What is BTU per hour?
BTU per hour is a unit of power used to measure the heating or cooling capacity of HVAC equipment. It is the standard rating system for air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps in the United States.
Real-world uses
BTU per hour is the standard power unit for rating furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, and boilers in the United States. A residential central air conditioner might be rated at 24,000–60,000 BTU/h. In casual use, the "/h" is often dropped, so "12,000 BTU air conditioner" actually means 12,000 BTU/h.
History
BTU/h became the standard power unit for the US HVAC industry during the post-World War II residential building boom, as central air conditioning and forced-air heating became widespread. Industry standards bodies such as AHRI codified BTU/h ratings for equipment comparison.
Common mistakes
Dropping the "/h": confusing BTU (energy) with BTU/h (power) is extremely common in HVAC contexts. A unit absorbing 12,000 BTU in one hour is operating at 12,000 BTU/h of capacity. Also, 1 ton of refrigeration = 12,000 BTU/h, which can cause confusion in capacity comparisons.
What is gigawatt?
A gigawatt is a unit of power equal to one billion watts. It is used to express the total power output of national electricity grids, large power stations, and national energy policy targets.
Real-world uses
Gigawatts describe the generating capacity of entire national grids, large hydroelectric dams (Three Gorges Dam: ~22.5 GW), and the total installed solar or wind capacity of countries. Global electricity demand is often expressed in terawatts (1,000 GW). Energy policy discussions use GW to compare national ambitions.
History
Gigawatts entered common use in discussions of national and continental electricity systems during the 20th century. As installed generation capacity in large countries reached the gigawatt scale, this unit became standard for energy policy, grid planning, and international energy statistics.
Common mistakes
Confusing GW (power) with GWh (energy). A 22 GW dam running at full capacity for one hour generates 22 GWh of energy. Also, the pop-culture reference "1.21 gigawatts" from Back to the Future is frequently cited but would equal about 1,210 MW—a large power plant.
When is this conversion used?
Converting between BTU per hour and gigawatt is common when working across metric and imperial systems, such as international trade, travel between countries with different measurement standards, or following instructions from a different region.
Worked examples
1 BTU per hour = 2.930711e-10 gigawatt
1 gigawatt = 1.000000e+09 watt
How to convert BTU per hour to gigawatt
To convert BTU per hour to gigawatt, multiply the value by 2.930711e-10.
To convert gigawatt back to BTU per hour, multiply by 3.412142e+09.
Measurement standards
The watt is the SI derived unit of power, defined as one joule per second (kg·m²/s³). Horsepower remains in widespread informal use, particularly in the automotive industry, but has no single universal definition across regions.
Did you know?
The human body at rest produces about 80 watts of power — roughly enough to keep an incandescent light bulb glowing. During intense exercise, a trained cyclist can sustain over 400 watts, and elite sprinters briefly exceed 2,000 watts.
Quick reference: BTU per hour to gigawatt
| BTU per hour | gigawatt |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 2.930711e-11 |
| 0.5 | 1.465355e-10 |
| 1 | 2.930711e-10 |
| 2 | 5.861421e-10 |
| 5 | 1.465355e-09 |
| 10 | 2.930711e-09 |
| 25 | 7.326777e-09 |
| 50 | 1.465355e-08 |
| 100 | 2.930711e-08 |
| 250 | 7.326777e-08 |
| 500 | 1.465355e-07 |
| 1,000 | 2.930711e-07 |
Common values
| BTU per hour | gigawatt | |
|---|---|---|
| LED light bulb | 34.12141635 BTU per hour | 1.000000e-08 gigawatt |
| Desktop computer | 1,023.64249054 BTU per hour | 3.000000e-07 gigawatt |
| Microwave oven | 3,412.14163513 BTU per hour | 0.000001 gigawatt |
| Small car engine | 255,910.62263498 BTU per hour | 0.000075 gigawatt |
| Wind turbine (large) | 10,236,424.90539923 BTU per hour | 0.003 gigawatt |
Available Power units
More BTU per hour conversions
- Convert BTU per hour to watt
- Convert BTU per hour to kilowatt
- Convert BTU per hour to horsepower (mechanical)
- Convert BTU per hour to megawatt
- Convert BTU per hour to gigawatt
- Convert BTU per hour to milliwatt
- Convert BTU per hour to microwatt
- Convert BTU per hour to kilocalorie per hour
- Convert BTU per hour to ton of refrigeration
Assumption: horsepower values use mechanical horsepower.