K/W
kelvin per watt
Thermal resistanceexact by definition
The kelvin per watt is the SI unit of absolute thermal resistance: the temperature difference in kelvin that one watt of heat flow will establish across an object. It is the reciprocal of thermal conductance in W/K, and its factor of 1 is exact as a coherent SI combination. A CPU heatsink rated at 0.5 K/W will sit 50 K above ambient when dissipating 100 W.
Watch out: This is a whole-object resistance, not the per-area R-value used for insulation. The building unit, RSI in m²·K/W, is this multiplied by an area. A 0.5 K/W heatsink and an RSI 0.5 wall are not comparable quantities.
| 1 K/W | 1 K/W |
Solvers that use thermal resistance