BTU

Metrics and Efficiency Ratings - HVAC Costs pillar

Also known as: BTUs, BTU/h, British Thermal Unit

British Thermal Unit. The amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. HVAC equipment is typically rated in BTU/h (BTUs per hour).

BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the standard heat-energy unit used in residential HVAC sizing. One BTU is the heat required to raise one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit. Equipment capacity is rated in BTU/h (or kBTU = 1,000 BTU/h). A typical Ontario home furnace is 60,000 to 100,000 BTU/h; a typical AC is 24,000 to 60,000 BTU/h (2 to 5 tons; one ton of cooling = 12,000 BTU/h). Manual J load calculations express the home's heating and cooling demand in BTU/h, which then maps directly to equipment selection.

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