A Simpler Explanation Of The Measurement Of ONE HORSE POWER
One horsepower equals 550 foot pounds (pound feet) per second. In high school, in physics class, I generated 1 horsepower by running up a flight of stairs. :) Housted
Forum Discussion
PaulJ2 wrote:Dusty R wrote:
I don't know why but I have found that it takes a 2hp gas engine to do the same work that a 1hp electric motor will do.
Dusty
I remember back when growing up many years ago on a farm, we had a power outage. My dad then connected up a 2hp gas engine to the 3/4hp electric jet pump. It would just barely run it at wide open throttle.
The rpm was near the same at 1 to 1 ratio, about 3450-3500 rpm.
Gas engines put out their rated peak horsepower in a relatively narrow range compared to an electric motor. If the gas engine was designed to put out 2hp at 3450-3500 rpm then something was wrong with it, otherwise it just wasn't in its peak power band and needed proper gearing or pulleys to do so.
This is also why people like diesels for towing and tend to get focused on their torque numbers. They typically have a broader power range than gas engines making them easier to gear to get needed power to the wheels for moving heavy loads.
Electric motors are the easiest to gear for because they typically have very broad torque curves including having max torque all the way down to 0 rpm. Many electric cars like a Tesla have just a single speed transmissions as its not necessary to change gear ratios to maintain proper power output. Electric motors will dominate in towing once they become widespread (just look at diesel electric trains) the main issue holding them back is battery cost/weight/capacity.
