Abstract
DR. RUSSELL'S suggestion (NATURE, Feb. 4, p. 170) that the kilowatt-hours the best unit of energy for practical purposes, ought to be popular with the gas companies. At present, by Act of Parliament, we have to purchase our energy from the public supply companies by two different measures, and the cheaper purveyor does not get full credit for his cheapness. The unit for electricity is of course the kilowatt-hour 3.6×106joules ; the unit for gas energy is the therm—the energy required to heat 1000 lb. of water through 100° F., and this is 105 × 106 joules. Thus the therm is approximately 29 kilowatt-hours. In other words, when the price of gas per therm is the same as the price of electricity per kilowatt-hour, electrical energy is 29 times as dear as gas energy.
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WHIPPLE, F. Units of Energy. Nature 121, 355–356 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/121355b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/121355b0
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