Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
BTU(/h) = British Thermal Unit (/h)
French translation:
kW [with conversion factor]
Added to glossary by
Tony M
Apr 30, 2014 00:32
10 yrs ago
English term
United States
Invisible translations, visible results
Native in: French 
, English
Works in: English to French, French to English, French, and 1 more.
BTU's
Non-PRO
English to French
Tech/Engineering
Cooking / Culinary
Pressure cooker
Caution: Do not use pressure cooker on an outdoor LP gas burner or gas range over 12000 BTU's
Proposed translations
(French)
| 4 +2 | kW |
Tony M
|
| 5 +2 | BTU |
Juan Jacob
|
| 5 | British thermal unit |
Raoul Meyer
|
Proposed translations
+2
4 hrs
English term (edited):
BTU
Selected
kW
British Thermal Unit
But here in France at least, the heating power of gas rings (as here) is more usually expressed in kW — which is a different unit, as the watt = joule/second!
So of course you'll need to do a units conversion, but also figure out the exact meaning of the original — it must presumably be heating power in BTU per [time] — with such a high figure, I assume that must be per hour?
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Note added at 4 heures (2014-04-30 05:03:37 GMT)
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Here is the relevant extract from the Wiki article cited by Juan, where you can see that it says that BTU is sometimes improperly used (as here) for BTU/H, the unit of power required here:
Unité de puissance associée, BTU/h
Le British Thermal Unit par heure ou British Thermal Unit per hour (abrégé en BTU/h ou quelquefois, improprement, en BTU ou BTU.h) est une unité anglo-saxonne de puissance qui est définie par la puissance d'un système délivrant ou consommant une BTU en une heure.
Un watt vaut environ 3,41214 BTU/h3.
1 000 BTU/h valent approximativement 293,071 W.
Il est souvent utilisé pour décrire la quantité de chaleur par unité de temps (la puissance) pouvant être dégagée par une unité chauffante (chaudière) ou réfrigérante (climatisation), ou dans le dégagement de chaleur de serveurs informatique ; ...
So performing the calculation on that basis, it means gas heating devices of over 3500 kW — for comparison, the largest ring on a domestic gas cooker is typically 2 kW.
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Note added at 1 jour20 heures (2014-05-01 21:09:49 GMT)
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Yes, of course it does, precisely as I have already stated in my answer above! I actually made a mistake, it is of course 3500 W or 3.5 kW as you say.
BUT please DO note that it is NOT 'kWh' — once you have converted from eneregy to power, you must not then convert back to power × time!
But here in France at least, the heating power of gas rings (as here) is more usually expressed in kW — which is a different unit, as the watt = joule/second!
So of course you'll need to do a units conversion, but also figure out the exact meaning of the original — it must presumably be heating power in BTU per [time] — with such a high figure, I assume that must be per hour?
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 heures (2014-04-30 05:03:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here is the relevant extract from the Wiki article cited by Juan, where you can see that it says that BTU is sometimes improperly used (as here) for BTU/H, the unit of power required here:
Unité de puissance associée, BTU/h
Le British Thermal Unit par heure ou British Thermal Unit per hour (abrégé en BTU/h ou quelquefois, improprement, en BTU ou BTU.h) est une unité anglo-saxonne de puissance qui est définie par la puissance d'un système délivrant ou consommant une BTU en une heure.
Un watt vaut environ 3,41214 BTU/h3.
1 000 BTU/h valent approximativement 293,071 W.
Il est souvent utilisé pour décrire la quantité de chaleur par unité de temps (la puissance) pouvant être dégagée par une unité chauffante (chaudière) ou réfrigérante (climatisation), ou dans le dégagement de chaleur de serveurs informatique ; ...
So performing the calculation on that basis, it means gas heating devices of over 3500 kW — for comparison, the largest ring on a domestic gas cooker is typically 2 kW.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 jour20 heures (2014-05-01 21:09:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Yes, of course it does, precisely as I have already stated in my answer above! I actually made a mistake, it is of course 3500 W or 3.5 kW as you say.
BUT please DO note that it is NOT 'kWh' — once you have converted from eneregy to power, you must not then convert back to power × time!
Note from asker:
| I found 1 BTU = 0.00029307107 kilowatt hours In that case 12000 BTU = 3,5 kW Does that seem plausible? |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Victoria Britten
: When in Rome...
1 hr
|
|
Thanks, Victoria! It's very handy, actually — let's you more directly compare the power between, say, a gas and electric cooker
|
|
| agree |
Ivan Bertrand
1 hr
|
|
Merci, Ivan !
|
|
| neutral |
polyglot45
: Tony - I think it is very risky for the translator to propose a conversion - it is always best to leave the original, suggest an equivalent in brackets and point out to the client that the unit needs adapting. However, don't forget responsibility in law
3 hrs
|
|
Sorry, really can't agree in this case. Here, it is essential; unlike in an international technical context, this is for GP (BTU not known in FR). The conversion factors are well known, and in any case, it's only an approximate guideline round figure.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+2
8 mins
Juan Jacob
Mexico
Mexico
Native in French
Mexico
Literatura, historia, subtitulaje
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Mexican, Latin American) , French (Variants: Belgian, Standard-France)
Works in: French to Spanish, Spanish to French, French, and 5 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
BTU
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
: Abréviation de British Thermal Unit, unité calorifique du système anglais, qui correspond à 1 055,06 joules.
1 hr
|
|
Merci.
|
|
| neutral |
Tony M
: Yes, but here in FR-FR at least, the heating power of gas rings etc. is not usually expressed in BTU/h
4 hrs
|
|
À débattre, comme c'est le cas. Merci.
|
|
| agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
1 day 16 hrs
|
|
Merci.
|
1 day 12 hrs
English term (edited):
btu\'s
British thermal unit
See explanations at the following Website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit
Discussion
So 1 BTU = 0.00029307107 kW (NOT kWh!)
I can mention both unites, as I do with Farenhei-Celsius and everything else. I agree with Tony: BTU means nothing to a French person.
This document is clearly intended for a more-or-less lay audience, to whom (in France) any mention of BTUs (especially when being used improperly as here for 'BTU/h'!) would be simply confusing, since these are not common, everyday units in France, and especially not used to describe gas rings.
In this instance, the intended meaning is clear, the conversion factor is well established — at least to the 2-significant-digit accuracy required here — and there are no possible legal ramifications, at least no greater than any of the other elements in this text.
Were this to be a situation where great precision, rather than mere equivalence, were called for, then I would agree. Likewise, in a formal technical or scientific text for an informed, specialist readership, I would indeed do as you say and give the figures in the original units, with if necessary a conversion in brackets following (where necessary, with a qualification as to its precision, etc.)