It is the marketing of a newly-improved steam engine that gave us the terminology horsepower. In a bid to convince coal mine owners still using the draft horses to adopt his improved technology, James Watt had to come up with a means of comparing the two. He had to attempt to determine the quantity of energy expended by a draft horse in a minute and compare it with the new engine.
James Watt determined that a draft horse does 33,000 foot-pounds of work in a minute. In modern times, however, the unit horsepower is used to determine the amount of energy utilized in a particular span of time. Mostly it is used in determining mechanical work where it is referred to as mechanical horsepower, and it is measured as an equivalent of 745.6 Watts. The metric horsepower is equivalent to 735.5 Watts. For more on your engine’s horsepower, visit us at Dyer & Dyer Volvo here in Chamblee, GA.