Energy Conversion At-A-Glance
After a winter season that saw unprecedented increases in home heating fuels,
many people are reexamining their energy choices. Ironically, even customers with all-electric
homes or businesses are indirectly natural gas consumers--as more electric generating plants look
to gas as a primary fuel source.
For those who might be considering a change and need to analyze various energy alternatives,
[insert City/Gas System Name] has prepared a quick reference guide to comparing the efficiency
and cost of electricity vs. natural gas.
First, it's helpful to define a few important terms:
Terminology
British Thermal Unit (Btu) - A unit for measuring heat quantity; the amount of heat required
to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit; equal to 252 calories.
0.0002928 kilowatt-hours. A pound (0.454 kilogram) of good coal when burned should yield
14,000 to 15,000 Btu; a pound of gasoline or other fuel oil, approximately 19,000 Btu.
MMBtu - one million Btu.
Watt - The rate of energy transfer equivalent to one ampere under an electrical pressure of one
volt. One watt equals 1/746 horsepower, or one joule per second. It is the product of Voltage and
Current (amperage).
Kilowatt (kW) - A standard unit of electrical power equal to one thousand watts.
Kilowatt-hour - A unit of electricity consumption of one Watt over the period of one hour.
Megawatt - One thousand kilowatts, or 1 million watts; standard measure of electric power plant
generating capacity.
Energy Charge - The part of an electricity bill that is based on the amount of electrical energy
consumed or supplied.
Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) - The measure of the instantaneous energy efficiency of room
air conditioners; the cooling capacity in Btu/hr divided by the watts of power.
CF - An abbreviation for one cubic foot of natural gas, Roughly, one cubic foot equals one
thousand Btu.
Therm - A unit of heat containing 100,000 British thermal units (Btu).
CCF - An abbreviation for one hundred cubic feet of natural gas with a heat content of 100,000
Btu, or 1 therm.
MCF - An abbreviation for one thousand cubic feet of natural gas with a heat content of
1,000,000 Btu, or 10 therms.
Energy Conversion Factors
This Measure
Equals This
Equals This
of Natural Gas
Measure of Btus
Measure of Kilowatt Hours
One cubic foot (CF)
Approx. 1,000 Btu
.293 kWh
One CCF (100 CF)
100,000 Btu (or 1 Therm)
29.3 kWh
One MCF (1,000 CF)
1,000,000 Btu (MMBtu) (or 10
Therms)
293 kWh
Many municipal gas systems bill their customers in cubic feet (cf), or hundred cubic feet (ccf),
which is the volume measurement of gas consumed. For customers of some municipal systems
and certain investor-owned gas marketers, this amount is then converted to a heating value
content for use in billing purposes, usually called a therm.
More gas systems are billing in therms or heating value so it can be more easily compared to
other energy sources and their heating values. So depending upon the billing unit of measure
used, comparable gas pricing would be $1.03 per ccf and $1.00 per therm (at 1030 Btu gas).
NOTE: The therm costs quoted to customers of deregulated natural gas marketers is exclusive of
the pipeline distribution charges, customer service fees, and other delivery charges. Most
municipal gas systems quote an all-inclusive cost. In order to make an accurate comparison
between deregulated marketer charges and municipal gas system charges, an average additional
charge of $0.34 must be added to the per therm rate quoted by the deregulated marketer.
Comparing Household Appliance Costs
In order to compare natural gas appliances to electric appliances, it is necessary to convert costs
based on a common unit of measure, which would be the Btu. Here we have made the
conversion for you and compare household appliance costs based on five year average residential
prices.
Average Model - $/year
Natural Gas
Electric
Natural Gas
Saves You
Furnace
$329*
$367*
$38
Water Heater
$187
$353
$166
Clothes Dryer
$ 35
$70
$ 35
$ 27
$ 56
$ 29
Range
* Gas Furnace Efficiency = 80%
Heat Pump Efficiency Rating = 7.5
Provided in the public interest by:
The City of XYZ
(phone number)