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Residential Direct Heating Equipment

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The Department of Energy (DOE) has regulated the energy efficiency level of residential direct heating equipment since 1987. Residential direct heating equipment includes vented wall furnaces, vented floor furnaces, vented room heaters, and vented hearth heaters that can provide space heating in residences. Direct heating equipment uses gas and is installed in the room that it is intended to heat; the equipment heats air and distributes the warmed air directly to the room. Common names for this equipment include space heaters, wall heaters, floor heaters, hearth heaters, and room heaters.

An amended standard mandatory in 2013 will save approximately 0.3 quads of energy and result in approximately $3.6 billion in energy bill savings for products shipped from 2013-2042. The standard will avoid about 14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of about 2.7 million automobiles.

An amended standard mandatory in 2015 will save approximately 0.04 quads of energy for products shipped from 2015-2044. The standard will avoid about 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of about 392,000 million automobiles.

Recent Updates

DOE has issued a pre-publication Federal Register notice of proposed determination pertaining to direct heating equipment (DHE) (March 25, 2016). DOE has tentatively determined that more stringent DHE standards would not be economically justified, and, thus, proposes not to amend its energy conservation standards for DHE. For more information please see the rulemaking webpage.

Standards for Residential Direct Heating Equipment

The following content summarizes the energy conservation standards for direct heating equipment. The text is not an official reproduction of the Code of Federal Regulations and should not be used for legal research or citation.

Current Standard

Direct heating equipment manufactured and distributed in commerce, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 6291 (16), must meet the energy conservation standards specified in the Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR 430.32(i)(1). This information is also available in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

Standards for direct heating equipment apply to vented wall furnaces, vented floor furnaces, vented room heaters, and vented hearth heaters listed in the tables below.

Table 1. Energy Conservation Standards for Direct Heating Equipment Manufactured After January 1, 1990 and before April 16, 2013
Product Class	Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency Jan. 1, 1990 (percent)
1. Gas wall fan type up to 42,000 Btu/hour	73
2. Gas wall fan type over 42,000 Btu/hour	74
3. Gas wall gravity type up to 10,000 Btu/hour	59
4. Gas wall gravity type over 10,000 Btu/hour up to 12,000 Btu/hour	60
5. Gas wall gravity type over 12,000 Btu/hour up to 15,000 Btu/hour	61
6. Gas wall gravity type over 15,000 Btu/hour up to 19,000 Btu/hour	62
7. Gas wall gravity type over 19,000 Btu/hour up to 27,000 Btu/hour	63
8. Gas wall gravity type over 27,000 Btu/hour up to 46,000 Btu/hour	64
9. Gas wall gravity type over 46,000 Btu/hour	65
10. Gas floor up to 37,000 Btu/hour	56
11. Gas floor over 37,000 Btu/hour	57
12. Gas room up to 18,000 Btu/hour	57
13. Gas room over 18,000 Btu/hour up to 20,000 Btu/hour	58
14. Gas room over 20,000 Btu/hour up to 27,000 Btu/hour	63
15. Gas room over 27,000 Btu/hour up to 46,000 Btu/hour	64
16. Gas room over 46,000 Btu/hour	65

Final Rule: Standards. See the Federal Register at 54 FR 6077 (Feb. 7, 1989) and 55 FR 42163 (Oct. 17, 1990). These editions are not available online.

Amended Standard

On April 16, 2010, amended standards were published for direct heating equipment. The full text of the amended standard is available in the Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR 430.32(i)(2). It is also in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. These amended standards will establish new product classes and energy conservation standards for direct heating equipment, as summarized in the table below. Compliance with these new standards will be required on April 16, 2013.

Table 2. Energy Conservation Standards for Direct Heating Equipment Manufactured After April 16, 2013
Product Class	Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, April 16, 2013 (percent)
1. Gas wall fan type up to 42,000 Btu/hour	75
2. Gas wall fan type over 42,000 Btu/hour	76
3. Gas wall gravity type up to 27,000 Btu/hour	65
4. Gas wall gravity type over 27,000 Btu/h up to 46,000 Btu/h	66
5. Gas wall gravity type over 46,000 Btu/h	67
6. Gas floor up to 37,000 Btu/h	57
7. Gas floor over 37,000 Btu/h	58
8. Gas room up to 20,000 Btu/h	61
9. Gas room over 20,000 Btu/h up to 27,000 Btu/h	66
10. Gas room over 27,000 Btu/h up to 46,000 Btu/h	67
11. Gas room over 46,000 Btu/h	68
12. Gas hearth up to 20,000 Btu/h	61
13. Gas hearth over 20,000 Btu/h and up to 27,000 Btu/h	66
14. Gas hearth over 27,000 Btu/h and up to 46,000 Btu/h	67
15. Gas hearth over 46,000 Btu/h	68

Final Rule Amending Definition of "Vented Hearth Heater", Federal Register, 76 FR 71836 (Nov. 18, 2011)
Docket No. EERE–2011–BT–STD–0047
Correction to the Final Rule, Federal Register, 75 FR 21981 (April 27, 2010)
Final Rule: Standards, Federal Register, 75 FR 20112 (April 16, 2010)
Technical Support Document
Docket No. EE–2006–BT–STD–0129 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents.

For further guidance or to submit questions related to the implementation of this standard, visit the Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions page.

Test Procedure for Residential Direct Heating Equipment

Current Test Procedure

To determine compliance with DOE standards, manufacturers must follow the test procedures specified at 10 CFR 430.23(g) for unvented direct heating equipment and at 10 CFR 430.23(o) for vented direct heating equipment. The methods to conduct the test procedure are further specified in 10 CFR Part 430 Appendix G to Subpart B for unvented direct heating equipment and 10 CFR Part 430 Appendix O to Subpart B These are also in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

Final Rule: Test Procedures, Federal Register, 62 FR 26140 (May 12, 1997)

For further guidance or to submit questions related to the implementation of this test procedure, visit the Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions page.

Waivers, Exceptions, and Exemptions

Waivers

Test procedure waivers have not been issued for residential direct heating equipment.

For information about obtaining test procedure waivers, see 10 CFR 430.27.

Exceptions

DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals has not authorized exception relief for residential direct heating equipment.

For information about obtaining exception relief, see 10 CFR part 1003.

State Exemptions to Federal Pre-emption

DOE has not exempted any state from this energy conservation standard. States may petition DOE to exempt a state regulation from preemption by the Federal energy conservation standard. States may also petition DOE to withdraw such exemptions. For details, see 10 CFR part 430, subpart D.

Small Business Exemptions

Any manufacturer of a covered product with annual gross revenues that do not exceed $8,000,000 from all its operations and meets certain other conditions may apply for an exemption to the energy conservation standard. For details, see 10 CFR part 430, subpart E.

Statutory Authority

The current energy conservation standards for residential direct heating equipment are mandated by Part A, the "Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles" of Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended. (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309) Residential direct heating equipment is a "covered product" under Part A. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(9))

Historical Information

EPCA as amended by the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 establishes energy conservation standards for residential direct heating equipment. On April 16, 2010, DOE published a final rule which completed the first rulemaking to review and amend energy conservation standards for residential direct heating equipment under section 325(e)(4)(A) of EPCA. Manufacturers must comply with the updated standard beginning April 16, 2013. On November 18, 2011, DOE published a final rule that amended the definition of vented hearth heater, a type of direct heating equipment.

On May 12, 1997, DOE issued a final rule updating the test procedures for vented home heating equipment by including modified calculation procedures for the weighted average steady-state efficiency and Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for certain manually-controlled heaters, and by adding a procedure for calculating the annual energy consumption of fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical energy for vented home heating equipment. There are currently ongoing test procedure rulemakings for standby and off mode and for active mode.

Helpful Links and Contact Information

Helpful Links

Find tips and guidance for making your home, workplace, or vehicle more energy efficient visit EnergySavers.gov

Contact information

For more information related to the regulation of this product, please email:

direct_heating_equipment@ee.doe.gov