Mark Your Calendar:  BECS Committee to Hold Virtual Meeting on Wednesday,  January 12, 2022  from 11 am to 3 pm EST——Details to Follow.
DOE Issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Public Meeting and Request for Information Pertaining to Test Procedures for Consumer Water Heaters and Residential- Duty Commercial Water Heaters.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a pre-publication Federal Register notice proposing to amend the test procedure for consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial water heaters including natural gas products,  to update the procedure to the latest versions of the industry standards that are incorporated by reference and to consider procedures that are included in a draft industry standard, which is not currently incorporated by reference. DOE also proposes to interpret the statutory definition of consumer water heater to cover larger capacity heat pump type units as commercial equipment and proposes several new definitions for water heaters that cannot be appropriately tested with the current DOE test procedure, along with test methods to test these products. DOE is seeking comment from interested parties on the proposals. DOE states they will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NOPR until 60 days after date of publication in the Federal Register. DOE will send a follow-up e-mail once the notice publishes to announce the closing date of the comment period. Comments  are to be submitted to the docket number EERE–2019–BT–TP–0032, by email ([email protected]), Federal eRulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov). DOE  will hold a webinar on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and you can Click here to register for the webinar. Additional webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on DOE’s website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/public-meetings-and-comment-deadlines . Find product information for Consumer Waters Heaters and Commercial Water Heaters including current standards and test procedures, statutory authority, waivers, exceptions and contact information.
DOE Issues a Comment Extension Notice and Notification of Data Availability Pertaining to Test Procedures for Cooking Products.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a pre-publication Federal Register notice extending the public comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that DOE published on November 4, 2021 regarding a proposal for a new test procedure for conventional cooking tops, a category of cooking products, that would replace the procedure that DOE withdrew on August 18, 2020. DOE is also publishing a NODA regarding the results of DOE’s recently completed test program assessing the repeatability and reproducibility of the proposed test procedure. DOE is publishing the results of its testing and requests comment, data, and information regarding the results. The comment period for the NOPR which published on November 4, 2021 (86 FR 60974), is extended. DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding the NOPR and NODA until 30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register. DOE will send a follow-up e-mail once the notice publishes to announce the closing date of the comment period. Comments are to be submitted to docket number EERE–2021–BT–TP-0023, by email ([email protected]), Federal eRulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov). DOE will hold a webinar on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and you can  Click here to register for the webinar. Additional webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on DOE’s website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/public-meetings-and-comment-deadlines , Find product information for Cooking Products including current standards and test procedures, statutory authority, waivers, exceptions and contact information.
AGA BECS staff will be reviewing both of the above DOE proposals and BECS Committee members are requested to also review the proposals to assess the potential impact on the efficiency ratings that will result from finalization of the changes on the appliance and equipment efficiency ratings.
AHRI Releases October, 2021 Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data.
For those interested in shipment trends for residential and commercial gas and electric storage type water heaters, residential gas and oil furnaces, electric heat pumps and air-conditioners, click here for the December 10, 2021 Air-Conditioning Heating, & Refrigeration (AHRI) Press Release that provides the October, 2021 U.S. Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data. You may also wish to share this information with other groups or individuals within your organization that would be interested in water heater and HVAC equipment shipment trends.