2023 Minimum Efficiency Standards
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has the authority to establish minimum efficiency standards for air conditioning (AC) and heat pump (HP) equipment. The next set of energy efficiency increases will impact newly manufactured residential and commercial equipment and will take effect on January 1, 2023. For single-phase residential and light commercial central air conditioning systems, the requirements will vary by region.
The US market is divided into 3 Climate Regions. Each climate region will have its own minimum efficiency levels.
2023 Regulatory Changes
2023 not only brings new increased minimum efficiency levels, but also a new testing procedure for developing efficiency ratings.
APPENDIX M1: A NEW SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT
For equipment manufactured after January 1, 2023, not only are the minimum standards changing, but a new test procedure will be required. This new test method is commonly referred to as Appendix M1, replacing Appendix M in the Code of Federal Regulations. For decades, we’ve used the classic metrics of SEER, EER and HSPF. Going forward, you’ll hear these metrics referred to as SEER2, EER2 and HSPF2.
Why is the metric changing?
The DOE test procedure has been updated to be more representative of installations in today’s homes and will be used to determine product ratings. The testing procedure change will increase the external static pressure by a factor of 5 to better reflect field conditions. This new system of measurement will apply to all single-phase air conditioners and heat pumps <65k BTU/HR.
New Measurement
New Testing Procedure
