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Supplying the UK Since 1972

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Technical Support With System Advice

WHAT IS A BTU AND JUST WHAT IS A WATT

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With over 20 years of experience AEL can confidently provide you with specific technical advice regarding your heating system. We know it can be very confusing when one engineer works with BTU’s and another works with Watts when discussing heat output required for a room so please see our brief explanation below of “What is a BTU” and “What is a Watt”.

WHAT IS A BTU?
A “BTU” (British Thermal Unit) is an older imperial method used to measure the heat energy required to be generated out of a radiator to heat your room.

WHAT IS A Watt?
A “W”(Watt) is the modern International System of Units. It is a standard unit of the heat power required to be generated out of a radiator to heat your room.

How do I convert one BTU to Watts?
BTUs do not convert directly to watts because BTUs measure energy and watts measure power. However, BTUs per hour can be converted to watts; one BTU per hour is approximately 0.293 watts.

How do I convert one Watts to BTU’s?
Similarly, 10,000 BTUs per hour corresponds to 2,930 watts. Conversely, a single watt converts to approximately 3.412 BTUs per hour. Easy to Use Heat Calculator for Your Room If you know the dimensions of the room that you are trying to heat you can access the “Easy to use Heat Calculator” where you will be asked four simple questions and the minimum and maximum output will be provided in both BTU’s and Watts.

How do I choose the right radiator for my room?
Once you know the output required for the room you want to heat up you then need to decide where the radiator will be positioned in the room.

When you have decided on the position of the radiator you will then need to check if there are any height and width restrictions.

When you know the height and length restrictions of your radiator you can begin to look for style of radiator you would prefer to install and see if it will give you the output required to heat your room.