On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:01:33 GMT, The Ghost In The Machine
wrote:

Apparently the
basis was the cooling capability of 1 ton of ice, but the
standard conversion is now about 1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr, although
I'm not entirely sure.

You can be sure (even if it's not Westinghouse). :-)

1 ton = 2000 lb in the U.S.
Heat of fusion of water at the triple point is 144 BTU / lb
Therefore, 1 ton of ice melt yeilds 144 x 2000 = 288000 BTU.
Divide that by 24, the number of hours in a day, and you have 12,000.


--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info