NORTHBROOK, Ill. -Underwriters Laboratories (UL) announced that it will add new testing capabilities at its HVACR testing facility in Plano, Texas. The facility, which now consists of two testing chambers, will soon include a third chamber, increasing UL’s capacity to test air-cooled units from 25 tons to 30 tons. In addition, the facility will soon be adding water source testing of heat pumps and fan coils for HVAC equipment. The new testing capability and additional chamber are scheduled to be ready by April 1, 2007.

“UL is now expanding its energy efficiency testing to help its HVAC customers comply with stricter energy efficiency mandates,” said Todd Lumpkin, industry manager for HVAC, appliances and lighting in North America. “As a dedicated compliance partner, UL also continues to provide customers with guidance on new standards or mandates that will have an impact on HVACR products in the future.”

In December 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a final rule establishing new test procedures to determine the energy efficiency of certain residential appliances and commercial equipment. As required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the new rule mandates test procedures on items such as unit heaters, commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment, and commercial refrigerators.

UL’s 16,000-square-foot testing facility is dedicated to energy-efficiency testing of HVACR equipment as well as safety testing of information technology equipment. The facility opened in 2005 and enables UL to test HVACR equipment in accordance with the most globally accepted standards of the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and UL, among others (e.g., Energy Star).

For more information about the test facility, or to take a virtual tour, visit www.ul.com/hvacr/energy/facility.html.

Publication date: 03/19/2007