Heat Converter

About Heat Units

Heat is a measure of the transfer of energy with a difference in temperature. Various units are employed with the context like Joules (SI), Calories (nutrition), BTUs (heating/cooling), and Therms (natural gas).

• The SI unit of heat energy isJoule (J).
• Calorie (cal) is commonly used with food energy.
• British Thermal Unit (BTU) is used with heating and cooling industries.
• Therm is used to approximate vast amounts of gas energy.
• Watt-hour (Wh) and Kilowatt-hour (kWh) are typically utilized for electrical heating measurements.

Heat Units

Heat units are critical in physics, engineering, nutrition, and the energy industries for quantifying the quantity of thermal energy transferred or generated. Different measurement systems apply other heat units depending on usage, whether it is scientific research, heating equipment, or food energy marking.

Common Heat Units

• Joule (J) – The SI unit of energy, such as energy transferred as heat. A joule is the energy transferred by applying one newton of force over a distance of one meter. It's used in science and engineering frequently.
• Kilojoule (kJ) – 1,000 joules, used on food packaging to indicate caloric values, and in engineering and thermodynamics.
• Megajoule (MJ) – Being one million joules, the megajoule is used to measure large amounts of heat energy, especially in the fuel content of energy and industrial systems.
• Calorie (cal) – A traditional unit of heat. One calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a gram of water one degree Celsius.
• Kilocalorie (kcal) – Also called a "large calorie" or "food calorie," one kilocalorie is equal to 1,000 small calories. It is the unit of measurement used by default for food energy.
• British Thermal Unit (BTU) – Universally used in the United States for air conditioning and heating. One BTU is the heat required to raise a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
• Therm (thm) – A non-SI unit that is widely used in billing natural gas. One therm is equal to 100,000 BTUs and is used to measure gigantic amounts of heat energy in utilities.
• Erg (erg) – A small unit of energy in the CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system. One erg is equal to 10⁻⁷ joules and is mostly used in physics.
• Foot-pound force (ft·lbf) – Defined the quantity of energy expended as one pound of force traveled one foot. Dominant in mechanical and civil engineering.
• Watt-hour (Wh) – Defined the amount of energy used or provided at one watt for one hour. Often used in electrical systems and battery capacity.
• Kilowatt-hour (kWh) – A larger unit that equates to 1,000 watt-hours. It's the standard unit on electricity bills and is used to measure energy consumption at residences and industries.

Why Heat Units Matter