Clothes dryers

July 2022

Technical bulletin on amending the standards

On April 2, 2022, the Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) issued a Notice of Intent which identifies its intention to amend Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations (the Regulations) to align household clothes dryers with energy efficiency standards, testing standards, and scope in the United States. In particular, this amendment would expand the scope of the regulations by introducing household vented gas clothes dryers as a new energy-using product, align testing standards with the United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) recent final test procedure rulemaking, and align energy efficiency standards with the U.S. DOE energy conservation standard rulemaking currently underway. The Notice of Intent issued for Canadian Federal requirements indicated that these considered requirements would apply in 2024.

This technical bulletin has been released to initiate the consultation process and to collect stakeholder views on the requirements being considered for household clothes dryers.

Input received during this stage of the process will inform the development of the next amendments considered. In addition, NRCan will undertake a cost-benefit analysis using the best available Canadian market data to assess the economic and environmental impacts of these updated standards and to ensure Canadian consumers and businesses benefit from their implementation.

The Government of Canada intends to pre-publish a regulatory proposal in the Canada Gazette, Part I, in 2023.

Background

In Canada, household electric clothes dryers manufactured as of February 3, 1995, are subject to the Regulations. Household vented gas clothes dryers are not currently regulated.

The efficiency standards for household clothes dryers save energy and reduce overall costs for Canadians. The efficiency standards also reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and encourage manufacturers to adopt efficient product designs.

In 2018, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the United States Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Regarding the Canada–United States Regulatory Cooperation Council was signed to move forward on energy efficiency and foster alignment of federal regulations where feasible and appropriate. In 2021, NRCan and the U.S. DOE signed the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Natural Resources of Canada and the Department of Energy of the United States of America Concerning Cooperation on Energy, which acknowledges that both countries will collaborate on new and updated energy efficiency and testing standards where feasible and appropriate.

On April 14, 2021, the U.S. DOE published a notice pertaining to consumer clothes dryers, which introduced the preliminary analysis results for revised energy efficiency standards (86 FR 20327). Separately, on October 8, 2021, the U.S. DOE published a Federal Register final rule which updated the testing standards for clothes dryers (86 FR 56608).

NRCan is considering amending the Regulations to align with the updated testing standard and the scope of the U.S. DOE, and to align with the revised energy efficiency standard currently under development by the U.S. DOE.

The requirements under consideration would also be considered for the clothes dryer component of integrated consumer clothes washer-dryers.

Product description

A clothes dryer is defined in the Regulations as a household tumble-type clothes dryer that is electrically operated. This definition would be expanded to include household tumble-type clothes dryers that are gas-powered and vented.

Vented dryers exhaust evaporated moisture from the cabinet while ventless dryers utilize a closed-loop system with an internal condenser to remove evaporated moisture to a drain.

The size category of a clothes dryer is based on its drum capacity:

• less than 125 litres (4.4 cubic feet); or
• 125 litres (4.4 cubic feet) or more.

Testing standard

NRCan is considering incorporating the following testing standards, using ambulatory incorporation by reference:

• Appendix D1 to Subpart B, Part 430 of Title 10 to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, entitled Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Clothes Dryers.
• Appendix D2 to Subpart B, Part 430 of Title 10 to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, entitled Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Clothes Dryers.

Energy efficiency standard

NRCan is considering incorporating the energy efficiency standards pertaining to consumer clothes dryers currently under development by the U.S. DOE, using an ambulatory incorporation by reference. Information about recent and ongoing activities related the U.S DOE rulemaking is available online through the U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Important dates

These modifications to the Regulations would come into force six months after the date of publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

NRCan is considering applying the updated energy efficiency and testing standards to household clothes dryers manufactured on or after December 31, 2024.

Labelling requirements

NRCan is not considering any changes to the existing labelling requirements for household clothes dryers. An EnerGuide label must be attached to every new household clothes dryer subject to the Regulations. This would mean no change to the EnerGuide labels attached to household electric clothes dryers; but it would be a new requirement for household vented gas clothes dryers.

Size Categories

NRCan is considering removing the size categories described in the Regulations. For the purposes of the EnerGuide label, the size categories would remain in NRCan’s EnerGuide label guidelines that are available and distributed to dealers and manufacturers. This administrative change has no impact on the scope of the Regulations.

Verification requirements

NRCan is not considering any changes for the energy efficiency verification requirements for household clothes dryers.

These products will continue to carry a third party verification mark indicating that the product meets the energy efficiency standard and that the information to be reported has been verified.

The verification mark is the mark of a Standards Council of Canada accredited certification body that operates an energy efficiency certification program for the product.

Reporting requirements

Energy efficiency report

For household electric clothes dryers, NRCan is not considering changes to the energy efficiency report requirements.

For household gas clothes dryers, the additional information that will be required is:

• Hourly BTU rating for the burner

The Regulations apply to products imported or shipped inter-provincially for sale or lease in Canada. This report must be submitted, by the dealer, to NRCan before the product is imported into Canada or traded inter-provincially for the first time.

Import report

As household vented gas clothes dryers are being considered as a newly regulated product under the Regulations, completion of an import report would be a new requirement.

There are no changes to existing import requirements.

Comments invited

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide stakeholders with the technical detail required to comment on the requirements under consideration for household clothes dryers. 

NRCan is interested in getting feedback on the manufacturing date under consideration, namely December 31, 2024, and its:

• implications for certification bodies;
• implications for manufacturers; and
• benefits to Canadians.

It is important to NRCan that we engage the public and stakeholders on amendments to the Energy Efficiency Regulations. If you are aware of any dealer, manufacturer, importer, retailer, utility provider, small business, consumer group, organization, or representative of a specific group(s) of the population (including, but not limited to, women, 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, socio-economic status, residency, housing status, etc.), Indigenous peoples/communities, and/or other person or group that may be interested in participating in the amendment discussion and/or may be negatively impacted by this proposal, please forward them or the representative this bulletin. Please email equipment-equipement@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca to be added to the email distribution list (emails are used to notify stakeholders of upcoming amendments, technical bulletins, webinar registrations, and official publication in the Canada Gazette).

Additional information on Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations including a current list of Standards Council of Canada accredited certification bodies can be found on the Department’s website.

We welcome your comments by October 31, 2022. All correspondence should be forwarded to:

E-mail: equipment-equipement@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

All correspondence should contain the following subject line: Bulletin – Clothes dryers – Sécheuses – July 2022 juillet