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New Reference Standard for Household Ranges

Canada's Energy Efficiency Regulations have been amended to include an updated reference standard for ranges. The new standard, known as C358-03, was developed in consultation with major appliance manufacturers that sell cooking products in Canada. It came into effect on October 8, 2003, and will result in a number of changes in the energy consumption testing and labelling of ranges, including ovens and cooktops.

• Ranges that have tungsten halogen elements, which were not included in the previous standard, are now regulated. These ranges must comply with the maximum allowable energy consumption quoted in the reference standard and must bear an EnerGuide label that shows the range's annual energy consumption relative to other ranges of the same size and class.
  
  
• New consumption variables will be used to calculate the annual energy consumption of ranges. Specifically, the new variables reflect the fact that consumers are using ovens, as well as the energy-intensive self-cleaning feature of ovens, less frequently than in the past. This will result in lower annual energy consumption ratings, as shown on the EnerGuide label, for all range models.
  
  
• The maximum amount of energy that a range sold in Canada can consume per year has been reduced, consistent with the lower annual energy consumption ratings that will be achieved under the new standard. This change will not affect the compliance of any range models currently sold in Canada.
  
  
• The same calculation will be used to determine the amount of energy consumed by freestanding ranges and built-in ovens (the calculation is based on usable oven space).

For products manufactured after the effective date of October 8, 2003, manufacturers will be required to report annual energy consumption based on the updated standard. For products manufactured before the effective date, manufacturers may continue to use the model's existing EnerGuide label or attach a new label that shows annual energy consumption based on the updated standard (new EnerGuide scales will be issued by Natural Resources Canada).

Due to these changes, consumers are advised to compare the energy consumption of only those models whose ratings have been calculated using the same standard. If models in the same class and size do not have the same scale on their EnerGuide label, their ratings have been calculated using different standards (ask a salesperson for help in making the comparison).

(These changes do not require retesting of range models currently sold in Canada; energy consumption ratings under the new standard can be calculated using a simple mathematical formula. However, manufacturers are required to submit new data to Natural Resources Canada to support product ratings under the updated standard.)

Additional information on C358-03 is available from the Canadian Standards Association's Web site at www.csa.ca.