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The heating and cooling unit, and how it compares to watts and joules.
A British Thermal Unit is the energy needed to raise one pound of water by 1°F — about 1,055 joules. HVAC systems are rated in BTU per hour (BTU/h), which is actually a power unit, though it's usually written just 'BTU'.
1 BTU ≈ 1,055 joules ≈ 0.000293 kWh. 1 BTU/h ≈ 0.293 watts. A 10,000 BTU/h air conditioner draws about 2,930 W of cooling capacity.
| BTU | Joules | kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,055 | 0.000293 |
| 3,412 | 3,600,000 | 1.0 |
| 10,000 | 10,550,000 | 2.93 |
Strictly energy. In HVAC, ratings are BTU per hour (a power), but the '/h' is often dropped in casual use, causing confusion.
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