BTU is the acronym for British Thermal Unit.
The BTU symbol refers to a unit of energy called the British Thermal Unit . This unit was widely used in ancient times, especially in the United Kingdom , although it has now been replaced by the joule . In any case, in the United States the BTU is still used in some contexts.
It is important to know that it was in the 1960s when the decision was made to replace the BTU unit with the joule. The General Conference of Weights and Measures was responsible for that position.
What is BTU
The BTU indicates how much energy is needed, under normal atmospheric conditions, to increase the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit . One BTU is equivalent to 1055.056 joules and about 257 calories , for example.
It is usually stated that one BTU is equivalent to one lit match . When this energy is applied to a pound of water, the temperature rises one degree Fahrenheit. In other words: if we have a pound of water in a container at 72 degrees Fahrenheit and we make it receive one BTU of heat from a match, we will be able to increase the temperature of the water to 73 degrees Fahrenheit .
The BTU indicates the amount of heat that an air conditioner can extract from a room.
The concept in air conditioners
BTU is often used to refer to the work carried out by air conditioning equipment. The BTU allows us to name the amount of heat that the air conditioner is able to extract from a room. Generally, the greater the weight and size of the equipment, the greater the BTU.
When purchasing an air conditioning unit, experts recommend calculating the BTU needed according to the characteristics of the environment , since the data allows us to know the cooling capacity of the machine.
Other BTU characteristics
Other data of great interest regarding the aforementioned BTU are some such as the following:
-There are numerous documents dating back centuries that show that the aforementioned unit was also used in Latin America, for example.
-In an air conditioning device, what is known is that the higher the BTU, the greater the cooling capacity it can offer. Hence, when you go to buy that item, it is necessary to be able to discover that unit in order to acquire the one that will guarantee the best way to deal with high temperatures at home.
-In order to make an approximate estimate of the BTU that an air conditioner offers in a room with two people, there is a formula. This would be the following: room volume = length x width x height / 2.
-Some of the most important equivalences of the aforementioned BTU are these: 1 BTU = 1,055.056 joule; 1 BTU = 252 calories; 12,000 BTU/h = 3,000 frigories/h and 12,000 BTU/h = 1 ton of refrigeration.
-BTU is also the name of an Engineering and Construction company that is based in the Argentine Republic and has more than ten years of experience in the sector.