kcalh

kcalh is a non-standard abbreviation that can denote kilocalories per hour, a rate of energy expenditure or metabolic power expressed in nutritional calories. It is not an official SI unit, but it appears in some nutrition, exercise science, and consumer fitness contexts as an informal way to express energy use over time. The standard notation is kcal/h or kcal h^-1; kcalh may be encountered in datasets, calculators, or device displays, but its meaning remains kilocalories per hour.

In practical terms, 1 kcal/h equals about 1.162 watts. This allows kcalh values to be compared with power measurements in watts. For example, a person weighing about 70 kg with a resting metabolic rate near 1 kcal/kg/hour would expend roughly 70 kcal/h, which is about 81 watts of power. During physical activity, energy expenditure increases with intensity; at around 4 METs for a 70 kg individual, the rate is approximately 280 kcal/h, or about 325 watts. Metabolic estimates often relate kcal/h to body weight and activity level through the concept of METs, where 1 MET ≈ 1 kcal/kg/hour.

Applications and limitations: kcalh is used informally to describe short-term energy burn in fitness tracking, diet planning, and research datasets. It is useful for rough comparisons but lacks the precision of standardized units in scientific reporting. When exact energy accounting is required, watts or joules per second (and their relation to kcal via 1 kcal ≈ 4184 J) are typically preferred.