The conversion factor is probably because the meter is probably reading volume but that's converted to energy at a standard rate, but the energy content is changing slightly, hence the correction. A therm is 10 000 BTU, BTW.
IMHO, there's nothing wrong with using kW.h in this context. This energy unit is pretty ubiquitous and is at least based on SI. To help people compare, we use kW.h for natural gas energy as well. Therms are quite another story and should be relegated to the garbage can of history. Chris -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [USMA:26679] Re: Slightly less off topic: Electricity consumption Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 15:13:24 -0700 From: "Bill Potts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> My gas bill is in Therms. A conversion factor (close to 1) is used to convert the meter reading (units unspecified), minus the previous meter reading, to Therms. The utility, in this case, is PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric). My electricity is supplied by Roseville Electric, a publicly-owned municipal utility. The bill is part of a larger bill for Roseville utilities and services, including garbage collection, water, sewage, street sweeping, etc. The electricity portion is, indeed, in kW.h. Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Behalf Of Terry Simpson >Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 08:03 >To: U.S. Metric Association >Subject: [USMA:26677] Re: Slightly less off topic: Electricity >consumption > > >Bruce Hebbard wrote: >>the units are average kWh used per DAY. >>I'm tempted to write the utility and say something like, >>"Thanks for the average. BTW, studies have shown that >>the average number of hours used per day hovers >>consistently around 24.0, so it's OK with me if you >>want to factor that out and just give me plain old watts..." > >Funny! > >UK electricity and gas bills are in kWh. They should be in kJ. I think >Australia uses kJ. > >Is it that all US electricity bills are in kWh and all US gas bills are in >BTU? >
