>why not quote it in joules or BTUs or whatever? Retail electricity is sold by the kWh, consequently that is the unit that most readers will be familiar with.

>why not quote it in joules or BTUs or whatever? Retail electricity is sold by the kWh, consequently that is the unit that most readers will be familiar with. Of the readers who prefer to use strictly Si units in their daily lives, those people, aside from frequently converting to/from various units, are aware or can quicky find that 1kWh is 3.6MJ. For anyone who wants to use BTUs, well, it's a free country, I suppose.