Energy Units

 
 
 
 
20 August 2007
 
The tables below show the conversion factors for converting between different units of energy and typical calorific values of fuels.

Energy Conversion Factors

  Unit   x  Factor S.I. Unit   Factor  Unit
Energy   therm  x  105.506  =  MJ  x  0.00948  therm
   hp h  x  2.684  =  MJ  x 0.3726  hp h 
  kWh  x  3.6  =  MJ  x  0.2778  kWh
   Btu  x  1.05506  =  kJ  x  0.9478  Btu
  therm   x  29.31  =  kWh  x  0.03412  therm
                 
 Power  hp  x  0.7457  =  kW  x  1.341  hp
   Btu/h  x  0.2931  =  W  x  3.412  Btu/h

 

Convert to kWh

The following table gives the number you need to multiply by to get from a variety of different units to kWh (note that some of these are specific to certain fuel types).


Unit 
 = kWh 
 1 tonne of oil equivalent  =  11,630 kWh
 1 therm  =  29.31 kWh*
 1 Giga joule (Gj)  =  277.8 kWh
 1 British thermal unit (BTU)  =  0.00029 kWh
 1 cubic foot natural gas  =  0.313 kWh*
1 cubic metre natural gas   =  11.06 kWh*
 1 litre fuel oil  =  11.69 kWh*

*derived from Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2003

 

Typical heat content of common fuels

Where fuels are purchased or measured by volume or weight the calorific value of the fuel is needed to convert to energy units. This should be specified by the fuel supplier, but where this data is not available the typical values given below can be used (all figures from Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2003 table A.1 estimated average gross calorific values of fuels).

Gross calorific value
 Fuel Oil  Kerosene 28 sec 46.2 MJ/kg 
  Gas/diesel Oil 35 sec 45.6 MJ/kg
  Fuel Oil 43.4 MJ/kg
Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)  Butane 49.4 MJ/kg
Natural Gas 39.8 MJ/m3


To convert energy use to carbon dioxide visit our Conversion Factors section.

 
 
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