Skip to content

Using Our Energy to Save Yours

Energy Tools

Here are a few tools to help you calculate your company’s energy usage and better understand its implications.

An economics calculator that was developed in-house that provides simplified estimations for the economic payback and life cycle cost of installing LED technology in place of HID technology for roadway lighting applications.

Common Energy Equivalents:

  • Electricity: 1 kW = 3,413 Btu/hr
  • Natural gas: 1 cu ft of natural gas = 1,030 Btu
  • 1 CCF = 100 cu ft = 1 therm = 103,000 Btu
  • 1 MCF = 1,000 cu ft = 10 therms = 1,034,000 Btu = 1.034 MMBtu
  • Propane: 1 gal propane = 91,600 Btu
  • 1 cu ft propane = 2,500 Btu
  • Gasoline: 1 gal gasoline (mid grade) = 125,000 Btu
  • Ethanol: 1 gal ethanol = 76,000 Btu
  • Fuel Oil: 1 gal of #2 fuel oil = 139,000 Btu
  • 1 gal of #4 fuel oil = 145,000 Btu
  • 1 gal of #6 fuel oil = 150,000 Btu
  • 1 barrel of oil = 42 gallons

Others:

  • 1 Btu = 252 calories
  • 1 Btu/hr = .293 watt
  • 1 ton of refrigeration = 12,000 Btu/hr
  • 1lb residential garbage = 2,500 Btu
  • 1lb coal = 12,000 Btu
  • 1lb wood = 3,500 Btu
  • 1hp = 746 watts
  • 1hp = 33, 479 Btu/hr (boiler)
  • 1hp = 33,000 foot-lbs. /min
  • 1hp = 42.40 Btu/min
  • 1 watt = 3.412 Btu/hr
  • 1 kilowatt = 1,000 watts
  • 1 kilowatt = 1.341 horsepower
  • 1000 kilowatts = 1 megawatt

All of the following fuels are equivalent to 1,000,000 Btu:

  • Electricity: 293.083 kWh @ 3412 Btu/kWh
  • Natural Gas: 1 MCF, 10 therms or 1,000 cu ft
  • Coal: 83.34 lbs @ 12,000 Btu/lb
  • Propane: 10.917 gal @ 91,000 Btu/gal
  • Gasoline: 8.0 gal @125,000 Btu/gal
  • Fuel Oil #2: 7.194 gal @ 139,000 Btu/gal
  • Fuel Oil #6: 6.67 gal @ 150,000 Btu/gal
  • Wood: 285.7 lbs @ 3,500 Btu/lb

Energy Conversion Factors:

  • 1 foot pound = 3.766 E-7 kWh = 3.24 E-4 calories = 3.77 E-4 watt-hour = 1.28 E-3 Btu = 1.3558 Joules
  • 1 Btu = 1054 Joules = 2.93 E-4 kWh = 2.52 E-1 calories = 0.293 watt-hour = 778 foot pounds = 1.05 E10 ergs
  • 1 gram calorie = 1.559 E-5 hp-hour = .001 calories = 1.163 E-3 watt-hour = 3.97 E-3 Btu
  • 1 Joule = 2.78 E-7 kWh = 2.39 E-4 calories = 2.79 E-4 watt-hour = 9.48 E-4 Btu
  • 1 kWh = 1 E3 watt-hour = 1.34 horsepower-hour = 3413 Btu = 2.655 E6 foot pounds = 3.60 E6 Joules = 8.60 E5 calories (gram-calories)
  • 1 watt-hour = 1.34 E-3 horsepower-hour = 0.860 calories = 3.41 Btu

Power Conversion Factors:

  • 1 horsepower = 746 watts = 0.746 kW = 10.7 calories/min = 550 ft-lbs/second
  • 1 calorie/second = 9.81 watts
  • 1 kilowatt = 0.239 calorie/sec = 1.34 hp = 4.43 E4 ft-lbs/min.
  • 1 Btu/second = 1.41 horsepower = 1054 watts
  • 1 lumen = 1.50 E-3 watt
  • 1 watt of maximum visible radiation = 668 lumens