|
|
AHRI and VFGPA Misrepresent Vent-Free Fireplace/Heater Test DataNov 19 '09 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Heaters
The Bottom Line When AHRI commissions updated research including "real world" practices of oversizing vent-free fireplaces and IAQ, with up to 40,000 Btu/H, the results will show who should be ashamed.
The national Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and their member group the Vent-Free Gas Products Association (VFGPA) have continued to promote vent-free gas fireplaces/heaters and endorse their safety based primarily upon a report written by the American Gas Association Research Division (AGAR) that was released in March 1996. A quick visit to their websites reveal numerous references to AGAR's report of 1996 as proof that a credible organization has tested vent-free fireplaces/heaters for indoor air quality and subsequently found them to be safe. Why is it then, that I am still writing opposite views on this subject? First, the AGAR report was sponsored (paid for) by the VFGPA. However, that in itself is not enough to disregard the findings within their report. Some very credible, and dedicated people were involved in the research program and in writing the final report. Their findings were concise, rationale and likely very accurate. I have always had great respect for the people at the American Gas Association and the work they have done there. There report was focussed on indoor air quality (IAQ) and not on commercial interests. Misrepresentation by Omission I do have a big problem with nationally recognized organization like the AHRI and an alliance of manufacturers who have an agenda that is far beyond and outside of the scope of the AGAR report. The second group of course is the VFGPA, which is a division of AHRI (formerly the Gas Appliance Manufacturer's Association (GAMA). Their agenda is solely to sell vent-free gas fireplaces and heaters to as many millions of American consumers as they can. In an over zealous pursuit of that agenda they have selectively used the AGAR report from 1996 to support their claims of safety with regards to indoor air quality (IAQ). Selective use of good research data is a gross misrepresentation of the true state of affairs today. They are professionals at cherry picking statistics, testimonials and test reports to suit their sales and marketing needs. In March 1996 the report issued by the American Gas Association Research Division (AGAR) clearly shows that they did not conduct tests for or endorse the use of up to 40,000 Btu/H vent-free gas log sets, freestanding stoves, heaters or fireplaces. Their report stressed the need for very specific sizing guidelines that must be stringently followed to ensure acceptable indoor air quality. The sizing guidelines they published in their report include the type of construction of the home, as either loose, average or tight, the location by climatic region of the country, divided into five regions from north to south and the precise square footage of the room, multiplied by the ceiling height to determine the cubic volume of air available. There were six (6) test units in the 1996 AGAR test protocol, tested under varying housing conditions of, loose, average and tight, in various regions of the country, within various room sizes (all assume 8 foot ceilings):* Ex. 1. :11,560 Btuh, cycle tested within 425 sq. ft., loose construction, region 2, Texas, Louisianna, Alabama, Georgia, Northern Florida, etc. Ex. 2. :16,891 Btuh, cycle tested within 621 sq. ft., loose construction, region 2, as above. Ex. 3. :5,569 Btuh, cycle tested within 221 sq. ft., tight construction, region 5, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine. (Note: This would be equal to the gas used for about five standard pilot flames.) Ex. 4. :9,984 Btuh, cycle tested within 390 sq. ft., average construction, region 5 as above. Ex. 5. :10,964 Btuh, cycle tested within 740 sq. ft., tight construction, region 5 as above. Ex. 6. :19,127 Btuh, cycle tested within 621 sq. ft., average construction, region 5 as above. *(excerpts from AGAR Division of Gas Research Institute (GRI) report: Development of Sizing Guidelines for Vent-Free Supplemental Heating Products, dated March 1996. PLEASE NOTE: There were no test models representing the more common vent-free fireplaces sold today with input rates of up to 40,000 Btu's per hour. Explicit Btu sizing charts were also published in AGAR's report under the bold heading: "Maximum Input Rate Needed To Maintain Indoor Air Quality". If one uses the sizing charts provided in the AGAR report and we take the last example shown above, a vent-free fireplace for installation in the northern U.S. Region 5, in a room that is 621 square feet with an 8 foot ceiling height would accomodate a maximum input rate of 26,827 Btu's per hour in a house with loose construction. In a house with tight construction (which is more the norm these days in northern climates) that same room would qualify for a maximum input rate of only 13,165 Btu's per hour, and only if it is operating on a thermostat, cycling on and off over an 8 hour period. AGAR stressed that these appliances should not be used for anything other than supplementary heat and their use should be limited to 8 hours per day. In this last example, a 40,000 Btu vent-free fireplace would be three times the maximum specified by AGAR's report in order to maintain safe indoor air quality. I should point out again, that the highest input rate tested by AGAR, back in 1996 was 19,127 Btu per hour, in average construction, in a room that measured about 20 feet wide by 31 feet long with an 8 foot ceiling. That's a big room by any standards and I can assure the readers here that there are very few people who would purchase a vent-free fireplace with an input rate of only 13,165 Btu's per hour. The flame effects on such a unit would be sad to say the least. I can also assure the reader that very few units are even produced with such a low Btu input rate. In short, the research technicians and engineers at AGAR did not envision 40,000 Btu per hour vent-free fireplaces in any size room. It is not surprising to me that they found the air quality acceptable after 8 hours of cycling a unit with an input rate of 10,964 Btu's per hour, in an even larger room, 740 square feet (20 feet by 37 feet) with an 8 foot ceiling, in a house with tight construction, in the cold northern U.S. they call Region 5. According to AGAR's own published sizing guidelines that room qualified for up to15,688 Btu's per hour with a thermostat controlling it or only 11,544 with a manual control. Stepping out of AGAR's cozy laboratory and back in the real world, where we actually live, I have a 20 by 20 foot living room with an 8foot ceiling which equals 3200 cubic feet of air to breathe and to heat. Since I'm in Region 5 and have average construction (I like to let some fresh air infiltrate the home), according to AGAR's specific sizing guidlines, the maximum input I should be allowed to operate in my living room would be 10,240 Btu's per hour, (with a thermostat cycling the unit on and off over a maximum of 8 hours) or else I would face the risk of poor indoor air quality. Read that last sentence as unacceptable levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide and other things. I'm only allowed 8,160 Btu's per hour if I use a manual control. In the "real world" of those who live in Region 5, such fireplaces are often not cycled on and off and limited to 8 hours per day, but are often operated continuously during the cold winter months. Consumers will find very few vent-free fireplaces available, at input rates as low as 10,000 Btuh and even fewer below 10,000 Btuh, as shown above. Since most of the vent-free gas fireplace sales are for products with 25,000 to 40,000 Btu's per hour, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that most of those sales are oversized for the room they were installed in and that the air quality in that home has been compromised. Six test cases, conducted more than 13 years ago, under ideal lab conditions, with test samples (in the best case above) set up at less than 50% of the gas input rates, most typical of those vent-free products currently manufactured and approved, formed the basis for product approvals across most of the United States. Additional Misrepresentation by Ommission The VFGPA also makes frequent references to a letter from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission which they claim further supports their safety record. In September 2005 Mr. Donald W, Switzer, Directorate for Engineering Services, did in fact send a letter to GAMA which did state that, "CPSC staff were not aware of any documented incident in the CPSC In-Depth Investigation (IDI) database...." That is the sound bite that the VFGPA has repeated over and over again in their news bulletins, on their websites, in brochures and to the general public. It sure sounds pretty good, if your only intention is to sell vent-free gas products, that line is worth shouting to the skies, "The Gasman is wrong! Who does he think he is, challenging a letter from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission?" What the VFGPA don't bother to recite from Mr. Switzer's letter is the very next line, "However, given the lack of technical detail in many IDI's, CPSC staff cannot say that no fatal poisonings have occurred; only that none are readily identifiable in the IDI database." That qualifying statement at the end of Mr. Switzer's short letter, understandably, doesn't get mentioned much, if at all, by the VFGPA. At the bottom of Mr. Switzer's letter is one last disclaimer which the VFGPA seem to have missed, "These comments are those of the CPSC staff, have not been reviewed or approved by, and may not necessarily reflect the views of, The Commission." By their own admission, for the past few decades the statistics on the more than 10,000 annual reported CO poisoning incidents were never kept according to product type. While ANSI standards do publish AGAR's sizing guidelines published in 1996 and even the VFGPA displays it on their website, it is virtually ignored by those who manufacture, sell, and install vent-free gas fireplaces. I would wager that a high number of installers have never even seen an installation in which the fireplace/heater they are installing complies with the nationally recognized sizing guidelines, which was the foundation for approving these products in the 1990's. I could challenge them to also find vent-free fireplace/heaters, with aesthetically acceptable flames, that many consumers would even consider buying, with gas input rates below 20,000 Btu's per hour as tested by AGAR back in 1996. The challenge to AHRI and the VFGPA is simple, commission a new research program that includes the well known practice of oversizing vent-free fireplaces/heaters in homes all over the United States and the resulting ruinious affects on indoor air quality to unsuspecting consumers. There would be no shortage of real, in home test sites to choose from. Be safe and buy vented gas appliances. Regards, The Gasman  |
| Read all comments (9)|Write your own comment |
- Top 200|
Ads by Google
|
