What is being measured?
Thermal resistance is a temperature-difference to heat-flow relationship for a specified object or model. It is distinct from area-normalized thermal insulance.
Temperature difference per power. This is total thermal resistance; building R-value is area-normalized thermal insulance.
Choose a unit definition
Symbols, prefixes and conventions matter. Each row links to a definition, a worked example and a comparison table. Units of different quantities are kept separate even when symbols or dimensions look similar.
Kelvins per watt (K/W)
Definition, reference values and linked conversions.
Kelvins per kilowatt (K/kW)
Definition, reference values and linked conversions.
Fahrenheit degrees per watt (°F/W)
Definition, reference values and linked conversions.
Choose the conversion direction
Start with the unit attached to the original measurement. Select the unit needed by the receiving report, specification or formula. Conversion tools preserve the measured quantity; calculating another property can require additional measured inputs and assumptions.
Precision and common mistakes
- Keep the source and target quantity consistent. A matching symbol is not enough to establish a compatible definition.
- Record the original measurement precision. Showing twelve significant digits in a table does not make a rounded input more precise.
- Check symbol capitalization, prefixes and any regional convention in the source. Use the displayed unit definition rather than a similarly named unit.
- Factors involving repeating fractions or π use finite numerical precision. Round the final answer to the precision justified by your input.
Use a working converter
- Thermal resistance converter
- Kelvins per watt to Kelvins per kilowatt converter
- Kelvins per kilowatt to Kelvins per watt converter
- Kelvins per watt to Fahrenheit degrees per watt converter
- Fahrenheit degrees per watt to Kelvins per watt converter
- Kelvins per kilowatt to Fahrenheit degrees per watt converter
Source and verification scope
Examples and tables are computed from the versioned unit definitions used by the linked converters. The source access dates appear below. Computandum is independent of the cited organizations; a citation does not mean that a publisher endorses this page or an actual project.