Convective Heat Transfer Calculator

About this calculator

Convective heat transfer follows Newton's law of cooling: q = h·A·ΔT, where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m²·K) that depends on the fluid, flow velocity and surface geometry, A is the surface area exposed to the fluid, and ΔT is the temperature difference between the surface and the surrounding fluid. This calculator plugs your three inputs directly into that equation to give the heat transfer rate in watts.

HVAC and thermal engineers use it to size radiators, cooling coils and heat exchangers, electronics cooling engineers use it to check whether a heat sink and fan combination can dissipate a chip's power draw, and process engineers use it to estimate heat loss from tanks, pipes and reactor vessels to ambient air or process fluid.