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DOE Amends Standards and Testing Procedures for Vented Home and Pool Heaters
Practical Law Legal Update 5-594-7986 (Approx. 4 pages)
DOE Amends Standards and Testing Procedures for Vented Home and Pool Heaters
by Practical Law Commercial
| Published on 07 Jan 2015 • USA (National/Federal) |
The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued final rules amending the testing procedures and standards for residential direct heating equipment and pool heaters.
On January 6, 2015, the Department of Energy (DOE) published final rules amending the energy efficiency and consumption standards and testing procedures for residential:
- Direct heating equipment. The amendments replace outdated energy-efficiency testing standards for vented heaters used in residences, commonly referred to as space, wall, floor, hearth and room heaters, incorporating by reference the following industry standards:
- American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z21.86, "Venting Gas-Fired Space Heating Appliances."
- ANSI/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 103-2007, "Method of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of Residential Central Furnaces and Boilers."
- American Society for Testing and Materials D2156-09, "Standard Test Method for Smoke Density in Flue Gases from Burning Distillate Fuels."
- Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 729-2003, "Standard for Safety for Oil-Fired Floor Furnaces."
- UL 730-2003, "Standard for Safety for Safety for Oil-Fired Wall Furnaces."
- UL 896-1993, "Standard for Safety for Safety for Oil-Fired Burning Stoves."
The amendments also establish procedures and standards for testing vented home heating equipment that uses condensing technology. - Pool heaters. The amendments incorporate by reference the following industry standards for pool heaters:
- Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute 1160-2009, "Performance Rating of Heat Pump Pool Heaters."
- ANSI/ASHRAE 146-2011, "Method of Testing and Rating Pool Heaters."
The amendments also clarify the applicability of testing procedures for oil-fired pool heaters.
These amendments arose from the review of testing procedures and standards that the DOE is required to complete every seven years by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. § 17001), which amended the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. § 6201).
Heating equipment manufacturers, as well as their distributors and any service provider who installs heating equipment, should review the amended rules to ensure that their practices comply with the new requirements. The new rules become effective February 5, 2015 and compliance is mandatory by July 6, 2015.