On January 1, 2023, new equipment efficiency standards will take effect for air conditioners and heat pumps. This will be the first time since 2015 that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has updated the standards for air conditioners and heat pumps. In addition to the new requirements for the manufacture and installation of new equipment, the metrics used to designate the efficiency of these systems will also be changing. This change reflects updates to the underlying testing protocols. The current SEER and EER designations will be replaced with SEER2 and EER2. The current HSPF will be replaced with HSPF2. To prepare the RESNET HERS® professionals for the change, RESNET conducted an online survey on what it could do to prepare the industry for the changes. The main response was that RESNET should develop a fact sheet and host webinars to address the issues. The “RESNET Fact Sheet on the New DOE Residential Air Conditioner and Heat Pump Efficiency Standards” finds that, “HERS® Raters and HERS® Modelers should not see significant changes to HERS® Scores when the new efficiency standards and associated modeling changes are implemented in RESNET Accredited HERS® Rating software.” The reason for this is that HERS® simulation models have been accounting for the components in the new air conditioner and heat pump efficiency standards for quite some time. The factsheet was prepared by Ryan Meres of RESNET with the assistance of Philip Fairey of the FSEC Energy Research Center and Cy Kilbourn of Ekotrope. The factsheet can be downloaded at RESNET Fact Sheet on New DOE HVAC Standards RESNET will be hosting two webinars on this subject. The first will be on “New US Energy Efficiency Standards and Refrigerants for Residential AC and Heat Pumps” and will feature the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Senior Regulatory Advisor Laura Petrillo-Groh. The free webinar will take place at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 27, 2022. The second webinar will address the effects of the new standards on RESNET HERS® Index Scores and will take place in October. Stay tuned for more details.
