ARLINGTON, Virginia, 21 June 2022: On the eve of a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, leaders of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) today issued a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate energy committees seeking support for legislation (H.R. 7962/S. 4061) that would amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to clarify the definitions of residential and commercial water heaters, the Institute said through a Press release.

According to AHRI, the legislation corrects an error in a final test procedure rule for commercial water heaters, issued in November 2016 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that required manufacturers to rate some of those units using residential water heater efficiency standards. This created turmoil within the industry and resulted in property owners and small business owners spending resources to find alternative solutions, because the commercial water heating equipment that fit their needs was no longer available, AHRI added.

To permanently correct this error, a narrowly tailored technical amendment to the statutory EPCA definitions of water heaters is necessary, and these bills accomplish that task, AHRI said.

“America’s HVACR and water heating manufacturers, who make the most innovative, energy-efficient products available in the world today, are grateful to Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Marsha Blackburn R-TN), and Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Tim Walberg (R-MI) for their leadership in introducing this much-needed technical amendment,” said Stephen Yurek, President & CEO, AHRI. “This bipartisan bill will realign the legal definitions of commercial and residential water heating equipment enable more appropriate product choices for small businesses and provide business certainty for water heater manufacturers.”