KVA stands for kilovolt-amps. A volt-amp is equal to a watt, which can be used to measure the resistive load or DC current. Amps are used to measure electrical current. If you were setting up an electrical circuit, you would need to verify that the system could handle the level of electrical current you would need for the amount of KVA you were going to use. To calculate amps from KVA, you need to know the power efficiency and the voltage of the circuit.
Look up the power factor of your device by checking the owner's manual. According to PowerStream Technologies, it can be over 90 percent for certain computer power devices while heavy power motors can drop down to 35 percent.
Multiply the number of KVA by 1,000 to convert to VA. For example, if you had 2 KVA, you would get 2,000.
Multiply the VA by the power factor expressed as a decimal. Continuing the example, if the power factor is 80 percent, you would multiply 2,000 by 0.8 to get 1,600.
Divide the result by the number of volts of current to calculate the number of amps. Finishing the example, if the voltage equals 110 V, you would divide 1,600 by 110 to get approximately 14.55 amps.
