John David Galt wrote in USMA 24662:
Where I live, PG&E (the gas supplier for most of the northern 2/3 of
California) prices its gas by the "therm". A phone call revealed that a
"therm" is defined as 1000 BTUs. This unit (actually determined for
billing purposes by measuring the volume used and the outdoor temperature,
and applying a complicated formula written by the state Public Utilities
Commission) is supposed to be fairer than pricing by volume because it
allows for the fact that the gas expands with temperature: one "therm" in
the summer occupies a greater volume but contains the same amount of gas.
Does anyone here even recall how to convert the BTU to SI?
My memory is that the therm is 100 000 Btu, so I checked it in
Scientific Unit Conversion by Fran�ois Cardarelli, 2nd English
edition of 1999. It says
1 therm = 100 000 Btu
= 1.054 804 X 10^8.
--
Joseph B. Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Telephone 416-486-6071
