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The British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) is a traditional unit of energy equal to about1055 joules. It is the amount of energy needed to cool or heat one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. In scientific contexts the BTU has largely been replaced by the SI (STANDARD INTERNATIONAL)unit of energy, the joule.
The unit is most often used as a measure of power (as BTU/h) in the power, steam generation, heating, and air conditioning industries, and also as a measure of agricultural energy production (BTU/kg). It is still used in metric English-speaking countries (such as Canada), and remains the standard unit of classification for air conditioning units manufactured and sold in many non-English-speaking metric countries. In North America, BTU describes the heat value (energy content) of fuels.
