DOE Issues a Final Rule Pertaining to Test Procedures for Consumer Water Heaters and Residential-Duty Commercial Water Heaters.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a pre-publication Federal Register final rule incorporating by reference the latest version of the industry testing standard for consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial water heaters and adopts relevant portions of those standards into the Federal test procedure. In this final rule, DOE is also expanding the scope of coverage of the test procedure to apply to certain consumer water heater designs (including circulating water heaters and low-temperature water heaters), adding definitions for certain specialty water heaters, updating test conditions and tolerance requirements to reduce burden, clarifying test set-up and installation methods, addressing the test conduct for products which can store water at temperatures above the delivery setpoint, establishing an effective volume calculation, and extending untested provisions to electric instantaneous water heaters. The effective date of this rule is 30 days after the notice has been published in the Federal Register. DOE will send a follow-up e-mail once the notice publishes to announce the effective date. The final rule changes will be mandatory for consumer water heater testing starting 180 days after the notice has been published in the Federal Register and for residential-duty commercial water heater testing starting 360 days after the notice has been published in the Federal Register. DOE will also send a follow-up e-mail once the notice publishes to announce the effective date.  The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register on 30 days after the notice has been published in the Federal Register and once the notice publishes to announce the effective date. There are a number of changes to the consumer natural gas water heater and residential duty commercial water heater test procedure that can impact the current efficiency ratings for these products. As an example, for gas water heaters, modifications from the previous test procedure include changes on gas pressure settings, input rate determinations, effective storage volume and the fuel gas heating value.  As the DOE proceeds with evaluating potential changes for the minimum efficiency requirements for theses products, they will need to evaluate the impact, if any, on the efficiency rating due to these changes. It is assumed that only future testing results by DOE determined by the revised test procedure will be used in evaluating potential energy efficiency requirements and any previous testing will not be cited as justification for minimum efficiency levels. Find product information for Consumer Water Heaters and Residential-Duty Commercial Water Heaters including current standards and test procedures, statutory authority, waivers, exceptions and contact information.

AGA News and Updates.

Attached is yesterdays AGA News and Update distributed by the AGA Advocacy & Outreach Section that provides information on AGA happenings beyond the Building Energy Codes and Standards End Use Codes and Standards activities across the association.  Note that this issue provides coverage of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs hosted  hearing entitled: Consumer Choice on the Backburner: Examining the Biden Administration’s Regulatory Assault on Americans’ Gas Stoves and cites the AGA response to the DOE comments request on the AHAM waiver on the efficiency test procedure for cooktops last Friday (see BECS Committee Update of May 19). There are a number of other articles that provide AGA updates across a number of AGA Sections that BECS members should find of interest and value. Feel free to pass this information on to others within your organization and you can sign on to receive the AGA News and Updates directly.  If you have any questions on the AGA News and Updates, contact  Sue Forrester, Vice President, Advocacy & Outreach ([email protected]) or Kara Riba, Director, Advocacy & Outreach ([email protected]).