1 Food Calorie = 1 KCal = 1,000 actual calories
252 actual calories = 1 BTU (rounded very slightly)
Let's assume that the average moderately active person consumes/emits ~2,200 calories per day.
2,200 x 1,000 = 2,200,000 actual calories consumed/emitted per person per day
2,200,000 / 252 ~= 8,730 BTU's per day consumed/emitted
It just so happens that 1 Lb. of anthracite outputs ~8,730 BTU's at a (likely rather typical) honest stove 'output' efficiency of about 68.2%, so each human living full time in your house is worth about a savings of 1 pound of coal per day (assuming the human stove to be 100% efficient).
Another way to look at this is that the average adult human emits about as much heat per day as would a 75 Watt incandescent light bulb, or roughly about 7 new fangled LED "equivalent output" bulbs, if left on for 24 hours.
When someone will be gone for a day remember to add an extra pound of coal to your stove to compensate. Or alternately, turn on a 75 Watt incandescent light-bulb, or 7 x 75 Watt equivalent LED light-bulbs.
How many pounds of coal are you worth per day?
- warminmn
- Member
- Posts: 8205
- Joined: Tue. Feb. 08, 2011 5:59 pm
- Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Riteway 37
- Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
- Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt
I'll never look at a pound of coal the same way again, lol. Thats interesting Larry!
- Lightning
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 14669
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
What about clothes? They would slow down heat transfer to the house. So therefore my question is, how many naked bodies would you need to keep the house warm?
- lsayre
- Member
- Posts: 21781
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
Being naked all day only makes you need to eat more. As for coal, all of the BTU's you can get out of a human are in the fuel.
-
- Member
- Posts: 673
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 17, 2019 2:17 pm
You give off more BTUs when it’s cold in your house so depending on the warmth level it could be more. This is why it’s good to run in the cold. You omit more btus trying to stay warm which cuts the lbs faster.