BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. You'll find that this abbreviation appears a lot with regards to the radiators, heated towel rails and other heaters that appear on our web site. So, you now know what it stands for but what does BTU mean when it comes to heating?
The bottom line is, the higher the BTU, the more heat. If one radiator has a higher BTU than another, then it's going to put out more heat in to your room. The key, though, is to match up the BTU of the radiators/heaters in your room to the heating requirements of the room. Any mismatch here will cause your room to be either too cold without the chance of it ever reaching your heating Nirvana, or you'll overheat it and end up throwing money away.
One BTU is the amount of energy required to heat one pound of water by one degree Farenheit. All a bit Imperial, I know! All good radiators should have a BTU rating specified on it. All good plumbers will be able to tell you what sort of BTU is required to heat a particular room but there are also online calculators available to help to work it out yourself. The bottom line is, don't buy a massive radiator for a small room or a tiny one for your massive lounge!
