In
2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discontinued the labeling of
programmable thermostats as Energy Star products. However, this past June, the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) introduced a new labeling
and certification program for thermostats. Called Energy Aware, the program
states on its website that it is “intended to assist distributors, contractors,
installers, and homeowners in choosing programmable thermostat models that will
best meet individual and family needs to manage and reduce energy usage while
maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures.”
William Hoyt, industry director for NEMA, explained that the association
created this labeling program in response to industry demand, particularly in
the commercial contractor sector. “Contractors have been going back to the
manufacturers and asking what is going to replace EnergyStar,” he said. “As an
industry, we felt we wanted to continue to have product differentiation in the
marketplace, where it would be easy to identify products that are tested to a
certain quality standard.”
He added that one weakness of the former Energy Star program for thermostats
was its self-certification.
“We want to go beyond that,” Hoyt said. To participate in NEMA’s Energy Aware
program, manufacturers will have to submit their thermostats for testing by
ISO-certified labs. The thermostats will be tested to NEMA’s ANSI-recognized
standard NEMA DC3, Annex A-2010, “Energy-Efficiency Requirements for
Programmable Thermostats.”
Hoyt said that the testing program is expected to be in place this fall, and
NEMA will allow OEMs and other manufacturers that are not members of the
association to participate in the testing and labeling program through a
licensing agreement.
In an effort to make it easy for manufacturers to join the NEMA program, the
new Energy Aware logo is similar in size and shape to the Energy Star logo that
was formerly placed on thermostats.
At present, no consumer awareness campaign has been developed for the new
Energy Aware label, but NEMA has created a website to educate consumers about
the new label: www.getenergyaware.com.
Hoyt said NEMA will estimate the savings available to consumers: “If it’s used
according to the presets (and not on override), depending on the size of the
home, energy savings can run anywhere from $180 to $300 per year.”
Publication date: 09/20/2010