DOE to Enforce SEER 13 Air Conditioner Standard.(Department of Energy)(seasonal energy efficiency ratio)(Brief Article)

Ozone Depletion Today, April, 2004

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced late last week that it has elected to enforce a 30-percent increase in the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for residential central air conditioners (A/Cs).

"At this point, all parties have had their day in court," said DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) assistant secretary David Garman. "In the interest of giving consumers and industry the regulatory certainty they need, it is time for the government and for private parties to stop litigating, and start working towards complying with the SEER 13 standard."

According to DOE, the SEER 13 standard will apply to central A/Cs beginning in January 2006.

Contact: DOE, website http://www.doe.gov.

(EIN STAFF: 4/2)