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### NSPS Fireplace Applicability/Definition Proposal J une 3, 2011

Prepared for HPBA by David Menotti and Bob Ferguson

Fireplaces

1(a) A fireplace is a wood-burning appliance intend ed to be used primarily for aesthetic enjoyment and not as a room heater. A fireplace is not an affected facility. An appliance is a fireplace if it is in a model line that satisfies t he requirements in subsections (b), (c), (d) or (e)

.

(b) The model line is qualified under the EPA Wood- burning fireplace program, or, if that program has been terminated, was qualified at the t ime of termination,

(c) The model line includes a safety listing under recognized American or Canadian safety standards, as documented by a permanent label from a nationally recognized certification body affixed on each unit sold, and that said safety lis ting only allows operation of the fireplace with doors fully open. Operation with any required safe ty screen satisfies this requirement.

(d) (1)The model line has a safety listing that all ows operation with doors closed, has no useroperated controls other than flue or outside air da mpers that can only be adjusted to either a fully closed or fully opened position, and the requiremen ts in either (d)(2) or (d)(3) are satisfied.

(d)(2) Appliances are sold with tempered glass pane l doors only (either as standard or optional equipment), or;

(d)(3) The fire viewing area is equal to or greater than 500 square inches.

(e)(1) A model line that is clearly positioned in t he marketplace as intended to be used primarily for aesthetic enjoyment and not as a room heater, a s demonstrated by product literature (including owner’s manuals), advertising targeted a t the trade or public (including web-based promotional materials), or training materials is pr esumptively a fireplace model line.

(e)(2) The presumption in subsection (e)(1) can onl y be rebutted by test data from a test laboratory accredited by a nationally recognized ac creditation body, that were generated in substantial reliance on ASTM E2558 when operating t he appliance with the door(s) closed, and that demonstrate an average stack gas carbon dioxid e (CO 2 ) concentration over the duration of the test run equal to or less than 5.00% and a rati o of the average stack gas CO 2 to the average stack gas carbon monoxide (CO) equal to or greater than 15:1. The stack gas average CO 2 and

CO concentrations for the test run shall be determi ned in accordance with the requirements in CSA B415.1-2010, clause 6.3 using a sampling interv al no greater than one minute. The average stack gas CO 2 and CO concentrations for purposes of this applica bility determination shall be the average of the stack gas concentrations from all sa mpling intervals over the full test run.Page 2of 3 Background Information

Fireplaces

In order to draw the brightest lines possible to di fferentiate fireplaces from heaters, an applicability algorithm has been created with the i ntent of identifying criteria that will exclude fireplaces from the NSPS, without creating loophole s allowing appliances that are intended for use as space heaters to avoid regulation under the revised NSPS. Paragraph 1(a) sets the stage.

The first criterion pursuant to paragraph 1(b) is q ualification of the fireplace under the EPA wood-burning fireplace program, whether that progra m remains in effect or not. The logic is that these products have been accepted for inclusion in an EPA program for fireplaces and this should

be a first order delineator.

Exclusion under 1(c) requires a safety listing that only permits open door operation. This will allow both built-in and free-standing fireplaces to be excluded. Any product limited only to open door operation must be considered as an aesthetic p roduct and not a heating product.

If a model has a safety listing that allows open do or or closed door operation or only closed door operation, paragraph 1(d) requires that the closed door operating mode must be further examined

to determine whether it should be classified as a h eater. The first test (1(d)(1)) is whether the appliance includes any user operated controls (othe r than flue or outside air dampers that have only fully-open or fully-closed positions). If use r operated controls that adjust burn rate in anyway are included, the model is a heater.

If paragraph 1(d)(1) is satisfied, the model must a lso satisfy either 1(d)(2) or 1(d)(3) to be classified as a fireplace under this tier in the de finition scheme. Under paragraph 1(d)(2), the model must use only tempered glass in any standard or optional doors. It is well accepted that tempered glass can only be used in fireplaces, wher e large amounts of excess air, even in closed door mode, keep the glass temperature at a level wh ere tempered glass can function. Heaters will cause tempered glass to fail due to elevated f irebox temperatures. For models that don’t employ tempered glass, paragraph 1(d)(3) focuses on whether the fire viewing area is large enough to demonstrate that the intent of the produc t is to provide a very large, aesthetics-driven view of the fire. The minimum fire viewing area pic ked was based on a survey of major manufacturers. One manufacturer had one fireplace model with a fire-viewing area less than 500 sq. in. but that product would have been defined as a fireplace based on other proposed criteria. Only one product employing ceramic glass with a fir e-viewing area of 500 sq. in. was identified but that fireplace-like, built-in-the-wall product is an EPA certified heater.

In recognition that a true fireplace product, inclu ding consideration for entirely new designs, may not be excluded from regulation by the preceding cr iteria, paragraph 1(e)(1) creates a presumption that a product is a fireplace if it cle arly and unequivocally has been positioned in the marketplace and sold as a fireplace. To prevent ab use of this final criterion, a challenge test procedure is included in paragraph 1(e)(2). This t est procedure could be applied prophylactically by the manufacturer (perhaps as insurance for a pro duct whose appearance strays too far fromPage 3of 3

the traditional fireplace design paradigm) or requi red after the fact by EPA if evidence of potential abuse surfaces.

The average CO 2 level specified is based on the examination of lim ited available data, including a test of a currently exempt heater burning ASTM E2 558 fuel. All available closed door fireplace data showed average CO 2 levels below 5% and generally below 2%. The exemp t heater had an average CO 2 level of above 9% using the E2558 fueling protocol with door closed. The second qualifier addresses concerns about a pro duct that might simply include dilution air introduction downstream of the firebox as a way of reducing the average CO 2 concentration. By adding a cut-off threshold for the ratio of average CO 2 to average CO, the impact of separate dilution air introduction is mitigated. Fireplaces typically operate with an air-rich combustion environment which results in relatively good combus tion efficiency within their fireboxes. This

in turn results in low CO concentrations relative t o CO 2 . Heaters generally operate with more

restricted air within the firebox. The combustion environment in uncontrolled heaters typically results in higher CO 2 concentrations than a fireplace but also in CO con centrations that are disproportionally higher than fireplaces due to poo r combustion efficiency. This difference in operating characteristics is the basis of the ratio requirement. The proposed ratio is based on the examination of limited uncontrolled fireplace data and voluntary program qualified fireplace data (ASTM E2558 fuel with the doors closed) and all rat ios were above 15:1. Data for one currently exempt heater product with an average CO 2 concentration below 2% was provided. The CO 2 /CO ratio for this product was around 5:1 which mea ns that it would not be considered a fireplace by the 1(e)(2) criteria. The average CO 2 concentration criterion by itself would not have excluded this product from the fireplace category.