Btu is short for British thermal unit, a unit of measurement used in heating and other devices. When Btu is expressed with MM as in “MMBtu”, it corresponds to 1 million British thermal units. One Btu represents the amount of heat it takes to be able to raise the temperature by one degree Fahrenheit of at least one pound of water. Many people can encounter Btu or MMBtu units posted on heating or heat-generating devices.

A furnace for example has its corresponding display of BTU units. The higher the BTU unit, the more powerful is the expected heat generation. When MMBtu unit is used, it simply means that a particular device is able to generate heat at 1 million Btu or British thermal units. For furnaces that are able to generate large outputs of heat, the physical device will also be much larger. Many appliances also have BTU labels. Most have BTU ratings in the thousands rather than in millions. A gas grilling device for example may have a 30,000 to 50,000 Btu capacity. The same device may also be labelled with 30 MBtu or 50 MBtu.

When it comes to heating requirements for a particular home or office for example, looking at Btu units is very much important. Different homes, offices, and spaces have different heating needs and so the right amount of heat or energy must be produced by a furnace or heating units. The only way to check the heating capacity of furnaces for example is through the examination of its Btu label or reading. The higher reading will indicate higher heating capacity and higher heating output. Big spaces will typically require heating units with high MBtu or even MMBtu measurements. The same concept can also be applied for heating appliances such as grillers. Bigger grillers have typically more heating power over portable versions. This simply means that big grillers may have high Btu measurements also.