger Sizing: Executing the fundamental equation Q = U × A × LMTD.
  • Fouling Factors: Evaluating how scale and dirt degrade the heat transfer rate over time.
  • Condensers & Reboilers: Comparing estimated phase-change efficiencies against industry benchmarks.

Convert U-values between the metric W/(m²·K) and the imperial Btu/(hr·ft²·°F) used in TEMA standards.