The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed a tentative decision that the current industry test procedure for commercial warm air furnaces (CWAFs) does not accurately reflect their energy efficiency. This new determination critiques the industry's method for failing to consider jacket losses and part-load performance, which impact the true energy efficiency of the equipment. DOE plans to apply a revised test procedure (called TE2) that accounts for these factors and is seeking public comments on this proposed method before making a final decision. Stakeholders can submit their feedback to help ensure the new test procedure is fair and representative of the furnaces' real-world performance.
Simple Explanation
Imagine some magic heaters that warm up a building, and a group of grown-ups wanted to make sure these heaters are working as they should. They found out the way they were checking wasn't really good at seeing how much energy the heaters actually used. Now, they want to test the heaters in a better way and are asking for ideas from others on how to do it right.