What Is Hundred-Cubic Foot?
Hundred-cubic foot is a unit that measures volume. It tells you how much space something takes up. It is mainly used to measure natural gas and sometimes water use. One hundred-cubic foot is the same as 100 cubic feet of space.
Definition
One hundred-cubic foot is the volume taken up by 100 cubes, each cube being 1 foot long, 1 foot wide, and 1 foot high.
In numbers:
- 1 hundred-cubic foot = 100 cubic feet
- 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2.83168 cubic meters
- 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2,832 liters
So when you see 1 on a bill in this unit, it means you used the space of 100 cubic feet of gas or water.
History / Origin
The unit comes from the cubic foot, which has been used in English-speaking countries for a long time. Companies that sold natural gas and water wanted an easy way to count large amounts. Using single cubic feet made numbers very big and hard to read.
To make bills simpler, they started grouping 100 cubic feet together and counting in hundreds instead of ones. That group became the hundred-cubic foot. It was already close in size to a few cubic meters, so it worked well for big volumes.
Over time, gas utilities in the United States and some other places made hundred-cubic foot the standard unit for showing how much gas a home or building used.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The most common short forms for hundred-cubic foot are:
- Ccf or CCF C here comes from the Roman numeral for 100, and cf means cubic feet.
- HCF This stands for Hundred Cubic Feet.
On your bill you might see:
- Usage 50 Ccf
- or Usage 50 HCF
Both mean you used 50 hundred-cubic feet, which is 5,000 cubic feet in total.
Current Use Around the World
Hundred-cubic foot is mainly used in countries that still use the cubic foot, especially:
- United States
- Some parts of Canada
- Some other places influenced by US utility systems
You will most often see this unit on:
- Natural gas bills for homes and buildings
- Some water bills and water reports
Many other countries use the metric system instead and measure these things in cubic meters or liters. Even in places that use metric for most things, gas companies may still use hundred-cubic foot because their old meters and price systems are built around it.
Example Conversions
Here are some easy conversions using rounded numbers to make them simple to remember.
To cubic feet
- 1 hundred-cubic foot = 100 cubic feet
- 5 hundred-cubic feet = 500 cubic feet
- 10 hundred-cubic feet = 1,000 cubic feet
To cubic meters
- 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2.83 m³
- 5 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 14.16 m³
- 10 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 28.32 m³
To liters
- 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2,832 liters
- 5 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 14,160 liters
- 10 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 28,320 liters
To US gallons
- 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 748 gallons
- 5 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 3,740 gallons
- 10 hundred-cubic feet ≈ 7,480 gallons
Quick rule of thumb
- To get cubic feet from hundred-cubic feet, multiply by 100.
- To get hundred-cubic feet from cubic feet, divide by 100.
Related Units
Hundred-cubic foot is closely related to these other volume units:
- Cubic foot (ft³) The basic unit it is built from. 1 hundred-cubic foot = 100 ft³.
- Cubic meter (m³) Main metric unit for big volumes. 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2.83 m³.
- Liter (L) Common metric unit for liquids. 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2,832 L.
- US gallon Used for liquids like fuel and water. 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 748 US gallons.
- Therm A unit of heat energy. Gas companies often link Ccf to therms to show how much energy the gas gives. The exact number can change by gas quality.
FAQs
What does hundred-cubic foot measure?
It measures volume, which is how much space something like gas or water fills. One hundred-cubic foot equals 100 cubic feet of space.
Why do gas bills use Ccf or HCF?
Gas bills use Ccf or HCF so the numbers stay smaller and easier to read. Instead of writing thousands of cubic feet, they group them into hundreds.
How many cubic meters are in 1 hundred-cubic foot?
There are about 2.83 cubic meters in 1 hundred-cubic foot. For quick math, you can use 1 hundred-cubic foot ≈ 2.8 cubic meters.
How many gallons are in 1 hundred-cubic foot?
There are about 748 US gallons in 1 hundred-cubic foot. This helps when you want to compare gas or water use to large tanks of liquid.
Is hundred-cubic foot part of the metric system?
No. Hundred-cubic foot is based on the cubic foot, which is not metric. The metric system uses cubic meters and liters instead.
How can I convert hundred-cubic foot to cubic feet quickly?
Just multiply the number of hundred-cubic feet by 100. For example, 12 hundred-cubic feet = 12 × 100 = 1,200 cubic feet.
Where will I most likely see this unit?
You will most likely see hundred-cubic foot on natural gas bills in the United States and sometimes on water bills or in utility reports.