# Heat Conversion Units

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heat-conversion-units/292966>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heat-conversion-units/292966 "2005-03-04T20:48:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heat-conversion-units/292966/1 "2005-03-04T20:48:48Z")

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There are a _group_ of these:

Available Energy  
Coefficient of Heat Transfer  
Density of Heat  
Density of Heat Flow Rate  
Heat Capacity and Entropy  
Heat Flow Rate  
Specific Heat Capacity  
and Specific Entropy  
Thermal Conductivity  
Thermal Diffusivity  
Thermal Insulance  
Thermal Resistance  
Thermal Resistivity

A dozen to be precise. I got curious about these when someone requested that I put a converter for Heat Flow Rate on my website:  
[http://www.1728.com/convheat.htm](http://www.1728.com/convheat.htm)

I found the conversion factors at:  
[Nationl Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)](http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/appenB9.html)  
but then I was surprised to learn there were 11 other _categories_ of “heat units” (for lack of a better term).

I’m guessing these are used in the HVAC field but are all 12 used? Are any of these used in engineering, etc ? I’m wondering because if there is some kind of demand for these units, I’ll make other converters as well.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heat-conversion-units/292966/2 "2005-03-05T00:45:25Z")

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Well, I use a lot of them for work. Maybe all at one time or another. But I suspect that most people who use these (like me) use them either in a software application or an Excel spreadsheet. I can’t think of when I’d need an online calculator for them personally; perhaps you should wait until someone requests it of you. But it’s not very hard to do, so if you want to be complete you may as well.

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**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heat-conversion-units/292966/3 "2005-03-05T02:18:08Z")

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**Una Persson**  
Thanks for the reply. (For a while, I thought the thread was going to “die” unanswered).  
Okay, I guess I’ll put those converters on hold for a while.