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When selecting a new house furnace most calculators display results as BTUs (based on the square footage, number of levels, estimated temperature, etc). What's interesting is that most new furnaces are spec'ed at MBH.

What is the difference or correlation?

jdiaz
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    1 MBH = 1000 BTU/hr. Thousand BTUs per Hour (MBH). – Tester101 Jan 05 '12 at 20:41
  • so if I need a 16,000 BTU furnace should I be looking for a 16 MBH unit? – jdiaz Jan 05 '12 at 20:51
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    Maybe... BTU is how much heat is produced at one instance, BTU/hr is the amount of heat produced in an hour. MBH is 1000 BTU/hr. However, BTU is sometimes used as an equivalent to BTU/hr, so the conversion might work. Wikipedia has an article that might clear things up. – Tester101 Jan 05 '12 at 21:10
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    My SI prefix alarm is blaring in my head about the use of M (Mega) to mean 1,000x (K or Kilo). I'll accept only because BTUs aren't metric. But in my heart I know it should be KBH. – shufler Jan 05 '12 at 21:40
  • @shufler the M is the Roman numeral for 1000, not M for mega. – Tester101 Jan 06 '12 at 01:28
  • A Roman prefix for a British unit you say! – shufler Jan 06 '12 at 17:33
  • I believe M is the Roman numeral = 1000 –  Mar 18 '14 at 22:02
  • mille or mil means thousand in at least French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. – alx9r May 29 '14 at 17:46

2 Answers2

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BTU is how much heat is produced at one instant, BTU/hr is the amount of heat produced in an hour. MBH is 1000 BTU/hr. However, BTU is sometimes used as an equivalent to BTU/hr, so the conversion might work. Wikipedia has an article that might clear things up.

1 MBH = 1000 BTU/hr. Thousand BTUs per Hour (MBH).

Comment converted to answer

Tester101
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MBH is thousands of BTUs per hour. BTU is a unit of measurement for energy. One BTU is equal to the amount of energy used to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.

The comments provided your answer, but no one posted the actual answer for you to accept.

Jeff
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