European tire placards, espresso machines, pressure washers, hydraulic tools and every scuba cylinder outside the US are rated in bar. If your gauge, pump or compressor reads in pounds per square inch, this converter translates the figure and adds kilopascals, megapascals, atmospheres and the equivalent height of a water column.
How to use the bar to psi converter
- Enter the pressure in bar.
- Read the result in psi, followed by kPa, MPa, atmospheres and feet of water.
- Use the reference chart for common bar values and the equipment table for real-world ratings.
Bar to psi formula
One bar is exactly 100,000 Pa and one psi is 6,894.757293168 Pa, so 1 bar = 100,000 ÷ 6,894.757293168 = 14.503773773 psi.
Worked example
A European car’s door placard specifies 2.4 bar for the front tires.
2.4 × 14.5038 = 34.8 psi. Set an American gauge to 35 psi.
In kilopascals: 2.4 × 100 = 240 kPa, the same number Canadian placards print.
Mental math: 2.4 × 14.5 = 34.8 psi.
A higher-pressure case: a scuba cylinder filled to 232 bar holds 232 × 14.5038 = 3,365 psi.
Pressures commonly quoted in bar
| Example | bar | psi |
|---|---|---|
| Standard atmosphere (sea level) | 1.013 | 14.7 |
| European car tire (typical placard) | 2.3 | 33.4 |
| Home water pressure, common US maximum | 5.5 | 80 |
| Espresso extraction (traditional target) | 9 | 130.5 |
| Consumer pressure washer (typical) | 130 | 1,885 |
| Scuba cylinder (common fill) | 200 | 2,901 |
| Scuba cylinder, DIN valve | 232 | 3,365 |
| Scuba cylinder, high pressure | 300 | 4,351 |
Pressure washers sold in the US are rated in psi, so a 130-bar machine is roughly an 1,900-psi class washer. Scuba fills in North America are often quoted as 3,000 psi (207 bar) for aluminum cylinders.
Gauge or absolute?
Equipment ratings in bar are gauge pressures (sometimes written barg) — pressure above the surrounding air. Absolute pressure (bar(a)) adds about 1.013 bar at sea level. A diver at 10 m depth experiences roughly 2 bar absolute: 1 bar of air above the ocean plus about 1 bar from 10 m of seawater. The water-head row in this calculator shows the same idea in reverse: 1 bar supports a column of fresh water about 33.5 feet (10.2 m) high.
Bar vs. other units
- Millibar (mbar) and hectopascal (hPa) are identical: 1 mbar = 1 hPa = 100 Pa. Weather maps use them; standard sea-level pressure is 1013.25 hPa.
- Atmosphere (atm) is 1.01325 bar — close enough that older gauges sometimes treat them as equal.
- kg/cm² (technical atmosphere) is 0.980665 bar and still appears on some Asian compressor gauges.
To convert in the other direction, use psi to bar; for any other pressure unit, the pressure converter covers pascals, torr, mmHg and inches of water.
Frequently asked questions
How many psi is 1 bar?
1 bar equals 14.5038 psi (14.503773773 to nine decimals). Multiply bar by 14.5 for a quick estimate that is accurate to about 0.03%.
What is 2.5 bar in psi?
36.3 psi. A 2.5-bar tire pressure, common on European car placards, matches the 36 psi often seen on American cars.
How many psi is 9 bar of espresso pressure?
About 130.5 psi (9 × 14.504). The classic 9-bar target refers to the pressure the pump applies to the coffee puck during extraction.
Is bar an SI unit?
No. The SI pressure unit is the pascal. The bar is a metric unit outside the SI, defined as exactly 100,000 Pa so that it sits close to one atmosphere, and it remains the standard on gauges in Europe and in diving.