Residential Test Methods for Air Conditioners

Energy consumed by air conditioning systems has tripled since 1990: no other building end-use is growing as fast. Air conditioning not only makes up a significant and growing share of energy consumption, it is also the primary contributor to peak demand in many geographies.

Across the globe there are numerous governing bodies that currently regulate and test air conditioners (ACs) and more than 60 countries have regulatory requirements on the energy performance of ACs. Inverter technologies are proven, cost-effective strategies with potential to slow the growth of energy consumption and reducing peak demand on electrical systems around the world. Successful deployment of these technologies depends on accurate and repeatable test procedures in order to properly rate competing air conditioners on a level playing field.

However, the test procedures and metrics established by these different governing bodies often vary, making it difficult to compare the energy performance of air conditioners, across jurisdictions. This can confuse consumers, and provide misleading drivers for product developers, and increase the testing burden on manufacturers attempting to comply with many different regulatory schemes.

The testing of increasingly popular variable capacity air conditioners (“inverters”) has also presented significant challenges for manufacturers and regulators, and work is underway in several regions to develop advanced methods for testing these products.

Commencing in 2019 and continuing into 2020, 4E commissioned an examination of current test procedures and metrics across its Member countries. The resulting publication identified several recommendations to improve international alignment and better understand the issues around new test methods for variable capacity air conditioners. The webinar will highlight key findings from the report.

A copy of the 4E Report can be found on the 4E Publications page.

John Cymbalsky, United States Department of Energy (DOE)

John is the Program Manager for the Appliance and Equipment Standards at DOE which regulates the test procedures and minimum energy performance standards of over 70 products.

Jessica DeWitt, Cadeo Group

Jessica a is Senior Associate in Cadeo Group’s engineering team, where she conducts technical and market research on mechanical systems. She has more than 10 years’ experience in mechanical systems design.

Veerle Beelaerts, European Commission

Veerle Beelaerts is a policy officer at the European Commission in DG Energy since 2016. She is responsible for ecodesign (minimum energy performance) and energy labelling regulations for heating, cooling and refrigerating appliances.

Kimberly Curran, NRCAN Canada

Kimberly Curran holds the position of Chief of Standards Development at Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency Equipment Division. With a team of engineers and economists, her group is responsible for the development and implementation of regulatory policy for Energy Efficiency regulations in Canada. Her team is playing a leadership role in transforming the Canadian markets towards high efficiency windows, space heating equipment, and water heating equipment.

Catherine Rivest, United States Department of Energy

Catherine is a team member of the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program at DOE. She manages the development of federal test procedures and minimum energy performance standards for a variety of residential appliances and commercial equipment, including commercial packaged air conditioning and heating equipment. 

Rusty Tharp, Goodman Manufacturing, a member of Daikin Group

Rusty Tharp is Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs for Goodman, which is a manufacturer of residential and light commercial heating and cooling equipment. Goodman manufactures and sells HVAC products ranging from PTAC to residential to VRF. Rusty has been involved in testing of HVAC products for over 3 decades and involved in standards development for more than 2 decades.