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The current drawn, in amps.
A UK 13 A plug fuse is the maximum the plug will pass, not what the appliance draws. Use the appliance's stated current or work it back from its wattage.
Power
2,990 W
P = V × I at 230 V single phase, power factor 1 assumed. Single phase only. Three-phase power adds a factor of √3 and a power-factor term.
- Conversion factor applied
- 230 W per A
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Amps to Watts Calculator (230 V): 2,990 W — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- P = V x I for a resistive single-phase load
- UK, EU and AU single-phase supply is nominally 230 V
Inputs used
- Current (A)
- 13
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 230 W per A
Confidence note: P = V × I at 230 V single phase, power factor 1 assumed. Single phase only. Three-phase power adds a factor of √3 and a power-factor term.
What this calculation does not cover
- Volts times amps is apparent power. That equals watts only on a resistive load - a heater, a kettle, an incandescent lamp. On a motor, compressor, transformer or anything with a switched-mode supply, the real power is lower than this figure by the load's power factor, and the current the supply has to deliver is the number here rather than the wattage.
- 230 V is the nominal figure, not your supply. Actual voltage moves with distance from the transformer and with load, and across the UK, Europe and Australia many supplies measure above 230 V. A clamp-meter reading checked against a nameplate will disagree with this result by a few percent for that reason alone.
- Single phase only, and the 230 V used here is the line-to-neutral voltage. A three-phase load does not scale from this answer by any simple multiplier - work it from the three-phase relationship using the line-to-line voltage and the true power factor.
- This is not a load calculation and not a circuit design. Whether a circuit can carry the current depends on conductor size and installation method, the protective device, grouping and ambient derating, voltage drop over the run, and diversity across the installation - none of which are calculated here. Circuit work is governed by your national wiring rules and in many jurisdictions is notifiable or restricted to a competent person.
- Steady state at one instant. Motors and compressors pull several times their running current while coming up to speed, and a cycling appliance averages far below its nameplate over an hour, so this figure is neither a starting condition nor an energy figure.
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This result is a specification — 2,990 W — not a quantity. Put the thing it sizes into your project: how many, what you call it, and your supplier’s price.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-02 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations2
- P = V x I for a resistive single-phase load
- UK, EU and AU single-phase supply is nominally 230 V
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Outside North America the single-phase supply is nominally 230 V, so the same current produces roughly twice the power it would on a US circuit — which is why a British kettle boils noticeably faster than an American one on the same current. The arithmetic is the same simple product, but two local details matter. The 13 A fuse in a UK plug is a protective maximum for the flexible cord, not a description of the appliance, so it should never be used as the current figure. And harmonisation set the nominal figure at 230 V while many real supplies still sit closer to 240 V, comfortably inside tolerance; that gap accounts for a few percent whenever a measured reading disagrees with a calculated one. For three-phase equipment none of this applies directly, since that relationship carries an additional root-three term.